Tues 26 Jan - The Glaciers

For some unknown reason we had thought that the only way to the glaciers was by official vehicle, so the previous afternoon had booked a tour to the Franz Josef Glacier. When we got on the minibus, which was full of backpackers, we found it drove us up to the car park that we could just as easily driven to in our MPV and deposited us to walk the remaining couple of miles to the glacier terminus! Nevermind, you live and learn! So we walked up to the base of the glacier that was a fantastic experience and needless to say took many pictures.
After lunch back in the village and a long session in the Department of Conservation visitor centre we headed over to the other glacier in the area, the Fox Glacier. This was on a much smaller scale, both in terms of the village and viewpoints for the glacier, so having become all glaciered out we headed for Lake Matheson which was alleged to have some great viewing points of the glacier from a distance. After some more walking we got the required pics and returned to a very impressive new café/restaurant and craft shop at the car park. It should be mentioned here that paying for parking is a very unusual event in New Zealand. Apart from on–street parking in Wellington we have never had to pay for parking anywhere and there haven’t been any of those pesky cameras around!
Christine asks me to include a piece of culinary detail for those of you into this sort of thing: her Caesar Salad at a restaurant/bar in Franz Josef that evening included two poached eggs sitting on top. Needless to say the restaurant management was made aware of this peculiarity!