Rob Roy Glacier

Today was another perfect day in paradise. Warm and sunny with negligible wind. We walked up to the viewpoint of the (receding) Rob Roy Glacier in the Matukituki Valley. It would have been lovely to be on top of one of the snowy peaks. I remember, though, the grunt to get up there as well as the alternating baking heat and freezing cold on the glaciers! It looked like a perfect day for a climb, although judging by the amount of water in the waterfalls the snow would have been very soft. The other downside of snow climbing  is the very early start required: getting up in the dark, floundering around preparing breakfast no one feels like eating, then heading away by torchlight. The magic moment when the sun comes up makes it all worthwhile.  I need to go climbing again.