Day 44 – 45 : Fox Glacier – “Worst hot chocolate. Ever.”By Lee

The majority of the day is spent sitting in hope. Hope that I don’t spew all over myself.

Six hours south and we pass through New Zealand’s numerous and varied climate zones. The trip itself is thankfully non-descript with only a mild feeling of nausea intensified whenever I try to read for long periods. With the west coast of the country tearing along beside us, hammered by giant waves that appear to break just at the edge of the very road the bus is taking, we’re treated to some truly epic scenery.

We doze and amuse ourselves by either catching up on TV shows we’re missing back home or playing numerous PSP games which induce only a milder form of stomach-churning sickness than what trying to read on a bouncing coach does.

Fox Glacier (note: it’s GLASS-cier, not GLAY-cier apparently) is a half-a-horse town hidden in the shadows of its namesake, an impressive and ever-moving floe of ice guarded by ice-capped mountains from every angle. Reaching dizzying heights, the peaks encircle the speck of buildings below, hiding the gelid wonder somewhere within. The town (or, more accurately, townlet – considering it’s literally two restaurants, a petrol station and two backpacking residences) pretty much exists for one singular purpose: to enable helicopter pilots the ability to set down and pick up tourists before sweeping back into the mountain ranges.

For us Fox Glacier merely serves as a handy half-way point between Nelson and Queenstown/Wanaka. We check-in to the small but pleasant hostel and spend our time in the area enjoying the view and the food. Well, not the hot chocolate – we didn’t enjoy that.

With night fully enveloping the area, we walk a little out and away from the offending glare of the few lighted establishments and into near complete darkness. The night sky is peppered with an abundance of stars, an eerie neon electric glow touching the mountains’ stark outline, the remnants of the now departed day illuminating their black edges in a soft azure shroud.

Though the mountains are exceptionally impressive, we have long ago decided not to partake of the glacier walk. We saw glaciers back in Iceland and we’re a little jaded from all the journeying to willingly get in a helicopter and be whisked off into a frozen environment we no longer have adequate garments for. The next morning we board for Wanaka.

Tags: Fox Glacier, Trip