November 21, 2022

November 21, 2022

It rained again last night. From Greymouth, New Zealand, we drove south along the west coast. After a half hour we reach the town of Hokitika, which is the unofficial Greenstone capital, a type of jade that the Maori prized. They used this hard stone for tools and jewelry. It was found in rivers eroded from the mountains. Aimee thinks downtown Hokitika is very cute.

After this short break we continue south. The road is now straighter passing through flat pastureland with mighty green hills to our left. Unfortunately the rain is not stopping. We used up all our luck.

Two hours later we entered Westland Tai Poutini National Park and the town of Franz Josef. We stop at the park visitor center and learn that there is only one tiny cafe open for lunch in town. There we have hot chocolate and a toasted cheese sandwich.

It is still raining. We have no choice so we drive to the Franz Josef Glacier parking lot and put on all of our rain gear. Rain is in our future for at least the next week, so we need to make sure we are up for hiking in the rain. As the saying goes, there is no bad weather, just poor clothing choices.

It is just a fifteen minute hike out to the only viewing point for the glacier. The longer trail was washed out a few years ago and hasn't been rebuilt. Just as well, as we can barely see the toes of the glacier peeking out from below the clouds. The two glaciers here are some of the few that reach this close to sea level without being in the Arctic. That is because the mountains here are very steep and the region gets inordinate amounts of snow. As a result these glaciers slide down the hill at some of the fastest rates in the world, several feet per day!

Back in the car, we head fifteen miles south to Fox Glacier where we check into our accommodations. It is pouring now. We chill out and use the Internet for an hour. We see a break in the rain, so we don our rain gear again and drive to the Fox Glacier trailhead. We hike for an hour but the rain comes back with a vengeance. Fox Glacier is nowhere to be seen.

Back in town we get gas and walk from our motel room to a nearby restaurant. Aimee’s meal comes with Kumara Fries. We both think they are delicious and much better than the American version.