Alex Knob Track at Franz/Josef Glaciers

Alex Knob Track is 18.7 km (11.6 mile, including 0.5 mile to Lake Wombat) out and back track with about 1100 meters elevation gain. It is a beautiful but hard trail, according to AllTrails.com, and New Zealand Department of Conservation. 

We arrived at the trail head around 8am on Tuesday, December 19, 2023. It was a rare gorgeous day during our trip to New Zealand, clear sky, bright sunshine.

Franz/Josef Glacier 

Initial section of the track is well paved and tree tunneled 

The first ~ 1.5 miles have gentle slopes and shade by the moss cladded giant rainforest trees. This section of the track also has good views of Franz/Josef Glacier and ice field. At Charismas lookout we met two young females who were resting there, we asked them to take a group picture for us, and took one for them as well. We then moved forward uphill. They were the first group we caught and passed, we were caught up by a few groups before this.  

moss cladded rocks, vegetations and trees along the trail

Icefield for Franz/Josef Glacier viewed from Alex Knob Track

The track path under a fallen giant tree

Franz/Josef Glacier

Then the track becomes steep, with consecutive short switch backs, and trees are replaced by vegetations and shrubs. The treeline altitude is around 1000 m.  As the track turns, we could not see the glaciers any more until the Alex Knob point but the Waiho Glacier river and its mouth at Tasman sea, the surrounding hills, and the Tasman sea. The clouds were moving in from west. 

My heart beat was very high at the end of the ascend as I was trying to keep pace with Lily. I slowed down, and rested a bit at a hilltop to catch my breath. The rest really helped to slow down my heart beat, and I regained my strength. It also helped that the last couple of miles is relatively flat. I restarted at a slower pace and reached the Alex Knob point comfortably.

large steps on the trail

Waiho Glacier River and its mouth at Tasman Sea

treeline is relative low at 1000 meters or so

Rest at a small hill top

Now the clouds covered the glacier side of mountains fully, we could not see the Franz/Josef glacier most of the time. One middle aged man had been there for 45 minutes waiting for the cloud break up to reveal the glacier with no luck. Just when there was a break of cloud, I had a picture taken to mark my ascend to the Alex Knob point.

We rested at the point to have our picnic lunch. A few minutes later, the two young females we met at Christmas lookout reached the summit as well. We struck a conversation with them - they were international exchange students at Sydney, Australia, one from Belgium majored in history, the other from Italy majored in biology. 

As we descended,  clouds started to clear up. In fact, by the evening, the clouds in the mountain cleared up all together, we could see the snow capped mountains from Franz/Josef Glacier village!

In the end it took us 7.5 hours, including lunch, to complete the out and back 18.7 km (11.6 miles), 1100 meters elevation gain, hike. 

Challenging track, varying landscape, multitude of vistas from glacier, to icefield,  glacier rivers, surrounding small hills and Tasman sea, plus the feeling of on top of the world made this hike one of the best we have ever had.

Reaching the Alex Knob point at 1303 meters

A larger opening in the cloud to reveal the glacier later

Glacier at Dusk

Our trail in miles

Notes

1. The trail head is about 1 mile (1.6 km) away from Franz/Josef Glacier car park. The parking space at the trail head is very limited, ~ 10 slots.

2. The treeline at new Zealand is much lower than North America, and has large variation within New Zealand, from 1500 meters at north island to 900 meters at the southern most mountains. A in-depth discussion on New Zealand's treeline variation can be found here.

South Island - Trip Itinerary

We finally visited South Island, New Zealand, a place we wished to visit for sometime, from December 15th to 26th, 2023. A 12 day, 2400km drive journey exploring the lower three quarters of the island.

Pictures pale against what we saw, words are powerless to describe how we felt. 

What a trip it was! 

Despite a detailed trip plan, we had to make impromptu adjustments to our schedules daily due to fast changing weather. The following is our realized itinerary.

Day 1 - Arriving at Christchurch Airport in the afternoon and hiking at Godely Head

Hiked on Godely Head Costal track ❤️ at 4:30 pm  - it was not late since the sunset at 9:20pm.

Godely Head, Coastal Track

We only hiked part of the trail due to closure  - 7km in 2+ hours. Beautiful track mostly on top of coastal cliff, ocean on one side, mountains on the other. Blue sky, white clouds, rocky coastline, a symphony of bird chirping, cool air made the hiking lovely. 

* we went for the late hike because clouds started to break up, the Sun started to shine through. 

Day 2 - walk along Avon River Walk @ Christchurch and Drive to Arthur's Pass

a. Avon River walk ❤️ is a quiet, elegant promenade along Avon River/Otakaro. We walked from Victoria Square to Botanic Garden in early morning (7am ~ 8am), flowers, birds and views of the old city along the way. 

Avon River, Christchurch

drive to Arthur's Pass, stopped at Castle Hill

b. Castle Hill - a place similar to Garden of the God at Colorado, USA,  but the boulders are grey rocks instead of red limestone. 

