在紐西蘭的庫克山國家公園中，有一個絕美的地理現象——「塔斯曼冰川」！這裡不僅是南半球最長的冰川，而且是紐西蘭很重要的旅遊景點之一。今天，我們要一起踏上冰河船，一起航行在冰河之上，近距離觸摸冰晶，探索這個凍結的世界，甚至是品嚐純淨無瑕的冰晶！
Relevant Information
You can book a tour directly on the official website! It's available year-round with unique scenery for each season.
To book a Tasman Glacier icebreaker tour, simply visit the official website! Currently, the price for adults (15 years and older) is 179 New Zealand dollars, and the price for children (4-14 years old) is 79 New Zealand dollars. The tour company offers four trips, at 9:30, 11:00, 14:00, and 15:30, depending on actual conditions. In addition, the company offers a full-refund weather cancellation policy and a family package (2 adults + 2 children) for 399 New Zealand dollars.
Booking:
Glacier Explorers Google Map：Link
Meeting Point: Hermitage Hotel
Hermitage Hotel Google Map：Link
Please note that participants of this tour need to have good physical fitness, being able to walk 1.5 kilometers within 25 minutes to reach the lakeside. Please consider your and your companions' physical condition when booking and choose the most suitable trip time.
【愛戀紐西蘭南島10天】金旅獎.早鳥.隱士冰河船.東海岸 🐑
Recommended dreamy destinations in the South Island of New Zealand.:
The Christchurch Pass
Akaroa Shamarra Alpaca Farm Tour
TranzAlpine Ticket between Christchurch and Greymouth
Lord of the Rings Edoras Guided Day Tour from Christchurch
International Antarctic Centre Ticket in Christchurch
The 'Glacier Explorers' is setting sail!
Reservation and Gathering
這是由 Glacier Explorers 所提供的塔斯曼冰川破冰船體驗，可以很方便地在網路上預訂。每人的費用為179紐幣（漲價了）。並在隱士飯店集合出發，隱士飯店是一個具有名氣的地點，地理位置更是無與倫比，讓旅客在享受舒適住宿的同時，也能欣賞到庫克地區的壯麗風光。
The meeting point is outside the buffet and gift shop of the Hermit Hotel, where a shuttle bus will be available for pick-up.
Shuttle Service and Exploration Trail
Starting from the Hermit Hotel, the shuttle will take you across the Tasman Valley. Along the way, you can marvel at the breathtaking snowy mountains and river landscapes. A professional guide will also share geographical insights about the Tasman region while on the bus.
When the shuttle stops, there will be a walk of approximately 25 minutes, covering around 1.5 kilometers, to reach the boat boarding location. It's a bit of a distance, but the path is generally flat without many slopes.
Along the way, you will see the clear rivers in the valley. Rocks with rich geological features shine in the sun, showing the magical charm of nature. The vegetation next to the trail is also quite interesting, with many alpine plants unique to the Southern Alps. In the spring and summer seasons, these plants bloom beautiful flowers, bringing vitality to this snow-capped glacier. In the autumn and winter seasons, the snow covers the earth, creating a pure and tranquil picture.
Board the Boat!
Everyone will put on life jackets on the shore, and personal belongings can be locked in the nearby lockers, ready to board the boat! Note, the wind on the icebreaker is very strong; be careful with your hats, glasses, and hair ties.
What does the Tasman Glacier look like?
Many past travelers have been deeply captivated by the scenery of the Tasman Glacier. The magnificent views of the glacier and the sense of tranquility it brings have led many to describe it as another world.
"When I saw the shimmering blue light on the glacier, I felt I was in an entirely different place, an experience I've never had in my life," said some visitors.
A traveler from the UK wrote, "On the icebreaker, I could hear the sound of ice cracking and feel the boat vibrating. It felt like I was witnessing the glacier's vitality first-hand. It was an unparalleled experience."
Tasman Glacier Boat: Touch the Ice Crystals!
Aboard the Tasman Glacier Boat, we have the chance to see and touch pristine ice crystals. New Zealand's natural environment is remarkably pure, and this water and ice are virtually uncontaminated, safe enough even to eat!
Ice crystals glittered in the sun, shining like diamonds. Their purity and transparency were amazing. Looking at these ice crystals, we could feel the wonder and magic of nature. They were pieces of art from nature, and ice crystals of different shapes and sizes had their unique beauty.
Touching the ice crystals feels cold yet surprisingly soft. They melt in our hands faster than we'd expect. This rapid melt is due to the fact that these ice crystals come from glaciers, having been compressed and shaped over time, giving them a density far greater than any ordinary ice we encounter.
Tasman Glacier Boat: Taste the Ice Crystals!
The guide will also approach the icebergs closely, allowing tourists to chip off some ice crystals and taste these glacial remnants from the Southern Alps. Consuming these ice crystals, we can experience their coolness and purity, as if encapsulating the entire freshness and tranquility of nature.
將這些冰晶放在舌尖上慢慢融化，感覺就像是在品嚐時間的滋味。這些冰晶可能已經幾百年甚至幾千年的歷史，而現在，它們就這麼悄然地溶解在口中，帶著大自然的故事，使我們與這片土地產生深厚的連結。
Seasonal Changes
在夏季，塔斯曼冰川會因為高溫而加速融化，形成一個巨大的冰湖。可以看到大小不同的冰塊在湖面上漂浮，它們在陽光的照射下閃閃發光。而在冬季，冰川會變得更為壯觀。湖面會被一層厚厚的冰覆蓋，形成一片絢爛的白色世界。
Impact of Global Warming
On the journey of the icebreaker, you will have the chance to witness the impact of global warming on the glacier. Due to the rise in global temperatures, the melting speed of glaciers is accelerating. You can see the edges of the glacier gradually retreating and the area of the ice lake expanding. This not only changes the shape and size of the glacier but also affects the local ecosystem.
