Glaciers

Bacon and eggs for breakfast and then we headed for the West Coast. The drive went via Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka towards Haast Pass and the coast. There were a few scenic stops along the way. When we got to Haast River, we headed north towards Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers.

The access road to Fox Glacier was closed, but looking up the valley we could see it in the distance. We drove another 23 km to Franz Joseph Glacier. The access road was open so we headed towards the car park. There were several walks to choose from. The walk up the valley to the terminus of the glacier took about half an hour going up the rock covered river valley. You have to cross the branches of the stream several times. After rain some of these would have been difficult, if not impossible to cross. As you get to the toe of the glacier you realise how huge it is. At the terminus the ice it is still up to 300 metres thick.


We had about ¾ of a tank of petrol when we left Franz Joseph, and thought that we would get some more on the way back to Wanaka. I had seen a petrol station at Haast River on our way here, so I thought we would get some there on the way back. When we got there it was about 9:00 pm, and it was closed. I looked at the petrol gauge and thought that we should be able to make it back to Wanaka on a ¼ of a tank. That was about 143 km. As we climbed the Haast Pass, I could see the gauge going down quicker than any other time, and the warning light came on when we were only about half way. We still had about 70 km to go, and we had only just hit the edge of Lake Wanaka. We had to follow the shores of this lake, and then along the shores of Lake Hawea, before circling Mount Iron and coming back in to Wanaka. I was watching the gauge the entire way and watching it creep below the E on the gauge. I was trying to coast when possible and to be as light on the accelerator as possible. I was half expecting the car to stop, but at the same time hoping that we would make it to Wanaka, I hoped one of the petrol stations would still be open because I could not guarantee that we would even make it to our accommodation on the other side of the town. Luckily we made it, and one of the two stations was still open.

Daniel was right! We made it to Wanaka at around 10:30 pm.