Franz Josef

Hiked as close as possible to Franz Josef glacier today (about 300 meters away from the terminus).  You can only get onto this glacier by helicopter and people were ferried onto and off of the glacier all day.  The helicopter noise didn't add to our enjoyment of a beautiful place.  The walk in was different from our northern hemisphere experiences because you go from thick rainforest, to rocky riverbed, to glacier, rather than from alpine environment to riverbed.

Then took a hike up Canavans Knob, a granite "bump,"now covered with vegetation.  From one side there are lovely glacier views and from the other, views of the Tasman Sea.

We twisted and climbed and descended the 20 km. to the village at Fox Glacier, where we'll spend the night.  We're booked for a 4 hour hike on Fox tomorrow morning - no helicopter required :-).