Foxy and Franzy

In a country that so far seems to have every geoogical formation, it should be no shock that there are 2 glaciers about 25 km apart on the west coast. And of course both being glaciers, we had to make some comparisons.

Fox Glacier: We first visited Fox Glacier, the more southern of the two. We did a steep 2 hour climb through lovely native bush with sharp turns across steams, until we got our first drmatic glimpse of the glacier about half way up the mountain. The ultimate lookout point was great, with views of the entire valley left by the receding glacier ringed by sheer cliffs that looked how we imagined Yosemite may have looked 100,000 years ago. Pictures don't adequately capture how steep the ice wall is--its terminal face gives a sense of how the ice chews away the rock. The face is pretty grey--brown, kind of like dirty snow, which I guess it technically is, but above are cathedral-spire blue peaks. On the walk to the actual terminal face of the glacier, we were flanked by masive rock falls that fanned out along the edge of the valley.

Interlude: After our Fox hikes, we decide to squeeze in another hike to nearby Gillespie Beach to see an abandon gold mining operation and a not-abandoned seal colony. We learned a valuable lesson here--carefully study the trail map before setting out. If you don't, you'll end up on a deserted beach walking towards a point for over an hour before turning back convinced this can't actually be a trail, especially as it would be washed away at high tide. Having said that, the pounding surf and the desolation of the place made the walk worth it. Upon returning to the beginning of the trail, we learned that we just needed to walk around the point to reach the miners' tunnel and seal colony. Heavens to Mergatroid!

Franz Joseph Glacier: The first difference we noticed was that Franz was much more visible from the town and seemed larger, stretching back further into the mountains than Fox. We began our exploration by hiking to a viewpoint at the opposite end of the valley. The valley created by Franz is more narrow with less rock falls, but covered with cool red rocks. On our second hike, the approach walk, the glacier was in view the whole time. There's more consistent aquamarine ice, but it lacked Fox's impresive peaks.

So in the final glacial show-down, there is no clear winner--you just have to see them both.

-K & D

You Can Drive a Bus and Give a Commentary

Our very first organized tour was amazing, and probably set an example that will be hard to follow, in large part because of our bus driver Max. To understand the genius of Max, you may need to be familiar with ex-DC United Coach and now color commentator for the spanish soccer league, Ray Hudson.

To give a taste of the Hudson flair for the overdramatic, the following is an example from a Barcellona match we watched recently, where a player made a run for goal, but didn't score:

Ray: Put that boy in handcuffs and a set of shackles...put that boy in a safe...put that safe on a ship...sail that ship into the middle of the ocean...then sink that ship...and the boy would still get out!!!

Keep in mind that the match was still in progress and that the other commentator was trying to talk about what was happening on the field.

OK, now on to our bus driver, Max. To give some more context, Max is a middle-aged guy who grew up on the South Island and became interested in the environment as a young boy of eight, running through the bush at night with a knife and his trusty dog, hunting possums and pigs. As an introduction to an eco-tour focused on the birdlife and geology of Fiordland, we were already impressed.

At our first stop at the Te Anu Birdlife Sanctuary, I couldn't help but crib some notes, and so now present,

'Max's Guild to Birdlife in New Zealand':
Takahe: An endangered flightless bird with a distinctive red beak. When hand-raised, they use a special glove that looks like a takahe, otherwise they found the birds will fall in love with the human hand that feeds them. They can become quite mental.
Kea: NZ's naughtiest bird. World's only alpine parrot and the only bird that can store fat. Smart as dophins. They'll take apart a car in minutes, probably because they're interested in the mechanics. They probably like jazz, too. If you got mad at a kea and wanted to strangle it, you couldn't, they're protected by law...And they know it.
Kaka: Related to the kea, but less naughty. They can still be a bit cheeky.
Tui--NZ's cheekiest bird. They an imitate the call of all 3,000 bird species in NZ. You'll recognize them from the beer label (NZ's 'Milwaukee's Best' is called Tui).

Other interesting facts we learned from Max:
-Shania Twain just purchased one of the largest sheep operations on NZ. She also has a crush on Max.
-On multi-tasking: "Women always say men can't multi-task. Peter Jackson can direct 3 different films in 3 locations at the same time, you can drive a bus and give a commentary, you can iron the clothes and watch the baby."

So not only did we see some amazing sights and learn a bit, we got treated to the incredible storytelling of Max. Thanks!