Grabbed some more groceries for our lovely kitchen in the boot (trunk) and we are on our way down the west coast of the south island of NZ! It is 469 kms from Nelson to Franz Josef (not including a stop for a Monteith's beer at the brewery in Greymouth).
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| Not a bad view as you drive |
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| These one lane car bridges were a real treat! |
Our attraction to Franz Josef was due to the two glaciers near the town, Fox and Franz Josef glaciers. In case you haven't brushed up on your geological skills lately, a glacier is a large persistent body of ice originating on land. A glacier forms in a location where the accumulation of snow and sleet exceeds the amount of snow that melts. Over many years (maybe even decades or centuries), a glacier will eventually form as the snow compacts and turns to ice. (Thanks Wikipedia!). Anyway, the glaciers were our next destination :) New Zealand is so unique in this way...you can swim in the ocean, climb in the mountains, hit up the vineyards and see the glaciers...all in a few days!
We went to Lake Matheson before going to see the glaciers. On a clear day you're supposed to be able to see the reflection of Mount Cook and Mount Tasman in the water.
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| Lake Matheson |
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| It was beautiful...our view just had a few more clouds over the mtns :) |
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| Bri being Bri |
Now off to Franz Glacier.
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| Unfortunately, it was too dangerous to hike any closer due to the rain the night before...but here it is! |
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We tried to hike in another way to get a different view...this picture does zero justice to the height and distance of this bridge.
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| It was a bit of a jungle in there |
Next stop: Wanaka...lovely lovely Wanaka.
Cheeeeeeeeers!
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