Westland Tai Poutini National Park
Westland Tai Poutini is a national park in New Zealand, located in the western part of the South Island, between the South Alps and the coast of the island. The park was founded in 1960. Park area - 1175 km2.
Westland National Park has over 60 glaciers. Two of them are – Fox and Franz Joseph – the most famous glaciers of New Zealand. The park is popular with hunting deer, chamois and containers. The Karangarua River flows through the park. The dignity of the park is the diversity of its landscapes. The eternal snow of the Fox and Franz Joseph glaciers borders on the rainforests here. Rough rivers flow into picturesque lakes, where flocks of wild birds are fed. This park with three others ( Mount Cook, Fjordland, Mount Espring ) is part of the vast territory of Te Wahipunamu with an area of 26,000 km2, which was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1990.
Franz Joseph Glacier ( Maori Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere ) — glacier located in Westland National Park in the west of South Island of New Zealand. Together with the Fox Glacier, 20 km south, this glacier is unique in that it descends only 240 m above sea level, passing through a temperate wet forest around it. From the point where the glacier ends, the Vaiho River begins. The length of the glacier is 12 km. In the Maori language, the glacier is called « Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere », which can be translated as « Hinehukatere tears ». According to the legend of local tribes, a girl named Hinehukatere loved to walk in the mountains, and persuaded her beloved Tava to go with her to the mountains. Her lover died under a landslide, and the girl’s tears gave rise to the glacier. European discoverers named the glacier after the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph.
Fox Glacier is one of the most easily accessible ice rivers on the planet. Named in 1872, after the visit of the then Prime Minister, Sir William Fox. The length of the glacier is 12 kilometers, the height of the fall is 2.6 kilometers. The glacier ends at an altitude of only 300m. above sea level. Unlike most glaciers on the planet, Fox does not shorten today, but rather lengthens. This trend has been observed since 1985. The average height is about one meter per week. This phenomenon is associated with a regular abundance of precipitation in the upper glacier, the highest region of New Zealand. At the foot of each glacier, you can hear the unusual sounds of ancient ice resembling grinding. This is ice crawling down a dilapidated valley. Melting of the glacier gives rise to the Fox River. The attractiveness of the Fox Glacier is that on the last kilometers it crawls along a gorge covered with thick jungle. The contrast of lush greenery, fiery colors of the wound, interwoven lanes, wood ferns and blue ice is very exotic.
During the last ice age, the Fox Glacier reached the ocean and melted in contact with sea water. The retreat of the glacier left behind a series of moraine deposits. Matheson's famous picturesque lake was formed as a result of melting ice sheet left by a shortening glacier. Matheson Lake is also called Mirror. Fox Glacier is super popular among tourists. At peak season, it attracts more than a thousand visitors a day.
There are several ways to explore glaciers. You can reach the end point of the glacier or make a trip through the forest to the observation deck. Another option is to join a walking tour of the glacier along with the – guide equipment provided. You can also go up and look at the glaciers from a helicopter or a small plane. A one-day trip to hot pools in requires a moderate level of physical fitness and a little travel experience. The climbing experience will come in handy for the Copland track, which crosses « the great section ».