Castle Hill by Highway 73, South Island

c. Hiking on Arthur's pass track ♡ and side tracked to Punch Bowl Waterfall ♡, bridal veil fall, twin falls and Temple Basin Ski area track. 

The track, in the undulating terrain, is shaded by mystic, moss cladded tall trees. A nice track!

Moss cladded trees along the Arthur's pass track

We abandoned the hike on Temple basin ski area track at a viewpoint to Twin Falls... very loose gravel track, difficult to have a good footing.

Drove to Greymouth (very foggy, visibility less than 100m when we arrived) (stayed 1 night)
     

d. Breakwater Beach

Day 3 - Visiting Paparoa National Park ( rain, cloudy, sunny) and Drive to Franz/Josef Glacier Village

a. Motukiekie Beach walk

b.Paparoa swing bridge (visited in rain)

c. Pancake Rocks and Blowhole track❤️

It is a small park by the sea, and amazingly beautiful rock formation along shoreline even in gloomy weather!

Pancake Rocks 

d. Punakaiki Cavern

e. Truman Beach

f. Pororari River Track - we only hiked a small portion of it due to weather

drove to Franz/Josef Glacier village (stayed at Glow Worm Motel for 3 nights)

g. stopped at Lake Mapouraka since the cloud dissipated and the 
h. dinner at Alice May ... nice food and view of Franz/Josef Glacier (when mountain is clear of clouds)

Day 4 -  Kayaking and Hiking around Franz/Josef Glacier

a. Guided Kayak on Lake Mapouraka ♡ lunch at the Landing at the Village afterwards

    white heron, mirror flat lake in the morning, and a hidden creek 

b. Hiking on on Lake Matheson - track is around the lake - beautiful and shaded ♡

    lovely track, beautifully view, tui, chaffinch, and many other birds in the area

c. Hiking on Lake Gault - long track, the lake is the destination of the track ♡

    The clouds broke up just enough to reveal Fox Glacier when we got there! if no ripple on the lake,         the reflection of the glacier

d. We added Franz/Josef Glacier walk for late afternoon since it was sunny!

Kayaking on Lake Mapouraka

Day 5 - Hiking on Alex Knob track ❤️

This is a long track (18.7km) with elevation gain of 1200m, and we finished it in 7.5 hours including lunch at the Alex Knob point. The track starts in rainforest, and 2/3 of the way it is above tree line. Views of Glaciers, icefield, glacier river and the ocean and surrounding lower hills along the way!

 Dinner at Snake Bite and Sunset walk along the glacier river - Waiho River by the village

Waiho River flows into Tasman sea - view from Alex Knob track

* We cancelled the originally planned Helihike for this day due to weather forecast, but the weather turned out to be great :(

Day 6 -  Driving to Makorora Wonderland lodge ( cloudy,  rainy , cloudy, stayed for 1 night)
a. before leaving, hiking to Callery Gorge at Franz/Glacier village ♡

b. stopped at fox glacier view point and hike ❤️

great view of the fox glacier, sheep and cattle ranches nearby added the charm of the location, remember to walk into the small wooded area by the viewing platform, and onto the river bank.... lots of birding opportunities. 

fox glacier, south island, New Zealand

c. Hasst costal sand dune
d. thunder creek falls
c. fantails fall
d. blue pool

Day 7 -  Drive from Makorora to Queenstown to Te Anau (Stay at Te Anau for two nights)

Lake Wanaka lookout

The neck

Lake Hawea lookout

Crown Range Summit

Lake Wakatipu Lookout
Glow worm Cavern ....not worth the trip ... have to go there by a cruise

Lake Wanaka

a corner of Lake Te Anau 

Day 8  - Milford Sound ♡ and scenic stops along the way

Did not stop on the way to Milford sound due to rain/low clouds. The clouds broke up when we get to the sound

Milford Sound  - view from the cruise

a. Cruise ♡

    Milford Sound feels like a fairy land

b. Milford Sound foreshoe walk way ♡

c. Milford sound swing ♡

d. The Chasm

e. Mirror lake

f. Christie Falls

g. Cascade Creek historic camp site  - beautiful Lupinus flowers 

h. Falls creek

there are many possible stops - skipped some stops on the way back as well

After the Milford Sound Excursion, and dinner at Radcliff, we visited Lord of Rings locations near Te Anau

  

i. The Lord of Rings -Anduin River Location

j.  Waiau River & LotR Walk Parking - Fellowship of Ring - this was an exploration!

