My friend Helen arrived on Wednesday, past midnight, and after a catch-up chat we got to sleep in order to get up bright and early on Thursday for our flight to Westport. I still can't work out whose bright idea it was to put an airport in Westport, which is a tiddly little town with one main street at the north end of the West Coast. Helen was a bit nervous to discover we were in a very small plane, but she relaxed once we'd taken off. It was a gorgeous clear day and the views across the South Island were just spectacular - right across the Richmond ranges towards Christchurch and Arthur's Pass National Park. Stunning.
In Westport we had breakfast and waited for the coach, which took us to Greymouth (the rental car places are all in Greymouth, not Westport). It was a fairly short journey and we stopped for 45 minutes at Punakaiki, where can be found the famous Pancake Rocks. They're layered, like a stack of pancakes. The sea comes in with tremendous force, creating blowholes. It's pretty impressive.
Back in the coach, we headed to Greymouth and picked up our car, and got on the road south towards the glaciers. On the way we stopped in Hokitika, where there's not a lot going on but there was a tree on the beach:
By evening we'd checked into our backpackers in Franz Josef - a cute little town. We stayed for the free soup they put on every night and then went for a walk to see glowworms. They were right at the end of a dark forest path, under a boulder and in the trees - we were glad we saw them, because we thought for a moment they weren't there!
Up early again the next day to drive the 25km to Fox Glacier. Fox village is a bit smaller than Franz, and the glacier is accordingly quieter. Plus R&E had recommended the Fox guides. We got equipped with boots and packs and so on, by our two guides - great ratio, two guides to the two of us! The boots were heavy plastic ones designed for the ice, which weighed a ton. Another short drive to the glacier car park and then we had a hike up to the ice proper, as you have to get on to it further up from the terminus because it's too steep where the glacier currently ends. Once at the glacier we donned crampons and harnesses and hats, and set out on to the ice!
Walking on ice is pretty tricky until you get the hang of it; you have to stomp your feet flat down. The guides create paths and steps in the glacier, mainly for the half-day walking trips, and have to keep making new ones because the glacier moves so fast (about 30cm a day) and melts and reforms. You can just see the steps to the left of this picture.
We did some easy climbs to start with on an ice wall - first just with crampons, and then with picks, and then the guides put out a rope and I belayed Helen while she climbed, and then we swapped over. It got easier each time. Tough on all of you though, legs and arms and we both bruised our legs scrambling over overhangs.
We had lunch, and then the guides put ropes out again next to a deep hole in the ice. And I mean deep. And also narrow. Here's me, being lowered into the hole.
And here's the hole, with me in it, though you can't see me!
And me trying to climb out.
The ice was really hard down there though, and I slipped a couple of times - thank heavens for the rope! It was just very difficult getting any sort of grip with crampons or picks.
After that effort Helen had a go, and then the guides practised rescuing her from the same hole. Then we explored some caves and crevasses.
Glacier and ice pics:
More tomorrow, from the journey across Arthur's Pass.
More pictures at Flickr.
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