ADVENTURES IN NEW ZEALAND
Glacier Walking
    in New Zealand

—PAGE 2—

New Zealand’s got better rides than a theme park.

        Highway 6 is a major road in New Zealand, running the length of the South Island, primarily along the west coast, from Blenheim in the rich Marlborough wine producing area of the north to Invercargill on the island’s Antarctica-facing southern coast. Along the way Highway 6 passes through some of the greatest of New Zealand’s fabled South Island scenery: the rugged mountains southwest of Marlborough, the active earthquake canyons leading to the sea, the dramatic West Coast itself with magnificent ocean vistas and sudden stunning glimpses of snowcapped alps.

        The road is good, permitting easy driving at 60 mph, with enough curves to make things interesting and keep the scenic surprises coming. Among the surprises are several one-lane bridges—some of them of the 100-yard variety, but others over ¼ mile in length—which cross numerous rocky channels where the melt-water of the Southern Alps and the run-off from the Westland rain forest enter the flood plain, heading towards the Tasman. Some of these streams are noted fishing creeks and rivers drawing fly-casting sport fishermen from around the world. At least one flows into broad Okarito Lagoon before entering the Tasman. The lagoon is the scenic breeding grounds of the rare white heron. Little Okarito village—maybe a dozen houses—has a shop with an excellent selection of Maori crafts and artwork, especially jewelry made out of the famous local greenstone jade.

        So, with both scenery and shopping distractions we needed two hours to make the less-than-one-hour drive to Fox Glacier. But we got some great photos and some unique souvenirs. Maybe it was good that we signed up for the noon glacier walk instead of the 9AM trip.

ONE-LANE BRIDGES, FISHING CREEKS,
AND THE SOUTHERN ALPS
Photo copyright © HOME AT FIRST

        There are two great accessible glaciers in the Westland National Park. They descend the west flank of the Southern Alps dropping about 9,000 feet in about 8 miles, carrying the compressed snows from the highest of the Southern Alps westward to the Tasman. The Franz Josef Glacier, about 12 miles north of Fox Glacier, is reachable just beyond Okarito. Both glaciers have become cottage industries of tourism. Both empty into moraines (they have been receding since 1999 after a 14-year advance) above namesake hamlets of motels, souvenir shops and adventure tour operators.

        Our glacier hike arrangements were made with Alpine Guides Fox Glacier, whose primary location is a good-sized storefront of shops and offices like something you might find in the American West or the Canadian Rockies. Alpine Guides Fox Glacier sells souvenirs, clothing and specialty gear for hiking and climbing at their Hobnail Shop in Fox Glacier and the Glacier Shop in Franz Josef Glacier. The clever retailing in these shops gets you coming and going. We saw folks buying gear prior to their glacier adventures, and the same folks buying souvenirs immediately afterwards.

        The busiest counter at the Alpine Guides Fox Glacier building was the check-in counter for their many guided glacier experiences. Mike and Carrol Browne, owners of Alpine Guides Fox Glacier, have created a menu of adventures with something for everyone and almost every pocketbook. The most basic and least expensive adventure is a two-hour "interpretive" walk to the lower end of the glacier, costing about NZ$35 for adults and NZ$17.50 for kids 8-15. On the other end of the scale, Alpine Guides Fox Glacier offers a NZ$2475 8-day Mountain Ascents Course to teach technical mid-range mountaineering skills.

        Our adventure was one of Alpine Guides’ most popular offerings, the Fox Glacier Helihike. This 3-hour experience costs NZ$265/adult (about NZ$240/kids), and requires basic fitness, agility, and no fear of flying.

WITHIN 5 MINUTES A RED-AND-WHITE CHOPPER
APPEARED, ROTATED ONCE, AND SOFTLY PUT DOWN.
Photo copyright © HOME AT FIRST

        From Alpine Guides’ Fox Glacier clean, modern headquarters a less-than-modern, less-than-clean bus transported us about 5-minutes to a one-room cinder block building on the flood plain flats outside of town. Here we traded in our shoes and socks for warmer, woolen socks and sturdy if well-used hobnail boots. Our guide urged us to quickly put on our borrowed footwear and join him outside by the helipad. Within 5 minutes a bright red-and-white chopper appeared, rotated once, and softly put down on the concrete landing spot. Quickly the pilot’s door opened and he helped his five passengers clamber out. As soon as they came through the gate by the blockhouse, five of us were shepherded to the helicopter. Without backpacks and cameras, we were helped into the chopper. We were shown how to belt ourselves in and how to put on our headphones so we could speak with our guide-pilot. Then our cameras and backpacks were handed up to us and the pilot himself climbed in.
        The rotors gained rpm, and it became noisier. The machine wanted to leap into the air. The pilot hurriedly requested and received clearance. We levitated maybe six feet, and spun half a rotation towards the mountains. Then our nose dropped, the rotors went into full steam ahead and we raced away from our cinder block airbase. The weather was cloudy, with some broken patches showing blue sky. Visibility was excellent, but there was a ceiling at about 8,000-9,000 feet, hiding the great peaks of the Southern Alps, Mt. Tasman and Mt. Cook. We followed the rocky streambed of the Cook River east, over a shoulder and then over the moraine to the base of the Fox Glacier, which formed a Big S on its way uphill and into the clouds.

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You can book your Fox Glacier adventure as part of your
New Zealand trip with Home at First. More information about
HOME AT FIRST's travel program to new zealand