Back to Fox Glacier New Zealand

Our next 3-month adventure has us back to a familar place of Fox Glacier, New Zealand and the Lake Matheson Motel.  When we were here last April our hosts Mike and Heather Reilly asked if we would return and help them during their busy summer season.  We really like this area and didn't hesitate to return. 

Arriving in Christchurch after our 30 hour journey

We left Tulsa, OK on January 5th and arrived in Christchurch on January 7th.  We lost a day somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, but we'll get it back in April upon our return.  We rented a car in Christchurch, picked up a hitchhiker soon after leaving the airport (because that's what you do in New Zealand), and drove 3 hours to Hokitika.  Our hitchhiker was going to Greymouth, so we dropped him off just before getting to Hokitika.  We bought some groceries, returned our rental car, and met up with Debbie, the owner of the Motel.  She drove us half way to Fox Glacier where Heather met us to take us the rest of the way.   We spent a nice evening with Mike and Heather catching up from last year and preparing for our next few days.  Mike and Heather planned a 5 day get-a-way for themselves since we were coming to help.

This was our view of the mountains our first morning; a bit cloudy, but the view never gets old!

Lake Matheson Motel - Home Sweet Home!

Time to get to work.  
The motel has 24 rooms and is usually fully booked during the summer season.

Folding pillow cases

 David can always find something to fix

After a few days of getting settled in, we finally went out on a familar hike toward the glacier.  Below are a few pictures we took along the way.

 

Glacier River

A view from a historic bridge just outside of Fox Glacier

The clouds cleared enough to get a quick view of the snow capped Mt. Cook 
peaking up in the background

This is the "Staff House" we live in.  We share it with a great young couple, Fernando and Annie, from Argentina, and a nice single lady named Flavia, from Uruguay.