So much has been said about global warming and climate change. But to see for yourself its actual impact on a glacier is once-in-a-life-time experience. President Obama also took time off to see for himself the effect of global warming to a receding glacier in Alaska (Read here).
We were at the starting point of tracking to Franz Josef Glacier in the late morning of 23 February 2016. We started from a point which was said to be the toe of Franz Josef Glacier in 1867. After almost 150 years, it has receded to almost 2.5 Km further inland. It was said that before 2008, the glacier cyclically advanced and retreated. But since 2008, it has entered into a very rapid phase of retreat. It was projected that by 2100, the toe will recede further inland by another 5 Km and lose 38% of its mass.
Much of the gorge we tracked for one and half hour one way was at one time all under glacier. Today, much of it is a forested area and this will turn into a flood plain during heavy rainfall.
We were at the starting point of tracking to Franz Josef Glacier in the late morning of 23 February 2016. We started from a point which was said to be the toe of Franz Josef Glacier in 1867. After almost 150 years, it has receded to almost 2.5 Km further inland. It was said that before 2008, the glacier cyclically advanced and retreated. But since 2008, it has entered into a very rapid phase of retreat. It was projected that by 2100, the toe will recede further inland by another 5 Km and lose 38% of its mass.
Much of the gorge we tracked for one and half hour one way was at one time all under glacier. Today, much of it is a forested area and this will turn into a flood plain during heavy rainfall.
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| Huge plain once occupied by glacier. |
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| This may turn into huge flood plain during heavy rainfall. |
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| Tracking route can be challenging at times. |
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Immediately after tracking to Franz Josef Glacier, we drove to another nearby (20 Km away) glacier - Fox Glacier. This glacier which was named after NZ Prime Minister, Sir William Fox in 1862 is not as "glamorous" and spectacular as Franz Josef Glacier.
The tracking was fairly torturous because it was raining throughout. With the mist and compounded by almost non-stop drizzling, we could hardly get a decent shot of this glacier.
One thing that we observed in both tracking exercises and in fact in many other tracking, Caucasian kids as young as five years old were made by their parents to walk on their own. This is markedly different from kids of some Asian parents: The kids are either not be allowed to join or if they are in, they would most probably be hand-carried for most of the route.
In NZ, we saw many young Caucasians travelling and exploring this country in all kinds of ways. Some on bicycles, some on motorbikes, some in modified vans (Not the caravans dragged along by a vehicle that we are used to), some by hitchhiking and some by mere walking. Of course, we did see some young people of Asian decent, but they are the minority. By far. we saw the majority to be Caucasians.Whether this has to do with the way they are raised from young and taught to be independent and inquisitive, I believe it has some truth.
When we were driving from Picton to Murchison, we gave a lift to a Dutch girl who was thumbing for a ride by the road side. We dropped her off when we reached Murchision. She told us she would try to take a bus or thumb for another drive to move further south as far as she could for that day. I told my wife that I could not imagine allowing my daughter doing hitchhiking all by herself in a foreign land. It is hard for us to change this mind set!
In NZ, we saw many young Caucasians travelling and exploring this country in all kinds of ways. Some on bicycles, some on motorbikes, some in modified vans (Not the caravans dragged along by a vehicle that we are used to), some by hitchhiking and some by mere walking. Of course, we did see some young people of Asian decent, but they are the minority. By far. we saw the majority to be Caucasians.Whether this has to do with the way they are raised from young and taught to be independent and inquisitive, I believe it has some truth.
When we were driving from Picton to Murchison, we gave a lift to a Dutch girl who was thumbing for a ride by the road side. We dropped her off when we reached Murchision. She told us she would try to take a bus or thumb for another drive to move further south as far as she could for that day. I told my wife that I could not imagine allowing my daughter doing hitchhiking all by herself in a foreign land. It is hard for us to change this mind set!
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