GLACIER COUNTRY

Executive summary by darmansjah

Glacier Country is where you’ll find the postcard-perfect views of New Zealand you’ve always dreamed of, and the epic vistas The Lord of the Rings brought to the world’s attention. Above all else , Glacier Country is the perfect place to end your whirlwind tour of the majestic South Island. Glacier Country is home to the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers, tow of the world’s most dramatic and easily accessible ice giants. Franz Josef has been known to attract more than 3,000 tourist a day in the high season, while the equally spectacular Fox sees fewer than 1,000 during the same period. If you visit during the shoulder season like I did, you might even get Fox all to yourself for a few hours. When I stepped out onto the ice with Fox Glacier Guiding, it was like I was putting my foot down on the glimmering surface of the moon, an when I descended the glacier’s terminal face and walked into some of the lushest rainforest  I’ve ever encountered, I felt like I was on a different planet altogether.

Lake Matheson, 12km from Fox Glacier (State Highway 6, Fox Glacier, foxguides.co.nz), is a kettle lake that formed when the glacier retreated into the mountains during the last ice age. Lake Matheson offers lucky visitors perfectly reflected glassy visions of Aoraki or Mount cook on a clear day. The view of the Southern  Alps form lake Matheson is quitessentially kiwi; in fact, you won’t find a calendar, postcard, or tourist brochure that doesn’t feature a view across the lake. The trek to the viewing deck takes roughly 45 minutes, but your photographic dreams may take longer to come to fruition.