Franz Joseph Glacier: the ice and the town

Wed 10 Feb - Fri 12 Feb: Franz Joseph Glacier

Driving on south down the west coast we came to the first of two glaciers, each of which comes with its own dedicated tourist town.  We didn't walk all the way up to the glacier, but we did get close enough to get some good pictures.

Note the red flowers of the southern rata tree covering the slopes to the left of the glacier.

The place was buzzing with helicopters.  About every ten minutes one or another of the four or five tour operators would fly over with 2-4 people on the way up to land on the glacier.

Here is a beautiful calm pool along the trail reflecting the mountain.

And here is a beautiful calm botanist reflecting on the flora.

This telephoto shows the mouth of the meltwater tunnel at the face of the glacier.  It's dirty and not all that pretty when you get right up close to it.