Flying and Walking, Glaciers and Lakes
Good Morning Sunshine
We were thrilled to see a clear sky over Hobbit hut on surfacing form our slumbers. We had a helicopter tour up to the Glacier at 09:00 and after the dodgy weather over the last 48 hours I really wondered whether it would actually happen.
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| Orange Sheep Campground |
Franz-Joseph Glacier Helicopter Tour
Our campground is only 10 minutes walk from Glacier Country Helicopters so we left Fozzie being and walked up Franz-Joseph high street and, even with a brief diversion into a puzzled Glacier Helicopters, arrived promptly at 9 for our 9:30 flight. Checked in and weighed we were told we were lucky as we were placed in the front next to the pilot. Two other couples occupied the 4 seats behind us.
A minibus drive out to the hangers and we were directed to our helicopter and met Polly our pilot. Everyone was very at ease but efficient so any nerves I had faded and turned to excitement.
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| controls and Lynne's knees |
Up to the Glacier
The take of was amazing and we curved around and headed for the mountains following the Franz-Joseph valley until over the beginning of the Glacier. The lowers parts were melted and broken looking like fields of sharp teethe below us.
The snow fields widened in brilliant white as we flew over sharp ridges and deep valleys. The summits of Mounts Tasman and Cook formed a dramatic back drop.
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| mountain backdrop |
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| first sight of the Glacier |
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| lower part of the glacier as it melts andbreaks apart |
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| main Glacier |
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| widening snow fields |
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| recent snow |
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| happy travelers |
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| curving over jagged summits and ridges |
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| dramatic peaks |
Ice Landing
We had passed over small dots of other helicopters landed on the glacier lower down but Polly flew on high above and began to turn onto a high piece of virgin snow.
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| landing spot top left on this photo |
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| landed |
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| panorama from landing |
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| happy and excited |
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| formal photo taken by Poppy |
We had about 5 minutes on the snow and it was awesome. I felt I needed to look in every direction and photograph everything I could see but did manage to take time to take it all in.
Under a very thin crust the snow was soft and Lynne and I threw the obligatory snow balls at each other before Poppy rounded us all up and away we went.
As we flew back we could see a cloud bank approaching which was to cloud the rest of the day. We had been so lucky.
Lake Matheson Walk
A casual coffee in town after landing then headed out in Fozzie the motorhome to Fox Glacier, an even smaller town. Before travelling we both thought this was a quick plateau link but State Highway 6 was a high, slow winding road. 30 minutes later we turned off toward Lake Matheson, renowned for incredible reflected images of the mountains.
By now, the blue skies were almost gone and low misty cloud had replaced it obscuring the mountain views. Still, we had a lovely 5km walk around the lake and viewpoints.
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| Lake Matheson mountain view (minus big ones) |
Lake Matheson is famous for perfect reflection views of Mount Tasman and Mount Cook; However, that needs a clear sky and perfectly still water. We had low cloud and wind disturbed water.
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| On a still clear day, this would have been the magazine view |
Following image courtesy of
100% New Zealand How it could have looked:
Regardless of the weather, we had a lovely walk through natural woodland all around the lake.
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| Blue mushroom - also seen on 50NZD bank note |
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| Final Lake view |
Franz-Joseph Glacier Valley Walk and Sentinel Rock
We left Lake Matheson and returned along the winding main road to Franz turning off to the F-J Glacier Walk car park where we took two short walks, though Sentinel Rock was a severe gradient.
The Franz-Joseph Glacier is now along way from where access ends and the only way up to the ice field itself is by helicopter.
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| First sight of Franz-Joseph Glacier |
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| Franz-Joseph Glacier across moraine field |
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| cascades on hillside |
Evening
We returned to our 2 night pitch to find another van parked in it and it turned out that the reception had only marked up 1 night. Sad to have to relocate but we found the new pitch useful as we'd built up dirty pots & pans and needed showers ourselves and it was opposite the blocks.
Successful meal out then wine and writing but wifi a bit useless tonight.
campground: Orange Sheep Campervan Park Franz-Joseph
helicopter: Glacier Country Helicopters Franz-Joseph
Statistics: Miles today: 41 ; Miles so far: 1,281 ; Fuel added so far: 221 litres ; South Island; Time Zone: UTC +13 New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT )
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