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Posts tagged ‘Te Ara Kairaumati’

New Zealand: flying over the Southern Alps

The majestic mountain spine along New Zealand’s South Island is known as “The Southern Alps”; the Maori Ngai Tahu name for these mountains is “kā tiritiri o te moana”. For many locations around the South Island, you cannot avoid or ignore the sight of looming towers of rock and snow.

Between visits to the Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier, I’d been thinking about whether or not I should have a look at the mountains from above. It would be beautiful, but it also seemed very expensive. What to do, what to do … it sounds stupid writing it out now, but a unique opportunity had presented itself, and I knew I’d have deep regrets if I didn’t take it.

I bit the proverbial bullet and hopped onto a plane with Air Safaris for a 50-minute “The Grand Traverse” tour including aerial views of various glaciers, Horokoau (Mount Tasman), and Aoraki (Mount Cook).

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Franz Josef Glacier Township, Waiho Loop, and Waiho River

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Fox Glacier Township, Cook River (Weheka) to the Tasman Sea

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Fox Glacier

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Fox Glacier

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Fox Glacier: terminal moraine

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Midway up Fox Glacier

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Fox Glacier: down from the neve

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Neve at the top of Fox Glacier

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand, fotoeins.com, myRTW

South to Horokoau and Aoraki, at 3 km elevation

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Left: Mount Tasman (Horokoau); right: Aoraki (Mount Cook)

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Mount Sefton

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

South from Tasman Glacier (foreground) to Tasman River and Lake Pukaki (background)

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Aoraki (Mount Cook): reach out and touch

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Aoraki (Mount Cook): so close

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Tasman Lake, Tasman River, beyond to Lake Pukaki

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Aoraki (back left), Mount Tasman (back right), Grand Plateau & Hochstetter Glacier (foreground)

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Malte Brun Range (left), Murchison Glacier (center)

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Upper reaches of Murchison Glacier: Tasman Saddle (back left); Whymper Saddle (top center)

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Godley River valley

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Godley River: upper reach to Godley Glacier; fed also by Fitzgerald and Separation Streams

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Lonely hut on a ledge

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Transverse crevasses at the neve, Franz Josef Glacier

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Looking down Franz Josef Glacier

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Down to terminal moraine, river valley; see earlier post on Franz Josef Glacier

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Transverse crossover and up along the medial moraine, Franz Josef Glacier

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Last glance from the air, Franz Josef Glacier

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Westward: Waiho River, Waiho Loop

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Westward: Waiho River, Waiho Loop: out to the Tasman Sea

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Waiho River Bailey Bridge; see earlier post on Franz Josef Glacier. Update, 26 Mar 2019: heavy rains washes away this bridge (NZ Herald).

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Eastward: Franz Josef Glacier township, Waiho River, Franz Josef Glacier

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand

End of The Grand Traverse, Franz Josef Aerodrome

More

•   The slow approach to Franz Josef Glacier
•   The slow forest walk to Fox Glacier
•   Lake Matheson and the southern Alps at sunset
•   Swollen Waiho from heavy early-autumn rains washes away Waiho Bridge: NZ Herald, 26 Mar 2019.

I made the photos above on 21 July 2012. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-292. I have not received any compensation for writing this content and I have no material connection to the brands, topics and/or products that are mentioned herein.

Lake Matheson, Westland National Park, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand, fotoeins.com

New Zealand: Lake Matheson & the southern Alps at sunset

Rewards go to the patient, especially those on daytime walks through the temperate rainforest to the Franz Josef Glacier and the Fox Glacier.

After all, this area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

After my visit to Fox Glacier earlier in the day, I arranged for a short 10-minute shuttle from Fox Glacier town to Lake Matheson (Te Ara Kairaumati) before sunset. Even in winter’s low-season, I was surprised by how few people were around to enjoy the view.

The sequence of photos below span a period of just over one hour in time. Appearing in most of the photos are the two grand snow-frosted peaks: Mount Tasman (Horokoau) on the left and Aoraki (Mount Cook) on the right.

( Click here for more )

Lake Matheson at sunset

New Zealand: sounds of a sunset on the South Island

What does a sunset sound like?

Does the question make any sense at all?

How can a sunset “sound” like anything?

I used to think that way, until I visited the South Island in New Zealand.

( Click here for more )

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