On the road again.  Here is the trek to Franz Josef Glacier.  Mike and I were just remarking about how glad we are that we decided to drive across this beautiful country.  We really feel like we didn’t miss a thing here on the South Island.  Here is the ride we took (about 4.5 hours) full of lakes and mountains.

Once we reached the West Coast, the scenery went from mountains to lush wet forest, palm trees, and oceans.  All this on the way to a glacier!  Since we left a little later than expected, we hit sunset at the right time near the water.  Once it got dark, we came back inland and got a dose of what everyone was talking about with the “possum” problem.  We hadn’t done much night driving so we didn’t know what to expect.  As we headed into the bush country, we started seeing them…everywhere. They are the size of a large cat and just hang out on the side of the road.  The funny thing is that since they have become such a nuisance, being an introduced species, people started trapping them and using their fur to make clothing.  Now, it is the most expensive fabric around!  Imagine if we made sweaters out of squirrels and skunks?  This is the equivalent, except that possum fur is super soft and great to the touch. Anyway, enough about NZ possum.  I think they are kind of cute but the locals absolutely HATE them:

Here are some high points from the ride to Franz Josef Glacier:

When we got to Franz Josef Glacier, it was dark out and we were exhausted from the ride. I was pretty terrified on the ride not being able to see what was on either side of me…huge gorge?  lake?  cliff?  So instead of going out to eat, we just scarfed some PB&Js and sat down for some tube.  We really got into this documentary on Yellowstone National Park.  Next trip perhaps???

So the next day, we headed out for our glacier hike.  Franz Josef Glacier was named after the Austrian emporer of the same name by the explorer Hasst.  It was about a 45 minute hike which is pretty short. It started in a jungley parking lot and into the trees and bush!  It is incredible that a glacier can be within a mile of really dense rain forest.  ???

When we came out on the other side, there was a huge river bed where the glacier once stood, crushing the rocks beneath it and creating a river.

As we walked the riverbed towards the glacier, the walls of the valley spilled gorgeous waterfalls.

And the remnants of a wild rushing river pushing through rock over time were all around us:

The glacier has receded quite a bit over time but above the line, where you can’t really see, it still fills entire valleys. This is called the “tongue” of the Franz Josef Glacier.

We got on the road after this to get to our next destination.  Punakaiki Pancake Rocks!  Huh? You’ll see!