December 21, 1991
To Fox Glacier
A day of greatly diverse experiences and sights. We were very lucky on our ride to Fox Glacier Village - the weather, while still overcast, was much improved - we escaped rain the entire way, and at one point even observed a smallish patch of blue over Bruce Bay. The road was fairly level the whole way, rimmed on both sides by long stretches of dark gloomy forest and scattered clearings for pasture. We would have made very good time except for a few more equipment problems. First, Rachael's bad tire finally wore through to the tube and had to be replaced by the spare from the BP station. It was a disappointment because the spare, while barely serviceable, is heavy and slightly too bulky so that it rubs against the frame a bit. It was nice to know that I had done the right thing in returning to Haast yesterday though. Shortly after this, my new rear wheel began acting very odd - it happened that some of the spokes had worked very loose and the wheel was getting mushy. I was pleased that it trued up quite easily though when I tightened them up.
At Bruce Bay we stopped to finish off the rest of our food - 100 grams of cheese, 13 crackers, and about a half pound of gorp. Not much, but enough to get us to town. It was very pretty at the bay, but we were discouraged from loitering by the intense concentration of sand flies. They are very much like the awful black flies of New England, and I have a similar reaction to them.
As we left, I was delighted by a pod of dolphins breeching just 50 feet or so from shore. It was amazing to see them so close in, playing just behind the first breaker. A bit further on, we passed a Maori cemetary - bordered by a spiked stockade and protected above the gate by a beautifully carved woodedn Maori warrior.
We arived in the village a bit after noon and immediately invaded the first cafe we found. After a satisfying meal of vegetarian quiche, vegetarian pizza, vegetable soup (the same odd soup I'd had in Dunedin) and bread, we were quite recovered. We next shopped about for a bit, and Rachael turned up with a beautiful and ingrigueing 'Maori Rock Art' sweatshirt. After restocking our food supply we then biked to the motorcamp. They're really fine facilities - a camping complex really, with a horseshoe of cabin-rooms connected to a commons with all facilities. The room even has heat and a double bed!
After the usual dithering over options, we decided to bike up to see the glacier (the alternatives not chosen - buy seats on a tour bus, or rent mountain bikes). The issue had to do with the unknown quality of the 5k unsealed road to the base. We made the right decision as it happened, because it was only mildly uphill on a packed claylike surface, and biking was no problem.
The ride to the glacier was lovely - sheer cliffs on both sides spewed falls hundreds of feet above us. The route has markers of the terminus of the glacier at verious points in time - it is remarkable how far it has receded, perhaps 2k - in the last century. We were moderately lucky in our timing - it misted lightly for the hour when we walked the short hike from road's end to the glacier, but visibility was fairly good and we could see all of the glacier, which was spectacular, and up to at least the lower reaches of Mount Tasman. It was a beautiful and inspiring excursion.
About halfway down the road on our return it began raining more seriously. Rachael, fenderless on her unloaded bike, acquired a lovely grey stripe up her back on the way back to camp. We completed our day wih a laundry run and a walk back into town (the volatile skies had dried up again, giving us a pleaant walk and a good view of Mount Tasman, and also a delightful sheep family - mom and two adolescents - footloose on the sidewalk) to harvest a takeaway pizza from Blue Ice Pizza. We took it back to our room for a picnic and devoured it in short order. Pizza specifications: medium, pepperoni, salami, mushrooms, unions and greek olives.
Today's ride: 50 miles (80 km)
Total: 388 miles (624 km)
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