The Franz Joseph Glacier and its neighbour, Fox Glacier, descend in only a few kilometres from the permanent alpine snows virtually to sea level. This makes them very accessible, and they are a blue ribbon tourist attraction on the west coast of the South Island. The ice ranges in colour from dirty grey (due to gravel and dirt caught up in the ice) to turquoise blue (due to the crystalline nature of the ice when compressed). Our visit here was marked by heavy rain and low cloud. This did not stop us walking to the terminal face, but it did stop us climbing the glacier or taking a helicopter ride over it.