Fox Glacier

Today was amazing! When we woke up, it was still really foggy, and at check-in, they told us they were still deciding whether the glacier trip would happen. I was glad we were the second group scheduled to go up.

We headed across the road for breakfast and returned at our designated time. After the safety briefing, we were given waterproof pants, jackets, socks, boots, gloves plus a waterproof bag to carry any personal items. Then, we were off!

Our group of 16 required four helicopter trips to get everyone to the glacier. Once we arrived, we split into two groups of eight. Side note: I love helicopters! On the way up, the pilot dropped the helicopter in sideways between two peaks, which was incredible. The 6-minute flight felt way too short.

Once we all had our crampons on, we started our hike up the glacier. The sun hadn’t reached the mountain ridge yet, so everything had a beautiful blue hue. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as cold as I expected—I'd brought a jacket, but didn’t need it. Bart ended up taking his off during the hike.

The pace was pretty slow, and our guide had to stop occasionally to break up the ice with his pick due to yesterday’s rain. We got to explore some crevices and small caves. Water was flowing everywhere. When the sun finally rose, it warmed up quickly.

We filled our water bottles with glacier water, which we just finished off—sadly, it’s gone now!

Before we knew it, it was time to head back down to our helicopter flight back.

Afterward, we stopped at Lake Matheson for lunch, and I took a quick walk around the lake. Honestly, it wasn’t worth it—the clouds had rolled in, hiding Mt. Cook, so the usual reflections in the lake were nowhere to be seen, and the lake itself wasn’t very visible either. Most of the walk was through rainforest, which reminded me of Tasmania’s trails.

Next, we headed to Franz Josef for the night, and we ended up in the nicest accommodation we’ve had so far!Read more