We headed for the Fox and Franz Joseph glaciers in the am and saw the Pancake Rocks on the way down the coast. These are rocks that have been pushed up from the sea floor and for some reason (they still have experts a bit stumped) erosion created grooves in the rock that make them look like a stack of pancakes.
We stayed that night in Franz Joseph but drove to Fox that afternoon to see the Fox Glacier and also walk around Lake Matheson which has a great view of Mt. Cook. We did the walk in the late afternoon so it was very peaceful and we saw and heard a lot of birds. We were able to catch a few glimpses of Mt. Cook when the clouds shifted. Apparently it takes pure luck to see the peak without a cloud cover. We met and Austrian guy who had been camping out for three days trying to get the perfect picture and he was prepared to stay several more days.
We then walked up to the bottom of the Fox Glacier which was cool to see, but did not compare to the next day when we were actually on the glacier.
We had dinner at a cafe, sitting on a terrace with an incredible view of the mountains. Once again, beautiful!
Spent the next day on a glacier walk on the Franz Joseph Glacier. This is actually one of the coolest things I have ever done. We were ice talons on our boots and walked all over the glacier and in the crevasses and ice caves. We had a beautiful sunny day, so it was surprisingly warm. The walk could be tricky at times, either steep or only one place for your foot, lots of jumping over gaps... We had to climb ladders, use ropes to pull ourselves up really steep parts and walk over those scary bridges they showed in the Everest movie over the deeper crevasses! The water was pure, we filled up our water bottles from the streams on the glacier. This walk was a huge highlight of my trip so far.
The people in our group were really nice and we have continued to run into many on our trip down the coast. After a beer with a couple from the group, back in the car to again make our drive the following day shorter. Next stop, Queenstown...
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