Day Fifteen … Exploring Glaciers

Today did not turn out quiet how we had planned but that is just the way things happen when you are travelling … but more on that later.

We headed off from Haast at about 8.30 am not feeling any need to rush today as we had plenty of time on our hands. Our only commitment was in Franz Josef at 1.45 and with only 140 km to travel we knew we were going to make that easily. Before we left the bustling metropolis of Haast we grabbed a quick geocache located at the Visitor Information Centre. This allowed us the opportunity to walk through the pretty gardens surrounding the centre.

Then onward with our first stop to be Lake Matheson. Along the way we finally spotted the ocean again as we travelled along beside the Tasman Sea for a short while. Then we headed back inland, following the mountain valleys that wind their way through NZ. These valleys are stunning. State Highway 6 is narrow but well maintained. It is lined with forest cuttings for the road lined with ferns. At times we were twisting and turning to traverse mountains but in the whole we were fairly flat and often quite straight.

We reached Lake Matheson at about 10.15. This small glacial lake is located just west of Fox Glacier so we had glimpses of the glacier as we drove. The lake is well known for its reflective views of Mt Cook/Aoraki due to the colour of the water. There is a lovely walking path that circumnavigates the lake which is about 4 km long (with a bit of incline at times as the path rises above the lake) and it takes about 90 minutes to walk. We headed off wondering what we would find as the mountains today were covered in low lying clouds. (We had at times on our drive from Haast driven through rain.)

The walk was lovely. The path was well made and easy to walk on. I decided to forgo my hiking boots (still have blisters) and my little sneakers did a great job on the gravel paths, board walks and viewing platforms. There are three spots that provide views … the Jetty, the View of Views and the Reflective Island Lookout. The lake is very pretty! The reflections, even on a cloudy day, are quite beautiful. We enjoyed the walk, the scenery and views.

After leaving Lake Matheson we headed back towards Fox Glacier … a very small town (population 250) located at the base of the glacier of the same name. We didn’t stay long. You could catch glimpses of the glacier shrouded in cloud but not much more. And it was at this point that we realised our day was going to change from what we had planned.

As we drive towards Franz Josef we received a text message from Glacier Helicopters. We had booked a helicopter flight over Franz Josef, Fox Glacier and Mt Cook (our 1.45 commitment) and this helicopter was going to land on one of the glaciers so we could do a snow walk. The text message informed us that due to bad weather no flights were happening today. We weren’t really surprised … we had been anticipating it all morning as we drove along looking at the mountains and through the pockets of rain.

We headed to Glacier Helicopters office to chat with Jorja. She showed us the rain and cloud radars and chatted with us about why they wouldn’t be able to fly today. She offered us the chance to go tomorrow but couldn’t guarantee that either as the weather for the next week in Westland was not looking any better than today. So we decided to opt out and just get the refund. We are disappointed but not devastated. We have been blessed with two helicopter flights already this trip and sometimes the weather plays a part in your plans (just think of those poor folk in Auckland).

So we regrouped and looked at other things to do in place. We headed out along Glacier Rd which ends quite close to the glacier with walks maintained by the Department of Conservation, and opted to do the Forest Walk which is a 30 minute round trip walk that takes you to the viewing area for the Franz Josef glacier. It was a lovely walk … very easy and we were able to see the glacier, hear waterfalls and learn more about this incredible location.

Returning along Glacier Rd we stopped at the Waiho River crossing to look at the raging river (the bridge collapsed in March 2019 following 400 mm of rain fall which caused one of the pylons to collapse). It was rebuilt in just 13 days! Even today it was flowing rapidly so one can only imagine what it would be like after lots of rain.

We headed out to Lake Mapourika which is the largest lake in Westland. There is no road that drives around it but the view from the jetty is worth the visit. We headed back to Franz Josef in search of some very late lunch (or a super early dinner) stopping along the way to chat with some very large horned cows and to snap some more photos of the glaciers that occasionally became visible through the shifting clouds.

Lunch/dinner was at The Landing. One of the busiest restaurant/cafes I’ve seen in a while. We sat outside as even though it was raining the temperature was hot … and very, very humid. It was lovely to watch the world going by, seeing the incredible dishes being served and enjoying our food as well.

Following our meal we headed to the West Coast Wildlife Centre. It is a Kiwi raising facility, run in conjunction with the Department of Conservation. It assists in hatching the recovered eggs of the endangered Rowi (a species of Kiwi) that are rescued from nests in order for the hatchlings to not be eaten by the predatory stoat. Since it opened, more than 50 per cent of all Rowi in the world have been hatched by the Wildlife Centre. Operation Nest Egg has been responsible for raising the wild population of Rowi from just 165 ageing adults in the 1990s to 600 (as of 2019). They have a great deal of information available on the Rowi plus an area where you can view the hatchlings … we were able to watch Koru running around his darkened enclosure foraging for food. The centre also has a detailed and very informative section on glaciers … with some dire warnings on the loss of glaciers in the years to come.

Finally we took the opportunity to poke our heads in at the local Catholic (Our Lady of the Alps) and Anglican (St James) churches. Both were interesting, and maybe a little sad, as they were quite run down and obviously suffering from damp. The view from St James was pretty amazing, and they had a lovely little congregation of friends sitting in the pews.