New Zealand, Glaciers

Definately plan to spend some time marvelling at the glaciers on the west coast. It's the only place in the world where two glaciers get so close to the sea with a rain forest nearby!
There are two glaciers, Franz Josef and Fox. We walked to the terminal face of Franz Josef and Julian did a walk on Fox Glacier. The glaciers are continually changing and different so its definately worth having a look at both. Both have a walk of about 20-30 minutes to get to the face and you need to get up close to see how big they are. Both glaciers have quite a few trips everyday to walk on the glacier but the Fox trips are much cheaper. Some people say that Franz Josef is more spectacular but Julian found Fox excellent. There are half and full day trips and you can spend even more money and do a helicopter flight but these seemes very short when looking up from the ice. Most people agree that the full day trips are definately much better as you get to spend a lot more time actually on the glacier ice rather than spending lots of time getting there and back. You are given a rain overcoat but it's better to take your own rain jacket if you have one. You are also given crampons and a have guide that cuts steps in the ice so it's not as hard as it sounds.
Here are the links to the different guiding companies: Fox and Franz Josef
Ask for your backpacker discount.

From the town of Fox, walk around Lake Matheson early in the morning for a mirrorlike reflection of New Zealands highest peaks Mount Cook and Mount Tasman.