MONZA-Morgans Over New Zealand Again: DAYS 31 and 32- The Glaciers- Fox and Franz Josef

The weather report was for clouds and rain when we left Queenstown, but the roof was down and we hoped for dry weather. We headed out past Arrowtown and up over the Crown Range heading for Franz Josef.

Crown Range

Somehow we missed this famous fence, but Patsy and Michael didn't and stopped for photos.

Patsy at the Cardrona Bra Fence (by Michael)

A coffee stop at the famous Cardrona Hotel (in the middle of nowhere), was established in 1861 but recently renovated.

Stop at Cardrona Hotel

Inside Cardrona Hotel

Kitty Fix at Hotel

Gift Shop

The weather continued to be overcast as we travelled past Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea before reaching the west coast.

On the road

Lake Wanaka

Construction

It was suggested we have lunch at the Cray Pot in Jackson Bay, but 30 miles out of our way and we still hadn't found the restaurant. So we turned around and went back to the main highway and had ice cream for lunch as it was now 3 PM.

Pretty Horse

Rain Forest on road to Restaurant

We travelled up Highway 6 seeing big black clouds ahead, but they seemed to be to the right of where we were going, so no roof up and Philip didn't have a rain jacket on. Wrong… so wrong. As we started heading up the hill toward Franz Josef, the sky opened up on us. We arrived at the hotel very wet and getting chilly.

Very Wet at Hotel

We warmed up in front of the fireplace, then went out to the hallway where a party was in progress.

Cocktail Hour

Dave turned on his Morgan radio/iPod and dancing ensued until dinner time.

Dancing

The Next Day- As we had heard the roads were gravel to both the Fox and the Franz Josef Glacier, Michael was kind enough to take us in the Forgan to these sites. The weather was pretty crummy.

Out in the Forgan

Dave's Morgan at Fox Glacier Lookout

David did bring his Morgan to the Fox Glacier lookout.

Dave and Elaine at Fox

We all headed over to Franz Josef Glacier and started walking toward the lookouts. The Glacier is in the V of the mountains.

Philip and Elaine @ Franz Josef Glacier

The rain started so we returned to the car while those with proper rain gear headed on to the coder lookout to the Glacier.

Franz Josef Glacier

Michael and Patsy near Franz Josef Glacier

The weather precluded good vision of the glaciers and only one couple in the group was able to fly over them. Very disappointing.
We had been told that we would find birds at Okarita Beach, so we headed up Hwy 6 toward the beach.