New Zealand – Franz Josef / Fox Glacier & Gillespie’s Beach – 9th Dec

We were at the skydive office in Franz Josef nice and early only to receive the information that we wouldn’t be skydiving that morning!! We thought as much because the cloud was low! Instead of committing to a dive that day we said we would be in touch if we felt the weather was changing enough for us to warrant spending the $399 it would cost for the skydive. They also have a strict cancellation policy with 50% of the cost of a dive lost if you cancel the same day. We didn’t want to commit to that!

So we explored the glaciers at both Franz Josef and Fox Glacier Village. The Franz Josef Glacier is perhaps the more visually appealing as we had good views unto the top of the glacier area, even through broken cloud we got a good perspective on the scale of the glacier. The walk takes about 45 minutes from the carpark and we hung around at the viewing area waiting for some more clear sky so the sun could shine through. This didn’t happen so we made a move back to the van and onwards to Fox Glacier. As a village this is perhaps the prettier of the two alpine resorts, we felt it has a more relaxed pace and enjoyed our afternoon working on the blog at the Hobnail Cafe.

Later on we drove to Gillespies Beach having decided to hold off on the skydive. It’s quite a drive along a gravel track heading towards the beach from Lake Matheson, there is a DOC camping area at the end of the track very close to the pebble beach. When we got there we were one of around 5-6 campers already parked for the night and by the evening the parking area was full and more tents popped up. This is a free campground so that explains it’s popularity but it is in a very beautiful location.

Before long Uta and Oliver arrived and we shared a lovely evening meal together, this was followed with a walk out onto the pebble beach which in itself is wild and wonderful. The sunset was captivating and after a while the clouds lifted and we could see the mountain ranges ahead. It was truly wonderful! We fought off the hoards of sandflies and lit a fire alongside the ocean. Pretty poetic!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

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