Rest day

Very bad weather at Franz Joseph today so no helicopters flying hence no heli trek for us. Very disappointing but understandable as we are travelling the south island of NZ in winter so this will happen. It wasn't raining, only quite windy in the morning, so Chloe and Larry did the walk to the start of the glacier.  Came all this way so a shame not to get relatively close to it. Kate and Jenny, who have been to the glaciers before, stayed home and relaxed in the warm unit.  It was an interesting walk and quite easy but we had to be careful with the river stones as you have to walk in the dry river along the path that the Park Rangers set. A few waterfalls along the way and nice scenery even though it was overcast.

The Glacier

We got nearly to the base of the glacier but the track became more difficult and with bad weather threatening, we turned back.

The river bed that we walked along:

 

Larry and Chloe then headed back to our unit via a couple of stops in the town to pick up lunch. By the time the intrepid hikers walked in the door the rain had started in earnest, the wind picked up and it has been like that the rest of the day and night so far.

We are warm and dry in our unit watching all of the Lord of the Rings movies. Not a bad way to spend a rest day as we have been on the go for a while and another long day in the car to get to Queenstown tomorrow.

Hearty home made spag bol for dinner and half a bottle of red wine topped off the day.