New Zealand's Fabulous Glaciers.
Franz Josef Glacier and a magical helicopter flight up to Mount Cook, flying around various glaciers
and a landing on Fox Glacier.
There are also several bits about walks -Tramping- we did whilst staying at Franz Josef
as well as stuff about the restaurants and shops available there plus the motels
etc..
We stayed at Franz Josef for 3 days at the start of December 2007 - the New
Zealand weather continued to be dry although there were low clouds around the
glacier.
Franz Josef and it's famous Glacier - as well as close neighbour Fox Glacier - are situated
within a fantasticly scenic World Heritage Area on the West Coast of New Zealand's South
Island.
Located in the Southern Alps Franz Josef Glacier is about 12km in length and
ends only 19 km from the Tasman Sea. The glacier is quite unique in that it is
still growing in size due to frequent and very heavy snowfall during the winter.
Apart from the two famous glaciers in the area there are lots more things to do
and see - for instance the coast is not far away and you can have a wander
around beautiful cliffs, forest, coastline and beaches - how about Gillespies
Lake (photo on the right) which was really gorgeous.
Glacier Helicopter Trip. One of the main issues about taking
one of these flights was the really changeable weather locally which can often
prevent the choppers taking off. 
Very low cloud can hug the glaciers and
immediate valleys stopping aircraft movement although the general weather just
away from the glaciers can be gorgeous. We tried to take a flight on our second
day in the morning and were just about to board the aircraft when the weather
closed in and that ended the flying for that day.
The following day nothing flew
at all due to sea fog and low cloud so we pretty well accepted our chance of a flight was gone as we were
leaving for Queenstown the next day. However that next morning we found the
weather bright and clear so rushed down into the village and got ourselves booked on a 10:15
flight.
The helicopter flight was totally brilliant - the pilot took us out into the
Southern Alps to get
extremely close views of Mount Cook and various glaciers and then after a while
we landed on top of Fox Glacier for a few minutes to stand out on the snow and
ice. We then took off and were flown around other parts of the area including a
very close look at Franz Josef glacier before landing back - total flying time
was around 40 to 45 minutes and for guidance the cost was about 250 UK pounds
for us both.
If you do take one of these flights all you can take with you is your camera -
as far as warm clothing is concerned this does really depend on the weather. You
should have an anorak or fleece available with you but the flight staff will advise if
they think they are needed and if not will keep them safe for you - certainly you
do need to have some sort of thick soled boots on for the "glacier walk".
Booking is necessary as there are only so many flights - what you need to do is
reserve your seats for flights on at least the previous day. You do not need to
worry as if the weather/visibility is poor they won't fly you and they don't ask
for a reservation deposit. There are a variety of flight options - the longest
and therefore most expensive is the flight out into the Southern Alps to see the
mountains plus a landing on a glacier, shorter trips just take you up to the top
of the glaciers and may or may not include an actual landing.
Visiting the Glaciers on foot. A dirt track just after the
river bridge outside of Franz Josef village takes you the 5 kms down
to a car park at the bottom of Franz Josef Glacier and from there you have a 45
minute walk along paths and then across a wide stony mostly dry river bed to
reach the base of this glacier.
Note that the dirt track down to the glacier is
really dusty unless it's been raining and is quite heavily used by cars and
buses so this dust is
horrendous - hardly suitable for either walking or cycling. The dirt road down
to Fox Glacier is a little shorter but can be equally dusty - again once parked
you have a shortish walk this time of around 30 minutes to reach the actual base of the glacier.
You can get much
closer to Fox Glacier than you can to Franz Josef's. In both cases it can be
pretty cold out there and you do need to have a fleece and also it's important
to have something decent on your feet - ideally walking boots.
Walks close by or around Franz Josef. There are several walks around but
these are "there and back" - we have described below several we did - note there
is an excellent Tourist Information office in Franz Josef where you can get
leaflets showing various walks. Several paths leave from Franz Josef Glacier car
park and there are also some trails from Franz Josef itself.
Franz Josef Village. Tatare Tunnels and
Gallery Waiho Walk. The track leaves from the end of Cowan
Street - to go to the tunnels you keep straight ahead at a track junction.
The tree-lined track climbs gradually and soon follows a river - eventually the
track becomes a narrow rocky path which climbs quite steeply up to the tunnel
entrance.
You can go inside and explore the tunnel but you are paddling through
several inches of very cold water and with quite low headroom - obviously a
decent torch is essential. One of the things we noted on this walk was the area
really seemed semi-tropical and had high humidity - the various trees and ferns
were excellent.
The Gallery Waiho Walk also leaves from the end of Cowan Street but this time
take the right hand track at the track junction - the leafy track slowly climbs
and then eventually becomes a lovely path going through woodland and ferns.
The path undulates and does cross two small rivers - there is no bridge on either of
these so you have to cross by using the rocks - if it has been raining these two
rivers can be hazardous of course.
