Fri, 20th Mar, 2026 (part1) Powerline gravel pit by Waikukupa River to Freedom camp, Kakapotahi-Waitaha River mouth, NZ (Franz Josef Glacier etc)

A tad nippy, 10 degrees and a clear sky. 

Back to the main road then over the Waikukupa River. Got the upstream photo through the side window.

Climbed up the range on the other side. A quick view through the trees show we are above the cloud/fog this morning. Straight down the road to get below the ‘long white cloud’.

Across the Omoerca River. Clear bit for a while.

Back up into the fog again then down again. More cyclists riding up - crazy people we reckon.

Saw a mountain with snow - Mt Cook I think.

Onto flat ground then across Docherty Creek and into grazing land. Stopped at the information bay by the roadside. FJ is behind the hill where the cloud is!!

Lots of walking tracks around here. We will start with A, B & C.

Continued on - lots of snow/ice up there.

We turned off just before the Waiho River to follow the four kilometers of winding road by the river to get to the Franz Josef Glacier car park. Looks like a foot bridge further upstream.

Zoomed in on more snow/ice on the mountains on each side behind the centre one.

Nice drive up with my camera clicking away.

Managed to get a Kea in flight.

Slow rocky sections where walkers can cross. There are other walks and car parks along the way.

Mountain views as we head up the gorge.

First glimpse of the actual glacier going down the gorge. No clouds blocking our view this morning.

Into the car park - we are early so plenty of room. $5/hr to park here - hard to know how long you are going to be - paid for 2 hours.

Great photos just from here.

First we checked out the old cabin - Defiance Hut. Imagine hiking in those clothes. People were tougher back then - carrying a slab of timber on your back! Then they moved it in 1936 then dismantled and flown out in 1978, refurbished and set up here in 2020.

Checked the DOC board then headed off. Easy walking, rock slides, waterfalls and more views of the glacier.

Reached the end of the walk - pretty waterfall on the side mountain.

View up the Waiho River Gorge to Franz Josef Glacier. Two waterfalls on the side and when I zoomed in there was one below the glacier so maybe the start of the Waiho River.

Information boards. Big change in the last 120 years.

The old walking track is closed but some idiots always push the boundary and then others have to risk their lives to save them.

In 1982 I flew in a ski plane with two others from our tour. We landed on the snow/glacier. The others went by helicopter - it was $25 for 10 mins, the plane was $38 for 30 mins so I figured better value. We landed on the snow and had snowball fight and photos then the pilot flew us to Fox to meet the others for the hike to Fox Glacier.

Headed back then up the track of Sentinel Rock. That tested our calves out. Photo doesn’t show the slope up well enough.

Lookout platform - another great view. The river is only a thin strip here.

Now for the walk back down.

Back to car park - found another walk we might do, historic water race.

Headed down the track now for the Peter’s Pool walk. Had fun trying to get photos of this friendly chap.

Another nice walk with a view of the top of the glacier.

Reached Peter's Pool. Amazing mirror image and as we are early there is no wind and the clouds haven’t appeared so perfect morning. I reckon the mirror image was clearer than looking at the mountain itself.

Needed a towel to dry the sign. This is a kettle lake - formed by a big block of ice left behind during the glacier’s withdrawal.

Again though the tranquillity was lost as the helicopters buzzed over the top of us. A guide was informing his group that there are 6 glaciers in this valley and over 300 in the Southern Alps. A Fantail flew across us and he mentioned its name so now I know that one.

Lovely bird twittering as we walked along.

Continued along the track which leads to the river and the Douglas Track. Someone has been in diverting the water. One ribbon of water is whitish and the others are clear.

I can get the full length of that thin waterfall from here.

A bridge further down stream to get to the Roberts Point Track. Clouds are coming over - we timed it perfectly.

Back to the mirror lake for one more photo.

Back at the car park there were some DOC staff there so showed them the photos of our little friendly bird and it said it was a Tomtit - has the coloured breast. The other one was a baby. Back to the camper for a cuppa with a view out our sliding door.

Back down the road then across the Waiho River bridge. Need to clean our windscreen.

Into the village and parked. Walked back to St James Anglican Church (1931). Not the normal church look - more swiss chalet style. Lovely view over the altar. In 1953 the glacier had withdrawn that they couldn’t see it from the altar window anymore but in 1994 it reappeared.

Across the road was the entrance to the Terrace Walk. Good spot for glow-worms at night.

Next to that was another church - Our Lady of the Alps Catholic Church.

Steve found some information boards for me. Julius Von Haast also named Franz Josef Glacier after the emperor of Austria-Hungry at the time. The township which was known as Waiho, like the river, is now known as Franz Josef. Bit of a different view from the altar window. More trees but you can see the glacier.

Popped into the helicopter place to ask about planes. They don’t use them any more here - only at Mt Cook for fly overs and parachuting. The helicopters land - 13 minute flight to get to Mt Cook from here. As I walked out two young ladies had just finished a trip and said it was amazing. Steve wasn’t keen to do it so skipped that - saved a few dollars!

View from here. Through the trees is the bridge.

Through the village and then turned right up to Tatare Tunnels and Callery Gorge Walk. DOC can’t make up their minds how to show the time - return or one way. Just chose one and be consistent. A lot of signs just say a time only so we just presume that is one way.

Unfortunately the tunnels walk is closed due to slip damage so we decided to do the Callery Gorge walk - we need more exercise! This is the info from FJ Glacier - no info here about it.

Nice walk. Spotted some old water pipe. Started the climb up hill. Big reservoirs - timber roof and walls. More water pipe.

Nice view over the Waiho River.

Continued on following the track - not really sure where we are walking to. Obviously the Callery Track is closed from here! No sure I would want to go as it looks like it goes straight down! Clouds hanging on the mountains now. Glad we went to the glacier this morning.

Continued on another track which looks like the old water race mentioned earlier. Saw a bird like a big bee-eater with a fantail and white wings. It flew out from a tree, snapped at something then swooped back to the tree. We had seen on when one dart out when we were coming down the range road yesterday.

Turned around and headed back down. They should say it was up hill too on their signs - that gave the calves a good work out. Drove back into the village and had a late lunch.