New Zealand: Fox Glacier

From Dunedin we overnighted in Cromwell, instead of going to Queenstown, in order to change buses for the west coast. This time we based ourselves in Fox Glacier. We had some decent weather for hiking.

• Fox Glacier South Side Walkway & Moraine Walk: Easy walk to see the glacier, still pretty far.
• Copland Track to Copland and Karangua Rivers Viewpoint and back: Super fun, lots of water crossing. We had to take our boots off to wade across the knee deep creek at the trailhead.
• Fox Glacier View POint & Lake Matheson Track & Lake Gault Track: not much view of snow capped mountains, very cloudy.
• Te Weheka Walkway & Minnehaha Walkway: the old track that went right to the glacier, but was destroyed by an avalanche.

Since all the walks are in the rainforest, I finally had my fill of temperate rainforest.

The bus ride from Cromwell to Fox Glacier was more than scenic! With lakes, rivers, west coast beaches and cliffs, waterfalls, and snow-capped mountains.










Fox Glacier South Side Walkway & Moraine Walk. Check out how the rainforest transitions to a glacier.








Walking the Copland Track was epic and fun, starting with a water crossing (Rough Creek - 2nd below) where we are not only fighting the current but ferocious sand flies as well (sorry, no dramatic pics). Our walk was out and back. The photos below are in chronological order.
























Lunch Spot View at the confluence of the Copland River (L) and Karangarua River (R).












We hitchhiked to the "Te Kopikopiko o te Waka Peak" View of Fox Glacier. Awesome!


Then on to the Lake Gault and Lake Matheson Circuit, with the highlight, Reflection Lake, not so reflective in the breezy surface conditions.










The Te Weheka Walkway and Minnehaha Walkway trails start right in town, and the turn around has a view to the largest active landslide in New Zealand (4th below).