Sloppy Chic

After our Whale Watch in Kaikoura, we left the town and headed to our next destination, which was the most strenuous activity in our itinerary – Fox Glacier Walk.

Town – Greymouth.

Before reaching the Fox Glacier, we had to stop by a town for a night because the journey was really long and the sky turned dark as early as 6pm. So we needed a place to rest for the night.

As you can see from the picture, Greymouth is almost a dead town! There were not many shops on the street (with 30% of them have been closed down).

The main street was even quiet in the morning! It is a really pity that the town is now deserted. It was a busy pier back then.

Since there was nothing much to see, so we left at about 8am to our destination – Fox Glacier.

In the South Island, there are 2 glaciers which are: Fox Glacier and Franz Joseph Glacier.

You can opt to have heli-hike or hike up this mountains.

We booked a Half Day Glacier Walk through their website earlier, which is about 4.5 hours of walk. The tour cost us NZD$99/pax which included the rental of boots and crampons. Or even raincoat if you want.

Our lunch at the cafe in Fox Glacier shop. Hot chocs are all pretty there!

Japanese fried rice and a jumbo sausage roll. It tasted exactly like luncheon meat.

Our hike was 1.35pm and a bus sent us to the foot of the mountain from the station.

 

This was our starting point. So far! *gasp* I almost fainted at this point already.

It is a 40-min walk from the ground to the glacier.

The information board for you to read.

We were told that the glacier has receded at least 1-2km over the years. We were glad that we opted the hike option as I don’t think hiking will be possible anymore down the years if the glacier continues to recede.

Every guided tour has a guide that leads and explains the scenery as you hike.

Danger signs before you can hike further. Without a tour, you are not able to surpass a limit where the challenge starts because the rocks can fall anytime!

A backpack is compulsory for you to place your crampons (the spikes that attach to your boots to walk on ice).

As you can see, it is definitely not as easy as you might think. It is rocky and also steep. In fact, it was tougher than I had expected!

I definitely regretted for not exercising daily prior to this hike. And oh, it was my first time hiking too!

The rented boots and crampons. We were told to put it on before we reach the ice.

The climb up hill was really tiring and I had to take off my jacket was I began to feel sweaty.

Hello long walk up!

It was slippery and the path was so narrow that I was not able to place my feet parallely. And part of  the ice was like crushed ice (similar to ice-kacang) and not exactly solid. So as you walk,  it is safer to hold on to the rope at the side to be alive.

When we finally reached the glacier, the view was amazing! I couldn’t help but to feel belittled by the nature.

An obligatory tourist’s shot.

Our guide dug a hole with the axe to show us what’s underneath. And you can just drink the water underneath the ice to keep you youthful.

Yeay we made it in one piece!

It’s safer to have gloves on in case of slipping you can use your hands to grab anything near to keep yourself balanced.

Just when I thought walking up was tough, walking down the ice stairs was even scarier! I wouldn’t even call it walking.. it was more like slipping my way down.

After the long exercise, we finally checked into our motel and settled down.

We were amazed by the view of the motel! It even had a huge LCD TV!

Needless to say, we were starving after the hike and headed to dinner without shower.

There were not many choices for dinner (I think only 2 restaurants opened).

Our dinner for the night. A kid next table shouted in disbelief when I snapped the photos of our food. O_o

We had our breakfast outdoor overlooking the breath-taking scenery. Unfortunately, we had to pack up and leave Fox Glacier after a glorious breakfast (we had Maggie cup noodles and coffee with the beautiful scenery).

The scenery just got even prettier as we drove. Will be sharing in the next post!

And and we discovered 4 Square supermarket in New Zealand!

Read more:
1. Self-Drive Tour: New Zealand South Island Day 1 – Christchurch
2. Self-Drive Tour: New Zealand South Island Day 2 – Whale Watch in Kaikoura