Tyler Travel: Glaciers

29th December

From Ross I continued on State Highway 6, which follows the west coast.

Incidently, if you're wondering how I have 'planned' my travels, I'm basically following the routes from a brochure I picked up in a travel agency in Sydney, and getting handy hints & tips from people I've chatted to on the way, plus a bit of googling

North Island route:

South Island:

I had been enjoying 'The sounds' channel, playing 'the soundtrack of our life' which is very rock based & weirdly all the stuff I used to listen too, like Van Halen, Led Zeppelin etc....it is the soundtrack to my life!

Sadly, since leaving the North of the south island I haven't been able to get it anymore, picking up some quite dodgy channels - one which plays tonnes of religious songs about Jesus etc......not sure what this one was!

And the odd bit of news

I didn't reach Franz Josef glacier until lunch time, and so the car park was packed. It was a very hot day and I was slightly concerned it might be all melted before I got there!🤣 You could actually see the glacier from the car park (pictured above).

I did the short walks to the viewing areas and it was beautiful & exciting to see a glacier.

....it wasn't surprising that it has shrunk - pictured here in 1908 it reached the viewing platform

And these boards showed its decline from 1865 to 1930

and from 1950 to 2010:

But what was sad & shocking was to see how much of it has gone in just the last 15 years, from 2010 to 2025:

2010

2025

.....I wonder it it will even be around by 2030....and yet what I found slightly annoying was the number of helicopters flying around overhead.

These were taking people on trips to view the glaciers, flying over them to get a good view.

They were even being sanctimonious about it, with signs advertising the fact that you will hear helicopters flying over head, and to remember that it is a responsible way to see the glacier by having a guide.......

I fail to see what is responsible about pumping all that extra CO2 out, flying wealthy people around, when the glaciers are melting at such a rapid rate!

There was a long hike up to a higher viewing area for the top of the glacier, which was 5 hours return & there were warnings about it being a tough hike & only for experienced hikers.

I figured I had time, and the weather was great so I ventured up.

It was indeed a tough hike, much harder than the Tongariro crossing - mainly uphill and quite scrabbly in places, over rocks, slippery sections, through streams and across bridges - but it felt like a proper adventure & I loved it!

I met a really nice couple from Canada, who I met again at the top. The view was worth the tough hike!

I caught up with the Canadian couple on the way down - well actually she's from Hong-Kong & he from Prague, but they had lived in Canada for years & currently Vancouver - and we chatted until the bottom.

I didn't have anywhere planned to stay the night that was between Franz Josef & Fox glacier, which I wanted to see the following day.

I ended up driving to the town of Fox, and saw the glacier from the road viewing point.

It was getting late, although fortunately still light, and I was going to stay in the carpark for the Fox glacier South side walk but I noticed there were no camping signs, & a police car did a drive round, so I drove 20 minutes up the road to the Wiki camps suggestion, which was a free place in a valley with one toilet, and there were other people there.

The downside was that I had a terrible night's sleep as it was so windy, it was shaking the car in gusts all night. I honestly thought I might get blown away!!

30th December

Next morning it was still windy & I did wonder about doing a walk, but weirdly, 20 minutes up the road, there was no wind at all.

The walk was nice up to the viewpoint & through the mossy trees on the return

There were warnings not to try walking over, or crossing the river to get closer due to sudden changes in water levels & falling rocks etc.....and I wasn't going to argue with him! 😂