We woke up before the sun and even left before the sun came up (amazing for us). We had a scare with Fiona's VW, it seemed to be stuck in park even though her foot was on the parking break that should turn off the censor and allow us to change gears (a similar problem I had that didn't turn out as well as today). But her car must have just been cold, because we ended up just fine. We drove along the serene coastline, it was truly stunning. We came to Punakaiki, an area known for its rocks and blowholes. The rocks here have been given the name "Pancake rocks" because of the sediment layers in their appearance (they look like a stack of pancakes). The blowholes spit water from the sea below up over your head usually, but we arrived during low tide and didn't see many blowholes. The views were incredible, and the bright morning sun hits the water and rocks bringing out their deep colors. I could have stayed there all day, but we were in a time crunch to get to Fox Glacier for our 1:30pm hike! The hike was tiring, but great! We hiked along ledges with 100 meter drops beside us, I drank clean glacier water right from the waterfall, and we tunneled our way through the icy crevices. It was amazing how much the temperature changed walking out of the temperate rainforest and onto the glacier! I am glad I had gloves and long underwear!
Punakaiki
Crashing waves against the Pancake rocks.
Punakaiki
Pancake Rocks up close.
The Fam and I before our hike.
Drinking pure COLD glacier water...right from the source!
We hiked up all that way already...but we were only half way done!
Onto the ice!
Climbing the rope.
As we walked back down along the glacier, the sunset cast an orange haze over the mountains and illuminated the blue colors in the ice. It was gorgeous!
1 comment:
I had so much fun with my fiance! Thanks for cuddling with me at fox glacier to keep warm at night and what a cute pic of you putting your hand on me as we pose for a pic! ha ha.
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