In Greymouth we picked up a car at Hertz, had some Subway sandwiches, then started driving south. It took us about two hours to arrive at the Te Waonui Forest Retreat in Franz Joseph, right at the base of the glacier. We checked in, then went next door to the hot spring spa.
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After soaking for a bit, we relaxed in the room, then went to the hotel's restaurant for dinner. It was a delicious five course meal. Our cute waiter, Juan from Argentina, kept the food and cocktails coming throughout the meal. (It was at this point that we started calling Katie "The Spy" since she was interrogating everyone we met). Very tasty, but quite a bit of food! After dinner we went right to bed.
Sunday - October 31
We got up early and zipped through breakfast before walking over to Fox and Franz Helicopters. We were picked up in a Hughes 500 helicopter and taken for a 70 minute tour of the entire area.
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The weather was perfect, only a couple of clouds visible anywhere. We landed twice, once on each glacier, with gorgeous views from both.
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Afterwards we scheduled a glacier/lake hike. Our guide arrived within a couple of minutes and we were off! We went to Mathesom Lake first.
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We walked about 25 minutes to the far side of the lake, took some pictures, then walked back and had lunch at a small cafe at the edge of a beautiful green meadow.
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After a short drive, we started our second hike, this time up to the face of the Fox Glacier. There was quite a bit of water coming off the face since it was so warm.
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Back at the hotel we rested a bit, then walked over to the strip of buildings that make up the town of Franz Joseph. We checked out the menus of the three restaurants, then had a couple of beers/marguerites. That evening we again ate the hotel, this time opting for the 3 course meal. We had the same wait staff and once again they were very friendly.