Friday, April 29th:
After spending 3 amazing days in Queenstown where I sky dived, jet boated, bungy jumped, and ate Ferg Burger 3 times, it was time to continue with the tour and leave the amazing town. We woke up at 6 a.m. because we had to leave Queenstown at 7:15 a.m. Today we were off to Fox Glacier, which is about 5 hours North of Queenstown, and about 5.5 hours West of Christchurch. The bus had to leave this early because we had the opportunity to sign up for a glacier hike in the afternoon, which started at a certain time. If we missed it, then we would have missed out on the opportunity. Once leaving Queenstown, we drove for about 3 hours, and then stopped for afternoon tea. Once refueling, we drove for a little longer and then went to a look-out place with a huge waterfall. Our tour guide taught us a trick while we were at the waterfall. The trick was to stare at the waterfall for 30 seconds, and then look to the trees to the right of the waterfall. If you did this correctly, then the trees looked like they were swaying back and forth. It was crazy because it actually worked! Here are some pictures of the beautiful waterfall we went to.
The next stop was at Knight's Point, which is on the West Coast facing the Tasman Sea. It is a look-out point overlooking the Tasman Sea and all of the wildlife. It was especially pretty that day because we had such great weather and the sea was super calm.
Once leaving Knight's Point, we went to Fox Glacier. We arrived around 1:15 p.m., and only had about 30 minutes to grab lunch before heading to the glacier hike. Fox Glacier is a town of only 400 people, so there were not many places to choose from. The entire town is about one street long, but it is popular place because of the glaciers nearby. I walked into a restaurant and looked inside to see a menu. When looking inside, there were only about 10 people in the entire restaurant, but the restaurant could have held about 100 people. I went to the host and asked her if I could order a sandwich off of the menu, but take it away since I was in a rush. She looked at me, and said, "We normally can do that, but right now we are extremely busy so it is going to take a while." I honestly laughed because there was NO ONE in the restaurant. Then I remembered... the town is only 400 people and 10 people is A LOT of people to them. These are the things you learn about people and other cultures, which is why I love to travel.
I ended up getting lunch from another place, and then headed straight to the building where we got suited up for the hike. They gave us hiking boots and told us to bring a lot of layers because when we got to the glacier, it would be cold. Fox Glacier is especially unique from all of the other glaciers in the world because it is surrounded by a rainforest. There are cliffs surrounding the glaciers, where the rainforest sits. The glaciers were once all the way on top of the cliffs, but over time, they have melted. The hike was 4 hours, and well worth it. I have been on a glacier in Alaska with my grandpa when I was 12, but this was a little different because it was surrounded by a rainforest. The hike was absolutely beautiful, because it was later in the afternoon so we got to see the sunset as well. We hiked through the rainforest for the first hour and the last hour, and were on the glacier for the other 2 hours.
Rainforest surrounding the glacier... This is the end of the glacier:
Before getting on the glacier, the guide gave us crampons and a walking stick. Crampons are traction devices used to improve mobility on snow and ice. We strapped the crampons onto the bottom of our hiking boots so it was easier to walk on the ice. Here is what they look like:
Once we got on the glacier, it was so beautiful. Where we were at, the ice was the oldest part of the glacier, so some parts were really dirty. We had the chance to fill up our water bottles with the fresh glacier water, and even saw crevices and holes in the glacier.
It was a really nice day outside, and was not too cold when we got on the glacier. Here are some more pictures of us on Fox Glacier!
I had a great time on the glacier, and was so glad I decided to do it. It is something that I will always remember doing... hiking a glacier in the middle of a rainforest in New Zealand.
Once we got back from the hike, we went to dinner at the hotel, and then watched the Royal Wedding. Since I was up so early that morning and had such a long day, the 7 of us watched the wedding in the boy's room and then went to bed early that night. Another great day written down in the books :).
Heaps of Love,
Heidi
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