Fox Glacier

Fox Glacier

Well weather today was just awful. Continuous rain and poor visibility - only about 400 metres, so we could not see all the beautiful mountains around us.
Even so, we decided we couldn't be locked up all day, so went for a drive up the Glacier View Rd. There are walks you can do to get closer to the glacier, but conditions weren't good. We caught a glimpse of the glacier and then decided we would drive to Franz Josef. It's about 23km from Fox.

At Franz Josef we went and had a light lunch of soup and bread in a cafe and I browsed through a few shops. We also found a wireless hotspot, so connected up and did some emails etc for an hour. Franz Josef seems a slightly larger town than Fox, but they both have very limited facilities. There is no chemist or resident doctor. Nor is there a bank or ATM in Fox. Things I would have to have close by if I ever lived in a place like this.

We drove back to Fox Glacier and while Neil processed some images, I went down to the local supermarket to get some cough lollies and calamine lotion - these sandfly bites are just awful, I have them all over my feet.

Later we went out to dinner to the 'Cook and Saddle'- one of the better places to eat here. The staff were very friendly and the surrounds had lots of character.
There was even a huge chunk of glacial ice on the bar (around 50cm diameter) that they had collected that day. Neil and I touched it (the closest we will get to a glacier this trip!) They were also chipping bits off and putting it into people's drinks.

After dinner we went for a very short walk into the glowworm rainforest. It is only a $2 honesty donation to enter and it is a short loop where the little worms glow all along a rainforest wall. It was raining still, but we didnt get too wet as the trees sheltered us a bit. Neil took a few long exposure shots and managed to get one that he is quite happy with.

Well it's now the next morning as I am writing this, whilst listening to the rain tumbling down on the roof and Neil snoring! Better go and wake him up so we can get ready to go to Greymouth.