We've been working a little and hiking a little the past few weeks. New Zealand is full of "walking tracks" as they are called over here and we've enjoyed getting out and experiencing the beauty of this country via the "tracks". We took the track up to the glacier in "Fox" last week. Such a perfect day!
The last few hundred feet of the track is pretty steep but the view is well worth the climb
The glacier face is eroding quickly and has changed quite a bit since we saw it last year
On our last day off we got up early and drove about an hour to the coastal settlement of Okarito for a 3 1/2 hour hike. The track starts off in the wetlands and then winds up through the forest to what is called "The Okarito Trig Viewpoint." From the viewpoint we could see a wonderful view of the Southern Alps and the coastline on both sides.
New Zealand's Southern Alps in the distance
Views of the west coastline
From the Okarito Trig Viewpoint we continued along the track winding through the forest and came upon the Okarito "3 Mile Lagoon" and bridge. More wonderful views of the Southern Alps and great reflections in the lagoon.
From the lagoon the return walk was along the beach. This section of the walk can only be done during low tide. We checked the tide times and "low tide" peaked at 9:10 a.m. We got to the beach at 10 a.m. and had a coffee and a snack before going on.
The first section of rocks we came to we had the option of crawling over the rocks or waiting for the waves to retreat and run around. We choose to run around them, but the waves won and almost carried us out to sea. We both found ourselves in hip deep water, soaked, and sand filled boots.
After our 7-mile hike that took 2 hours and 45 minutes, we decided to go on another hike. We were near Franz Josef and decided to walk to the Franz Josef glacier since we had all day.
Waterfalls along the glacier walk
The glacier comes into view
Franz Josef Glacier
This will be our next walk we hope to do soon. The track starts just outside of Fox Glacier township, but we must have a nice day with no rain or heavy clouds. The track is an "expert route" and takes 8 hours. It's elevation goes from 200 to 3,756 feet. We've been told there are places we literally have to climb using our hands and arms to pull ourselves up the trail. We'll be sure to let our hosts know to call the authorities if we don't make it out before dark.
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