February 07, 2019
The itinerary for today was to drive south and inland to the town of Franz Josef Glacier (1 hour 40 minutes estimated drive time). We woke up to mostly cloudy weather in Hokitika. After we checked out of the room, our first stop was Lake Mahinapua. The side road to the lake was through a pretty fern forest. There we got our first good views of the Southern Alps, although some of the mountains were partially obscured by the clouds.
Back on the main road, we drove to a bridge that crossed the Whataroa River. Finally I got to see nice glacial blue water. There was a side road near the bridge that led to an I-site and a spot where helicopter rides to the glaciers were offered. At the I-site we obtained a nice map of the Frank Josef and Fox glacier areas. I walked down to the bank of the river to snap some photos of it and the surrounding mountains.
Our next stop was Franz Josef glacier. The side road to the car park traveled up the glacial valley and was slow going since it contained repeated sections where the road went to one lane. I think it was done intentionally to force drivers to slow down.
It was about a 45-minute walk on a fairly easy trail to the closest view of the glacier. For many years the glacier has been slowly retreating, so the end of the walk does not get up to the head of the glacier. But we had nice views of it, especially through binoculars. Close up we were able to see the jagged sections of blue ice. We were lucky upon arrival to get a partial clearing of the clouds, so there was a bit of blue sky. On the trail we passed multiple waterfalls, some very close to the trail. They were fun to watch and I took several videos.
Back at the car park, we took another short trail to Peters Pool. It was only a 15-minute walk to the pool. The still water of the pool offered a nice reflection of mountains in the background. Even though it was still mostly cloudy, it was beautiful.
Since it was still early in the day we decided to drive further south to see Fox Glacier. It was about a half hour drive from Franz Josef on a twisty steep road. There was a lot of road construction near the entrance to the glacier, and we found out that many of the trails were closed. The main trail to the glacier was also being redone. Access to the glacier was via a very steep and unpleasant hike up a temporary trail on top of the glacial moraine. In addition the weather was not cooperative. It was very cloudy and the views of the glacier were unexceptional. I did not think the hike or the time spent at Fox was worthwhile, and I would not go there again until the construction is finished and the other trails are reopened.
We drove back north to the town of Franz Josef Glacier and checked into the Franz Josef Montrose hostel. We were pleasantly surprised to find that we had a private bathroom and small refrigerator in our room.
We decided to eat out that evening. The Full of Beans cafe was within walking distance of our hotel. I had an avocado and bacon burger that was huge and delicious. We also had a side order of chips and beer.
Our hotel was very close to the Terrace Walk that was on the south side of town. The map that we had obtained at the I-site said this was a place to see glowworms! We walked there at dusk to see them scattered all throughout the side of the trail. They like bogs and stumps, dank weather, and overhangs. It was fun to see them once again.
