The route from the town of Franz Josef to Fox Glacier is only about 15 miles, with 3 big hills in between. We lazed around in the morning, and then went to the West Coast Wildlife Center, where rare and endangered Kiwis are hatched as part of a multi-pronged recovery program effort that seems to bearing fruit. We saw a couple kiwis up close, but photography is not allowed since it’s in a darkened room and flash would disturb the birds, so no photos of kiwis here! After the kiwi visit, we went to one of the local coffee shops and chatted with a Swiss couple who were also doing the TA after spending a couple months trekking in Nepal. Fox Glacier is a nice town, with a lot of lodging, restaurants and shops. Taking to the road, the hills were not so bad, and we arrived in Fox Glacier in a couple hours, unloaded our gear to lighten our bikes and rode to the glacier overlook. The ride to the overlook added another 7 miles and 500 feet of climbing to our day.
The weather during the day was cloudy with intermittent showers, and so we upgraded our tent site for a cabin when we arrived.
We encountered something here that we’ve seen quite a few times on this trip…a “boil water” advisement due to e.coli being found in the water. It seems that quite a bit of the northland is under a boil water order due to water treatment plants being overwhelmed by rain, but it also seems to be affecting the South Island as well.
Of course, as soon as we upgraded to a cabin, the sun came out but no matter. We had a cabin. And it was great weather to see the glacier, as the clouds parted to let us have a good view.
There was a small restaurant just a few minutes walk from our cabin, so we went there for dinner. The ratings were good, and so was the food and the service!
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