New Zealand: Clay Cliffs, Fox Glacier, Pancake Rocks, Abel Tasman

I’ll begin this blog post with a few photos from the Clay Cliffs. This hidden gem of New Zealand is only marked by a small road sign between Mt. Cook and the Central Otago region. This region is actually remarkably like the clay cliffs of Utah’s National Parks, but on a much smaller scale. This was a short, but beautiful diversion.

Aside from the mountains, one of the things that I was looking forward to the most from New Zealand was some time walking around on the ice of the Fox Glacier or the Franz Josef glacier on the west coast. We settled on the Fox Glacier, and took a long day hike out with a group. We were led by a guide who cut steps in the ice, and then made our own way with crampons up and down the ice faces. It was absolutely beautiful. I was constantly amazed by how varied New Zealand’s landscape is. Desert-like areas (see above) were only hours from rainforests, semi-tropical beaches, snow capped-mountains, and glaciers.

Blue ice caves some of my favorite glacier features (doesn’t that sound nerdy?). On the Fox glacier it was hard to get to them, since most occured in a section that was moving rapidly and dangerous to access. However, we did get lucky and had one form in a safe location further towards the bottom of the glacier. Belaying through the cave on a rope and then walking out through a crevasse was a thrilling and absolutely beautiful experience.

I finally made it into some photos too. Special thanks to Dean, our glacier guide from Australia, for this great photo.

Just off the Fox Glacier is a small lake called Lake Matheson. On a clear day you are supposed to be able to see Mt. Cook reflected in the background with exceptional clarity due to the high amount of tannins in the water that turn it into an almost perfectly black mirror. When we were there overcast skies cut out the mountains, but still made for some dramatic reflections.

On our way up the coast we stoped at the Pancake rocks, a popular area plagued by tour busses and crowds of people. However, it was a worthwhile 1 hour stop to see these incredible geological formations, and the thunderous surf crashing into the tunnels and blowholes around the cliffs.

We finished our time in the South Island at Abel Tasman National Park. The smallest national park in New Zealand, this little area is known for its pristine coves that seem almost tropical. Beware of the biting sand flies…but if you bring your repellent, or have a healthy dose of wind, this is one beautiful place to enjoy.

That’s it for the south island. I have one last post with photos from the north island coming up!