The Lord of Rings -Anduin River Location

Christie Falls

Lupine Flowers

Day 9 - Drive to Mt Cook, stops along the way, Stay at Omarama for two nights

a.       Lake Wakatipu Lookout

b.       Devil's Staircase Lookout Point

c.       Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge

d.        Roaring Mg Lookout

e.       Lions lookout

f.       Lindis Pass Viewpoint

g.      Clay cliff – excursion ($5 cash per car)

h.    NZ Alpine Lavender (farm, fee required)

Roaring Meg

NZ Alpine Lavender

Day 10 -  Mt Cook
a. Hooker valley track and side tracks..♡
      a1. Alpine Tarn
b. Tasman Glacier walk and side tracks...the view from the glacier lake end Tasman Glacier

Alpine Tarn - a side track from Hooker Valley Track

Tasman Glacier and Lake

Day 11  - Drive to Queenstown and stops along the way (Stay at Queenstown)
a.  Hiked rock peak track to the summit 👌
b.  Aspiring national park - that wanakatree ♡
c.  Vistas along lake Wakatipu near Queenstown
          - great views of glaciers at Aspiring from afar

At Summit of Rock Peak

That WanakaTree

Day 12 -  Rest and fly home noon time

We went to Queenstown town center for souvenir shopping before departure

Moon Rise over the cloud

Some notes

1. we moved around south island barely interacting with anyone else except the hotel/restaurant clerks occasionally asked other tourists to take pictures for us. We had some extended interactions with two feamal international students on Alex Knob track...taking pictures for each other and some conversations at the summit...one from Belgium,  another from Italy...a history major, and a biology major, exchange students at Australia
2. sheep's are everywhere! cows and cattle as well.
3. road is winding and narrow
4. no litters on the tacks!♡
5. weather changes fast!! even rainy days can have some breakthrough sunshine and patches of blue sky
6. Lupine are wide spread in the valleys. Lavender near Queenstown
7. Sunshine, blue sky make everything so much more beautiful
8. Rain does its wonder as well, fog, low clouds making things mysterious and sometimes fairy
9. food is expensive, but serving is typically large. all restaurants we have been to were good
10. mostly Europeans on the midsection south island trails. more Asians at Milford Sound and Queenstown...via tour buses...
11. endemic birds!  Kea, wood pigeon, 
12. Sunscreen is a must - even on a cloudy day because it can become sunny quickly. I had sun-burn due to lack of sun screen on my bare arms during hiking on Rock Peak. 

Unveiling the World of Birds with a Mighty Lens

As my passion for bird watching deepens, so does the reach of my lens. In June 2020, my Sony Alpha 6300 received its first upgrade, transforming its focal length from 16-50mm to a more versatile 55-210mm. The impact was immediate. No longer did I inadvertently startle birds by approaching too closely; now, I could capture stunning avian portraits from a respectable distance. Satisfied as I was, a tinge of envy lingered whenever I saw fellow photographers armed with substantial lenses capturing birds from even greater distances.

Yellow Crowned Night Heron (first photo using Sony 4.5 - 6.3/55 - 210)

A recent birthday gift from Lily marked a significant leap in my photographic journey—a Tamron 150-500mm F/5-6.7 lens. Eager to put it to the test, we headed to Singapore Quarry, a haven for stork-billed kingfishers and grey-headed fish eagles.

Tamron 150-500 mm f/5 - 6.7

The fish eagle's nest is near the top of the center left tree

Arriving on a rainy Sunday morning, we sought refuge alongside other photographers beneath a shelter near the quarry's viewing platform. As the rain subsided, stork-billed kingfishers emerged, prompting a flurry of activity among the lens-wielding enthusiasts.

Switching from my smaller lens to the Tamron behemoth mounted on my Sony camera and tripod required a bit of trial and error. Eventually, with the tripod positioned just right, I honed in on the trees across the pond and discovered not one but two stork-billed kingfishers standing in close proximity—initially a delightful case of 'double vision.'

As the kingfishers attempted their fishing prowess, I, unfortunately, missed the chance to capture their dynamic dives and blurry flights across the quarry. Nevertheless, I bore witness to the mesmerizing spectacle. On one exciting moment I saw a kingfisher snagging a sizable fish, returning to the tree, and engaging in a delightful dance before swallowing its catch—an event immortalized through my lens.

The kingfisher had a big fish in its beak

Soon, a majestic presence graced the scene—the grey-headed fish eagle. Though I missed a few flight shots due to my wandering gaze, I managed to capture its descent to the water, a swift return to its perch, and the ensuing moments.

Deciding to linger for ten more minutes bore unexpected fruit. Setting the camera to continuous shooting and handheld, I watched in awe as the eagle executed a rapid sequence—swooping, landing on the water, ascending, and returning to its perch.

This exhilarating series of events unfolded in a blink, and thanks to the handheld approach, I successfully documented the fleeting moments, bringing a perfect conclusion to the inaugural test of my formidable lens.

Notes 

1. The tripod should placed in such a way that only a single leg is facing the photographer.

2. When handheld the camera with big lens, set vibration control, and auto focus on. 

3. To zoom in on a bird, using the smallest focal length first, place the bird in the center of the view. In this way, the subject will remain in the view during zoom-in.

4. Checking on the photos when we got home, we were amazed at the sharpness and resolution of most photos taken using the big lens - the double kingfishers, the fish in a kingfisher's beak, the curved beak of the fish eagle. Also from the continuously shot photos, it was apparent that the eagle did not catch a fish - there was nothing on its talons after it emerged from water.

5. The lens is heavy, 1.4kg. The zoom is high. It will take me more time to practice before really master its usage.