Franz Josef

A gravel path up the riverbed to a viewpoint facing the glacier. The ice pulls back every year and now ends far beyond even the viewpoint, and signs along the track mark where its snout stood in earlier years. Heavy rain shuts the whole valley.

The ice can no longer be reached on foot from the valley, so walking on it means flying up. In crampons you follow steps a guide cuts with an axe, past ice caves and crevasses. Cloud cancels flights that same morning, so an early slot is safer.

A kettle pond left where a stranded block of ice melted; on a still day the valley and peaks hang upside down in it. The flat path is short, so it fits into a break in the rain. It starts from the same car park as the valley walk.

Several outdoor pools linked by boardwalks in the rainforest right in the village. Sitting in hot water while the rain falls is the point, so wet days are busier, not quieter. Private pools need booking beforehand.

The centre hatches rowi, the rarest kiwi, and raises them for release into the forest. Kiwi move about at night, so you watch in a dark room, and eyes need a few minutes before one shows. A separate ticket takes you behind the hatchery with a guide.

A dark-water lake near Fox Glacier village; in the windless early morning Aoraki and Mount Tasman appear on it. The deck partway round the forest loop is the photo spot. Cloud on the peaks makes the mirror pointless, so go on a day the summits show.

A large lake beside the highway north of the village. Tannin from the forest stains the water brown so it reflects like a mirror, and in the morning hired kayaks set off across the still water. Sandflies swarm at the edge, so bring repellent without fail.

Torch on, you follow tunnels cut as water races in the gold mining days. Water runs along the floor and your feet will get wet, so wear shoes you do not mind ruining. Switch the light off and glow-worms show on the roof.

The track crosses several swing bridges and climbs a stairway bolted to a rock face to a knoll above the glacier. The rock is always wet and slick, so set aside the whole day. From the shelter at the top the ice is seen pouring down toward the valley.

A wide lagoon by a small coastal village to the north; a hired kayak up its channels brings herons close. As the water drains, boats ground on the bottom, so time it to the tide. Rowi kiwi live in the forest nearby, and small groups go looking at night.

A windswept grey-sand beach where a gravel road past Lake Matheson runs out, site of a gold-rush settlement. Heading north on foot leads through a miners' tunnel to a seal colony. High tide cuts off the beach section, so read the tide times before leaving.

In the bush inland from Hokitika to the north, a river clouded with glacial flour runs milky turquoise. A brief walk through the trees leads to a swing bridge above the gorge. Heavy rain turns the water muddy, so go after about three clear days.

A day climb from north of the village up a steep rainforest track to a summit looking down over the upper glacier. It takes about eight hours there and back, uphill almost all the way. Cloud often wraps the top, so start only on a clear morning.