Fox Glacier and Lake Matheson

On February 11 we drove from Westport to Fox Glacier - about a 4 hour drive along the west coast of New Zealand (like the Pacific Coast Highway in California).

Driving along Highway 6...the rock, the lighthouse and the restaurant all line up with the dubloon!

We had a low key evening since we had plans for an excursion on Fox Glacier the next morning. We were really looking forward to this activity and it was a lot of fun! I'll admit, I was a little scared only because of my clumsiness but no falls during this hike - just a couple of scares. The glacier was amazing - so incredibly blue.

Getting ready to hike Fox Glacier

Ice cave behind us...

 Check out the video of some of the roof collapsing:

That's how small people look climbing on it

A little bit of blue skies

More of the glacier

The view looking down

An ice tunnel

Yes, I got to hold the pick axe!

Let me axe you something...is it getting colder here?

Waterfall in the background

Getting our crampon

In an ice crevice

So, 4 hours on the ice and 6 kilometers later, our legs were tired. But we headed to Lake Matheson for a leisurely walk before a nice dinner at Matheson Cafe. And what did we do after this long day? We drove 3.5 hours to the next town, Wanaka.

A natural Black and Tan

Lake Matheson with Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman being blocked by the clouds

Some of the greenery along the walk

Close up shot

Different stages of the fern