The path comes out at Douglas Bridge where
you cross the Waiho River - then you could continue on to Franz Josef Glacier
via Peter's Pool or you can go to the glacier access road - both routes are
clearly marked. Because of the poor walking conditions on the Glacier access road due to
dust the preffered option of making the walk a circular by returning this way to Franz Josef is not
adviseable. This means you either get a lift back from the car park by the glacier or you have
to return the same way.
Lake Wombat. This walk is quite strenuous and it takes about 45
to 50 minutes to get to the lake and around 35 minutes back - this because the
way up is just that - very up. The start is at a small parking area around 1km
before reaching the Franz Josef car park.
There is nothing at all complicated about walking this
very nice but at times really steep path - just lots of really interesting trees and ferns
to look at plus there were all sorts of birds flying about to spot, enjoy and perhaps needless to say
fail to manage to photograph since they would not pose for us nicely.
Lake Matheson. This walk takes around 90 minutes and is
quite easy walking on a well made path. The Lake is located by taking Cook Flat
Road from Fox Glacier towards Gillespies Beach - there is a large parking area
and cafe. This is simply a walk around the lake where on a calm clear day you
get a reflection of Mount Cook in the lake's waters.
Gillespies Beach Walk. This located around 21kms from Fox
Glacier and reached via Cook Flat Road - note around half of the drive down is
on a narrow gravel road which has several tight bends and is quite slippery in
places. The path leaves from the small parking area by the beach and is
signposted - firstly you go through a gorse bordered path to reach some rusty
remains of a gold mining area. From there go left to come out onto Gillespies
Beach - turn right and walk as far as you can see along the beach - this is
quite hard going on pebbles and soft sand. As you reach cliffs you will see
Gillespies Lagoon on the right - follow the path around and then via bridges
across this lagoon.
The path then climbs steadily through trees - this path is
really stoney and you do need something decent on your feet - i.e.
walking boots. At a path junction take the left path which climbs up to
shortly reach a tunnel - at the end of the short miner's tunnel is a viewing
point where you can if lucky spot seals surfing the waves below.
Return to the path junction and turn right to heading towards Galway Beach -
note there is a noticeboard which claims the walk to Galway Beach is 2 hours
return but this is silly - you should expect to take 3 hours assuming spending
20 minutes on the beach.
This beautiful path undulates through timu forest and
is great to walk - small streams and ferns everywhere. You have to take a wooden
ladder down to heavy rocks on the beach itself. This is seal territory and we
did see several of them - you do have to ensure that the seals are not between
yourselves and their place of safety i.e. the sea.
Two things to note - it can be very hot out on the beach and a
hat is essential not least because of the severe UV from the Sun - secondly we
found the beach had the world's supply of sand flies to remember to have spray
repellant handy. You have to return the same way but this is a very nice but
quite tiring walk.
+ + + + + +
Accommodation. We had already booked our stay at the
Glacier Gateway MotorLodge - this is located just a little on the outside of
Franz Josef by the river and it takes about a 7 or 8 minute walk to get into the
small town. We found the Motel's owners really helpful about what to see and do
in the area - also the Motel rooms were clean and comfortable. There is quite a
variety of motel and backpacker's accommodation available in the town as well as
several areas where camper vans can rest for the night.
Eating Out. There are several restaurants available to use in Franz
Josef i.e. you can get proper food with vegetables and so on which made a nice
change - as seemed normal in New Zealand's restaurants you get a huge plateful
of well cooked delicious food from a pretty good selection on the menu - also
lots of wine choice including many Australian wines. Having eaten your main
course it may be a mistake to pick out a pudding for afters since these are of
massive size but they are very tempting. On average we were spending around 80
New Zealand dollars for the two of us on a main course and decent bottle of wine
plus sweet whilst in Franz Josef.
There is a reasonably well stocked supermarket in Franz Josef as well as several
other shops selling clothes and such. Of note also there is a garage in the town
where you can fill up 24 hours a day (using a card during the night).
You may be interested in our New Zealand Home Page
Local Resources.
Glacier Gateway Motor Lodge - Franz
Josef, South Westland, New Zealand 23 serviced units are available, providing guests with clean and
affordable holiday accommodation only a 5 minute stroll from Franz Josef village and renowned local restaurants and cafes.
Alpine Adventures Scenic Flights
Scenic helicopter flights in top South Island locations of New
Zealand, including Southern Alps, Franz Josef Glacier, Fox Glacier, Mount Cook
and Kaikoura whale watching. Private charters for hunting, fishing, heli-skiing,
hiking and film crews.
Glacier Country Lake Tours - Lake Mapourika, Franz Josef, New Zealand
Lake Mapourika eco-cruises and wildlife scenic boat trips in Franz Josef, South Westland for daily lake tours, nature excursions and private cruise charters for bird watching,
fishing and viewing Franz Josef Glacier flora + fauna in a World Heritage area.
www.foxysislandwalks.co.uk
We stayed at Franz Josef for 3 days at the start of December 2007 - the New
Zealand weather continued to be dry although there were low clouds around the
glacier.
