A few weeks ago, we took advantage of the nice early Autumn weather to drive to Fox Glacier. From where we are in Greymouth the journey took nearly 3 hours but there was some amazing scenery on the way which made it a bit more interesting.
This is very popular place for tourists and after we passed the Waiho Bridge we were able to get a far off distance view of the glacier.
Once we parked the car in the busy carpark we were able to walk a very short distance along a path, about 15 minutes.
The glacier was originally given it's name by Aotearoa's prime minister Sir William Fox. According to Māori history the glaciers were formed after the sky father Rangi froze the tears of Hine Hukatere who was weeping her beloved's death after he was carried by a fast flow of snow when they were out climbing the mountains. Her final resting place is known as Fox Glacier and the frozen tears are known as Franz Josef Glacier.
The glacier itself is 300m above sea level and it has been retreating for the last 100 years with an average rate of about a metre a week. In the photo you can see the glacier in the distance with the river in the foreground. Where the sign is above it was fenced off completely so no one could go any further for obvious safety reasons. An interesting experience.
11 comments:
The scenery is truly gorgeous!
Certainly a strange contrast to the surrounding greenery! I'm reminded of a (bus) trip up in the Austrian alps way back in 1990, that's the only time I've come close to a glacier. (We didn't actually go out on the ice though.)
What a beautiful views.
The glacier is retreating very fast! There won't be much left soon. My parents went there on their honeymoon about 80 years ago. They were all dressed up in climbing gear for icy slopes and heavy clothing. I imagine it's a bit different now
Beautiful, sad story behind this, but... Franz Josef... sounds very German. We had a huge politician with that name ( Franz Josef Strauß).
I'm so glad you shared this! You mentioned Fox Glacier in a comment on mine (when we saw the ones in Chile) and I was always going to Google it, but didn't get around to it since I've been trying so hard to get caught up on my blogging. Anyway it is much more fun to read about your visit -- and I learned as much or more than I could have on Google. Thank you so much for the good pictures and the explanation.
Wow. THe path in looks positively tropical! One metre a week - it will disappear eventually? Or does it gain ground in winter? #WWOT
So lush!
Thanks so much for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2024/03/barnegat-lighthouse-on-long-beach.html
...a beautiful area and sad news about the rate that the glacier is retreating!
Thank you for showing me such a great place. Have a great Easter.
Beautiful landscapes!
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