South Island Extravaganza

The Fox Glacier on the west coast of the South Island.

This glacier originates on Mount Cook, which is New Zealand’s highest mountain. The west coast is one of the wettest areas in the world. Even in summer, most of this precipitation falls as snow at altitude. This has lead to the formation of some very large and fast moving glaciers. This particular one almost reaches sea level, even though it rarely snows down here. This and the next batch of pictures were taken on a two-week trip to the South Island in March 2007.

We visited the West Coast, walked the Milford Track as well as staying at Akaroa and Arthur’s National Park.

The main reason for the trip was to walk the Milford Track. This is billed as one of the best walks in the world. Personally I am not sure its reputation is justified, though it is certainly up there. The track starts at Lake Te Anau and ends at Milford Sound on the West Coast. The walk takes 4 days/3 nights to complete. Check out the link (http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/trackandwalk.aspx?id=36688) for more information.

Akaroa is on the East Coast and is on a peninsula near Christchurch. This was one of the big surprises of the trip. In my humble opinion most NZ towns don't have much character. This is certainly not the case with Akoroa. The town was originally founded by the French and still has some of its original character and charm. This was a great place to unwind.

Arthur’s Pass is a very small settlement located in the heart of the Southern Alps. It is the launching point for some very serious and demanding tramps. We settled for some rather less demanding day walks.