Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers and all the way down to Queenstown

Our road trip took us from the north of the South Island along the west coast to the South. Along the way we visited two glaciers; first Franz Josef Glacier which turned out to be quite a hike to get to. We got ready for some serious snow walking, when I was very surprised to get ride of some clothe layers half way because it was just too hot. A 30 minute walk over rocks and water streams, past gushing waterfalls and many tourists, we made it to our destination. The glacier, despite not being able to touch it, impressed me.

Having a talk to some other tourists on the way back to the van, proofed to use that we are taking a sort of normal route through this island. We met a very nice Australian couple from Queensland and also some honeymooners from the UK. After exchanging numbers and emails we went our separate ways; we went south whilst they hit the road towards our last destination.

Fox Glaciers impressed us even more; jumping over big rocks to climb to the other side of the stream underneath a gushing waterfall and turquoise water pits looked too inviting to give it a pass. I had to stick my feet into the icy water. I have never experienced anything that refreshing. The water must have been close to freezing; I could not keep my feet in longer then a couple of seconds.

Again the glacier was only to look at and we weren’t allowed to touch or climb on it, but the journey was the best part anyways. One thing that was very astonishing was to see pictures of the glaciers from the 1930’s which showed how big and how far into the valley this glacier used to be, global warming has left its mark…

We hit the road again to drive thru Wanaka, but stayed at a camping ground at Lake Hawea for the night. We woke up to a wonderful lake view in the morning, which set the scene for the rest of the day as we drove thru more mountains and past lakes to get to one of NZ most visited towns – Queenstown.

I really liked Queenstown, so many tourists... We took a cruise on Lake Wakatipu and our captain told us, that an average of 4500 new visitors come to Queenstown on a daily basis. Even though the town only has 14,000 people living there, another 16,000 visitors join them making around 30,000 people all up on average. So Queenstown has more visitors then locals! We indulged in some seriously yummy food whilst in Queenstown. One of our destinations was the pub on the wharf, which has a fantastic menu. The next day we also visited the Fergburger, the busiest hamburger place I have ever seen. The burgers were huge and very tasty, whilst the atmosphere was very hype and fun. A great place to wait for your burger and watch people…

Before we went on the cruise, we made it up to the top of the mountain on a gondola. My partner is terrified of heights and was very relieved when he could feel ground under his feet. He had no hesitation though when it came to the luge ride. An 800m gravity fed ride on a little cart was a very fun pastime. I tried to film my ride but failed miserably to film anything other then my shoes as you have to hold on to the handles with both hands so the brakes don’t apply. Once you let go of the handle the whole thing stops.

The view was amazing from the top of the mountain and I even got to touch some leftover snow, which was quickly used up for a little snowball fight.

After two days of Queenstown adventures we head up to Mount Cook… more next time.