Once we arrived on the South Island of New Zealand, I knew that I wanted to visit one of the major glaciers: Franz Josef Glacier or Fox Glacier.
After a little researching, the most common opinion seemed to be that Fox Glacier is much less crowded and touristy, despite the town and glacier being of a comparable size, so of course we opted for that one.
We took the Naked Bus from Greymouth (and breathed a big sigh of relief to be leaving) and rocked up to what would ultimately turn out to be one of the worst hostels we’ve ever stayed in (and we’ve stayed in a LOT). The rooms smelled of mould, as did the bathrooms, and the bed sheets felt damp and clammy. Luckily we were only there for one night, choosing to spend one day visiting the glacier and this turned out to be a perfect amount of time.
When planning this trip, I had always envisaged climbing on a glacier in New Zealand, or doing a heli-hike. After pouring over other peoples’ photos on Facebook and online, it looked like great fun, if a bit cold and hard work. But once we got there, and I found out that you could actually walk up close to the glacier face for free, I changed my mind. The cost of the organised climbs were just too expensive for our budget after we had splashed out on other expenses.
And I didn’t regret my decision.
We set off mid-morning and walked all the way to the glacier from the centre of town, which is around a 40 minute walk. The scenery along the way was breathtaking and made the walk pass by even quicker.
We even spotted a few waterfalls, something which had eluded us earlier in the trip, when we got lost in our campervan trying to find Bridal Veil Falls on the North Island. Feeling vindicated, we trudged on to the glacier.
Seeing groups of tourists indicated that we were going the right way and after hopping over some rocks and climbing a slight incline, we turned a corner and there it was – the edge of the glacier staring straight back at us.
To think that an area of ice that big could carve its way through the valleys was mindblowing, and the surrounding scenery provided the perfect backdrop to the sunny day’s photos.
On the way back through the car park we saw a Kea bird which was entertaining the crowds by posing for photos. As cute as the little guy was, there were warning signs all around the area warning people not to feed them as they are very “curious” birds and will investigate anything you may have – including backpacks and cars, doing some serious damage!
As we made our way back to the hostel, we noticed a small walkway along one side of the road and decided to cross over to see what was behind it. We were confronted with a stunning river flowing between the mountains and although I had to conquer my fear of walking along rickety wooden bridges to view it (maybe too many Indiana Jones movies as a child?), it was one of the best and unexpected detours we have ever taken.
Although some would argue that a heli-hike or glacier climb is the only way to see Fox Glacier in all its glory, I would have to say that for free, you can experience some truly breathtaking sights just by walking up to the glacier face yourself.
Read about the good, the bad and the ugly of my travels in New Zealand
Leave a Reply