After a brief forest walk by the stream, we start off towards the Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers. Our first stop on the way is at Bruce Bay, a long rocky beach where a tradition has arisen whereby people leave trinkets, random objects (like shoes), or just a pile of rocks at the top of the beach and write messages on them. I write a message on a rock with a light blue marker saying ‘Caz, Mary and Justin – UK to Oz 2009-10: NZ #1’, but the ink seeps into the rock and evaporates before my eyes.
We arrive at Fox Glacier in time for a pre-lunch walk. The glacial stream interrupts the route to the glacier, though there is a line of rocks to use as steps through it at which a queue has built up. I have a little slip when it is my turn and this is enough to defeat Mary. She finds a crossing further up stream where it is shallower, but is turned back by Department of Conservation officials who chastise her for going off the track.
There are a number of signs on the designated walking track warning against leaving it, though some give historical information, e.g. the glacier has been in retreat for centuries. Near the bottom of the glacier, there is a fence and a sign saying it is dangerous to go beyond this point without a guide. We are still about fifty metres from the ice, so I go over to climb a boulder to get a better view of the ice cave from which flows the glacial stream and as a little act of rebellion.
After lunch, we drive onwards to Franz Joseph. There is a small resort village here, and Mary and Caz book a helicopter flight to go up the glacier tomorrow, from where they will be dropped off for a walk down it. I am not too comfortable with the idea of a helicopter flight, and it is very expensive, so I choose a cheaper option by booking a quad bike ride.
Caz and I go for another glacial walk. Franz Joseph is the more popularly visited glacier, and it is bigger and more impressive than Fox, though I did like the more intimidating landscape at the latter. However, for waterfall fans, FJ is also more of a treat, as several tumble down from the surrounding mountains. This trail isn’t so defined nor so policed with safety officials as at Fox either, so I am able to go up near the waterfalls. I get a slightly euphoric feeling going up close to powerful falls. Some might describe it as feeding off the energy, but I don’t believe in that hippy crap.
It is raining, so after the walk we decide to look for a hostel to stay at tonight. It is Easter though, so a lot of places are fully booked. We stop at the Rainforest Retreat Lodge. There is a Kiwi Experience bus parked outside, these being notorious vehicles for rowdy teenagers and twentysomethings getting escorted on a shagathon tour of the country. I am given a key to look at a room, but when I open the door I find an embarrassed looking couple jumping from the bed, although they are fully clothed. They have apparently just taken the room. The girl from reception gives us another key, and it looks comfortable and is fairly cheap at NZ $90. However, by the time we get back to reception to say we will take it, this too has been booked by somebody else. This only leaves the dorms, which will be full of the Kiwi Experiencers. We decide that we will rough it again tonight.
The Department of Conservation are good value, as I’ve said before, at approximately $6 a night per person, and they all have drop toilets that somehow don’t smell too bad (with plenty of TP too!). Tonight’s, the Otto / Macdonalds site overlooking Lake Mapourika, is a short drive from the Franz Joseph village. As we are setting up camp, a pick up truck carrying three men stops near us. Leaving the truck blocking the site exit and, without shutting the doors, they trot down to the lakeside with their dog. I assume that they will be there for a few minutes, but in fact they stay for a half hour or more. Recently, there was a story on the news about somebody getting shot at a campsite, so I am a little nervous of this somewhat suspicious behaviour. However, I think they were doing some flash fishing, or perhaps setting some nets. Perhaps they left the truck ready for a quick escape because they didn’t have a fishing license....
It rains again during the night.
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