Fox and Franz Josef Glacier

Fox Glacier and Mt Cook in the background

Two most accessible of the 140 glaciers to be found in the Westland Park.
Named by Julius Haast to honour the emperor of Austria, Fox was named after a New Zealand Prime Minister.

Maori are not a people who enjoy cold weather but there are a few who managed to survive this inhospitable climate. Here is the story of one remarkable woman who loved this land.

Hine Hukatera loved mountain climbing, she often persuaded her lover Tu Awe to come along with her, even though he could not walk so well on ice and snow. Tu Awe slipped and fell to his death, grief stricken the woman wept so much for her lover that her tears formed glaciers KA ROITMATA O HINEHUKATERE

Te Moikaa o TU AWE (Fox) falls 2600 meters from the Alps to the Coast, ending only 300 meters above sea level.

The Glaciers are unusual in that most glaciers usually melt before they reach temperate rainforest, they survive at such low altitude because of the mass of ice that flows down from the mountain above.

The Glaciers owe their existence to the prevailing westerly winds which push rain clouds up against the high peaks of the Southern Alps. Here the clouds drop their moisture which falls as snow, creating layers of ice which adds weight to the glaciers forcing them down like a tube of toothpaste through narrow valleys to the forests below. In the past these glaciers have advanced to the sea. More recently they have retreated. Though they are in retreat, it’s not unusual for glaciers to advance and retreat. While glaciers around the world are in retreat, Fox and Franz are reversing the trend and advancing, thanks to a steady supply of snow falling on the ice fields at their heads.