Day 33 Fox Glacier and the Haast Pass

Day 33 Fox Glacier and the Haast Pass

Christmas morning….We mustered (common Kiwi-speak) at seven for a pre-breakfast walk around Lake Matheson, the ‘reflecting’ lake, for spectacular views of Mt Cook before any tour buses arrived…It was a lovely walk with gentle undulations along a forested path with viewpoints at regular intervals.  In Maori, Mt Cook’s name means ‘Cloud Piercer’ and that is exactly what she was doing today….We returned to our hotel for breakfast and to wave off Alex, the one member of our group who decided to risk the helicopter ride over the glaciers. (As Rob says, “I don’t like cable cars….and a helicopter is just a cable car without the cables……”) After breakfast, we hiked up to the terminal of Fox glacier.  It is lovely and blue….just as a glacier should be….but retreating every year and not likely to last much more than another 20 years. Nicole, our guide, showed us where the terminal had been last year…at least two hundred metres further down the valley.  The path is changed annually to take tourists as close as is safe….there have been a number of tragedies involving those who have tried to go even closer….  Alex joined us as we climbed back down, reporting magical scenes from above….she does have some lovely photos….

We then loaded up the bus – Nicole in her light-up Santa hat and my Christmas tree swinging in the windscreen - and followed route 6 south again, stopping at the lovely beach at Bruce Bay for lunch, the viewing area at Knight’s Point  (Before the road was built in the 1960s, this is where cattle destined for the local stations swam ashore…), Thunder Creek Falls (28 metres into a crystal clear stream, where we filled our water bottles) and Haast Gates rapids – before finally navigating the pass itself and hearing more scare stories of people maimed and killed…..Rob has informed Nicole that she really needs to learn some stories that don’t end “..and the bodies were never found…”.

Back on what is known as the ‘East Coast’ we passed glacial lakes, sheep and deer stations and tiny tourist towns as we wended our way to Wanaka – where we will stay for two nights.  Nearly everything in the town was closed for Christmas Day, so Nicole cooked us a traditional New Zealand Christmas meal….really sweet of her…and very good, too….turkey, stuffing, Maori sweet potatoes, salads and the ‘must-have’ dessert…Pavlova with fresh fruit.  It was a fun evening…completed with Secret Santa presents and sparkling wine….Also a lie-in tomorrow – breakfast isn’t until 8:00!