This incredibly active silt-laden river drains the melting ice from the Franz Josef glacier and runoff from the Callery Valley.
The ancient dense Okarito rainforest is home to a small population of the rare Okarito brown kiwi.
Within a few kilometres of the ice-world of the glaciers is the temperate rainforest of Westland sustained by up to 5 metres of rainfall annually.
Famous for mirror views of Aoraki Mount Cook and Mount Tasman, Lake Matheson fills the depression left behind 14,000 years ago by the retreating Fox Glacier.
The Maori name for Fox Glacier, 'Te Moeeka o Tuawe' was derived from an ancestor Tu Awe who fell to his death while exploring the area.
The huge expanse of the Fox névé visible below is nearly 40km2 in size and clearly visible are the numerous crevasses that line the surfaces around the top of the icefall.
Known as a classic ice-climb, Mt Tasman is New Zealand's second highest mountain.
A beautiful peak dominated by its huge southern rock face. In 1948 La Perouse featured in one of the last big ground rescues (before the use of helicopters).
The Hooker Glacier is 11 kilometres in length and descends from the southwestern flanks of Aoraki Mount Cook.
'Aoraki' - the Cloud Piercer! New Zealand's highest mountain stands supreme with its snow and icefields spilling into the glaciers below.
This lake formed in 1991 and has been growing ever since. Underneath this lake the ice is still over 200 metres thick.
Approximately 14,000 years ago the ice that covered this area from the last ice age began its retreat.
The Tasman is New Zealand's longest glacier. Moraine (rock & gravel scraped or fallen from the valley walls) covers the ice for much of its length.
The Murchison is New Zealand's second longest glacier.
Located at the headwaters of the mighty Godley river are the isolated Classen and Godley Glaciers.
With 50m of annual snowfall covering an ice base of up to 800m, mountain huts and snowfields ensure the glacier remains popular for skiing and climbing.
At the head of the glacier is the beautiful Geike Snowfield, famous for high altitude cross country skiing. The snow and ice in the névé below is nearly 1000 metres deep.
Plummeting steeply westward, this magnificent 'river of ice' descends towards the Tasman Sea at a recorded rate of up to 4 metres per day.
Carved into the native rainforest and located just 5 km away from the terminal face of the Franz Josef glacier is the Franz Josef village (population ~330).
Lake Mapourika is the largest of the West Coast lakes, a glacial formation from the last ice age. The usually quite calm lake gives wonderful reflections on its surface of its surroundings.
