Day 20: Monday, March 10, Franz Joseph Glacier

Glacier pictures are coming, so watch for an update to this post.

Today was an early morning. We hit Lake Matheson in the morning and we were certainly not alone. Lake Matheson is surrounded by trees and reeds, and the result is a glassy calm early in the morning until the wind disturbs the waters. Mt. Cook can be seen in the reflections, pictures of the lake show up in a lot of postcards. There were some hiccups in our morning routine so we got there a little later than we were aiming, but the view was still good. We also saw some Smurf-blue mushrooms.

The Fox and Franz Joseph glaciers are about 23 km apart on the western coast. We stayed near Fox, but the next day William and I climbed on Franz Joseph. They don’t allow anyone on the glacier without a guide, so we were in a group of 11 climbers plus a guide. Six of the 11 (including us) were Americans, which is the largest proportion of Americans I’ve encountered as far as I can remember. To get to the glacier we had to walk about 1.5 km along the rocky riverbed left by the glacier’s retreat. Until three months ago you simply walked around a bend in the river; three months ago the river (which is just the melted glacial water) changed course and makes this impractical.

In a natural ice cave on the glacier.

Now you climb over a hill and down the other side to continue your walk. In parts of the walk you just walked along creekbeds. When we got to the glacier we put on crampons (metal spikes for better grip on ice) and up we went. We saw lots of ice formations and colors associated with glaciers, but we also had a great time just jumping around on the glacier. Plus, let’s face it, stomping around on 200m-thick ice is always a novelty for two Texans.

Franz and Fox are two of only three glaciers that are surrounded by temperate rainforest. They are also unusual for their latitude; the equivalent latitude in the northern hemisphere is about the top of Ohio, I think. Fox Glacier was named for the first tourist to visit in 1872 if I am to believe the back of a postcard.

Looking into the valley from the glacier. TAMU MechE's, represent!

We followed SOP and used the restrooms before we headed out of Franz and on to Hokitika. The toilets were a tourist stop in themselves. We have encountered several automatic toilets, but this one takes the cake. There is a control panel outside with LEDs indicating whether the toilet is vacant, occupied, or out of service. A push of a button opens a elevator-style sliding door. After you walk in a voice tells you to push another button to close the door and electronically lock it. You get to listen to relaxing music in the background while you do your thing. If it involves toilet paper, push a button to dispense it; in one toilet it gave you exactly and only two squares per push. When you are done, pushing the button to unlock and open the door also flushes the toilet for you. You have to be sure that you are quick, because if you are in longer than ten minutes an alarm will sound and the door will open. (According to the toilet, it’s the “loiter alarm.”) The total effect is as if I stepped from a tiny, rough mountain town into the loo of the Enterprise.

Customized license plates are really popular here. The standard plate is five or six black block letters with nothing else. If you get a customized plate, however, you control not only the plate number/letter combo, but also any text above or below. One example was a plate that said something to the effect of “We love our NO1DAD for all he does.” The official plate is NO1DAD. Another common example is a license plate that advertises your business, like a plate NZRUBY that had a website underneath for its gemstone store.