Oh dear! As we got up on Monday 4th February it was raining. The first real rain we have had. It rained all night and we had breakfast in the Campervan. Our first meal in the van.
A very grey and dreary drive south to Franz Josef. Low cloud, very wet and not very scenic. Stopped at Pukekura for a coffee and they had free WI -Fi so we were able to check e- mails.
The Franz Josef was a very nice site but it was still raining. We delayed booking our glacier walk as it was forecast to continue raining. So we went to the thermal baths for the afternoon. Made the decision to book the glacier trip for Wednesday morning. At the moment you cannot walk on the Franz Josef glacier so we booked for the Fox glacier.
We walked on Tuesday from the campsite to the start of the Franz Josef glacier. Amazing and stunning but nothing compared to the experience of today when we walked on the Fox Glacier. It is quite an experience to actually stand on that ice. We had boots and crampons, climbed steps made in the ice and saw a glacial hole made by the swirling water. The weather had completely cleared and not a cloud in the sky.
Monday night was a very windy night and the van rocked and rolled almost as much as that boat on Lake Taupo. The amazing thing was that when we arrived at the campsite it was all cloud and after the wind when we woke up there wasn't a cloud in the sky and you could see the snow and glacier. Amazing again. Moving south this afternoon.