16 Jan Saturday

Day 10 - Fox Glacier day trip - Franz Josef (B/L/D) Country Retreat

• Half day guided glacier tour, including transfers
• Lake Mathieson, a tranquil mirror lake.
• Half day free

Fox Glacier

The Fox Glacier - Te Moeka o Tuawe in Maori is a 13 km long glacier located in Westland National Park. Originally named Prince Albert Glacier by von Haast in 1865 and renamed in 1872 after a visit by the then Prime Minister of New Zealand, Sir William Fox. Fed by four alpine glaciers, Fox Glacier falls 2,600m on its 13km journey from the Southern Alps down to the coast, with it having the distinction of being one of the few glaciers to end among lush rainforest only 300 metres above sea level. Although retreating throughout most of the last 100 years, it has been advancing since 1985 at an average of about a metre a week. The outflow of the glacier forms the Fox River. During the last ice age, its ice reached beyond the present coastline, and the glacier left behind many moraines during its retreat Lake Matheson formed as a kettle lake within one of these. The road to Franz is 15.5 miles ( 24 km) and winds through native forest and over the three saddles of height 1,015 ft to 1,315 ft across the Weheka Hills. There used to be 365 bends on this section of road, with mirrors placed on the more dangerous corners, of which one still remains.