The Coastal Glaciers

Next up--nights 4&5--is the beginning of the West Coast, as the west coast of the South Island from Milford Sound north is known. The drive from Wanaka to the two famous glaciers on the West Coast, Fox and Franz Josef, is supposed to be great, and while we occasionally got some spectacular glimpses (particularly around Lake Hawea and once we scrambled out of the mountains and arrived on the Tasman Sea), we also lost a lot of views to the clouds and fog. Still a fun/challenging/difficult drive, though. On the way was the cloudy coastal vista in the picture here. While Big-Sur like itself, this is just a teaser for what's to come from the spectacular West Coast drive north of the glaciers.

Once you get to the glaciers, there are three big attractions to take in: views of Aoraki (otherwise known as Mt. Cook), Fox Glacier, and Franz Josef Glacier (area #4 on the map below). I'll put them in separate posts. Aoraki is featured here. The views are from the Lake Matheson area, known for its famous postcard-like (and plain-old postcard) scenes.