「塔斯曼冰河船」地理知識大補帖（翻譯他發的手冊的）
Exploring Mount Cook and Its Glaciers
Aoraki Mount Cook, the crown jewel of the Southern Alps, stands at an impressive height of 3,724 meters. However, a landslide on December 14, 1991, reduced the height of the peak by 10 meters. Three glaciers lie under the protection of this mountain: the Hooker Glacier, the Mueller Glacier, and the largest glacier in New Zealand - the Tasman Glacier.
Milky White and Deep Blue: Unique Water Quality Phenomenon
These glaciers offer not only a visually stunning feast but also paint a vivid picture in the ecological geography. As glaciers move, they collide and grind with the surrounding sandstone, greywacke rock, and schist rock, releasing fine particles known as "glacial rock flour," giving the river flowing through this area its unique milky white color.
This milky white river eventually flows into Lake Pukaki. The clear water of the lake mixes with the river water, and the heavy rock flour particles settle at the bottom of the lake. Only the finest particles float in the lake. When sunlight falls on the lake, these fine particles reflect blue light, giving Lake Pukaki a memorable deep blue hue, hence another name, Blue Milk Lake.
Tasman Valley: Two Million Years of Natural Sculpture
The landscape of the Southern Alps did not happen overnight but has been continuously sculpted and changed by glaciers over the past two million years. The Tasman Valley is a vivid example of this, formed by the power of the Tasman Glacier during the Ice Age about 18,000 years ago.
The Tasman Glacier at that time was enormous, with a thickness of 200 meters above the valley and reaching 400 meters at the base, and a total length of over 100 kilometers, 10 kilometers longer than the present highway. As the glacier slowly advanced, a large amount of rock and debris was squeezed and suspended in the glacier.
However, about 13,000 years ago, with the rise in Earth's temperature, the glacier began to gradually melt and retreat. The rocks and debris originally suspended in the glacier fell to the ground after the glacier melted, forming the unique "moraine" of the Tasman Valley.
Currently, there is a layer of moraine up to 400 meters high at the bottom of the Tasman Valley, which was produced by the melting of the Tasman Glacier. The formation of the Tasman Valley is a vivid testament to natural history and geographical change and a perfect embodiment of the sculptural power of glaciers on the Earth's surface.
Terminal Lake
The terminal lake of the Tasman Glacier began to form in 1973 due to global warming causing glacier retreat. From the 1980s, the lake area expanded rapidly. By 2012, the lake was 2 kilometers wide, 5 kilometers long, and 240 meters deep. This lake helps us understand how glaciers respond to climate change and warns us to face the issue of climate change and protect the Earth. From the terminal lake, we can also see the Tasman Glacier deep in the mountains and its snow accumulation.
Ice Crystals: Core Component of the Glacier
The core of glaciers and icebergs is nothing more than tens of thousands of ice crystals. The formation of these tiny ice crystals is due to the continuous compression of years of snowfall. However, these ice crystals are not easily detected by our eyes in the dense glacier. Only when the glacier is exposed to the natural environment, especially under sunlight, do we have a chance to observe these ice crystals.
Glaciers exposed to the environment, under warm climate conditions, will start to see the gases within the ice expand, and the originally dense glacier ice will gradually return to its initial crystalline state. As time goes on, we can directly separate these ice crystals by hand.
Ice crystals are the main components of glaciers, possessing characteristics similar to steel, which allow the entire glacier to move in a unified manner. These ice crystals can deform under tremendous pressure and have excellent flexibility and viscosity. These characteristics allow glaciers to maintain their complete form when performing various actions, such as accelerating, decelerating, and even turning. These properties make glaciers one of the most unique and magical natural phenomena on Earth.
Blue Ice
Glacial ice is a type of ice that has been accumulated and compressed over many years to form a very dense ice. This highly compressed ice can absorb all colors in the spectrum except blue (shortest wavelength), thus the glacier ice presents a very unique "steel blue" color.
Not all glaciers are this "steel blue" color, which only changes when the ice is exposed to the natural environment. When sunlight penetrates the glacial ice, the gases in the ice expand due to heat, forming single ice crystals. After a short period of light reflection, the ice will eventually turn white.
Iceberg Fragmentation and Rebalance
The melting and movement of icebergs are a continuous process of seeking balance. During this process, icebergs try to maintain a specific ratio, usually with only 10% of the iceberg above the water surface and the remaining 90% below, also known as the 1:9 ratio.
Icebergs usually contain various impurities that may cause cracks or make them relatively fragile. These cracks and breakages may eventually detach from the main body, forming new icebergs or ice chunks.
Whenever part of an iceberg's structure fractures or loses balance due to melting, the iceberg undergoes a so-called "flipping" or "rebalancing." This is when the iceberg tries to regain its original balance point to maintain its 1:9 ratio. This natural phenomenon showcases the majestic landscape of nature seeking balance, reminding us of the vulnerability of icebergs and the impact of global warming.
Design of Icebreakers
The development history of icebreakers dates back to the Cold War era, when they were used for scientific research and military purposes. The design of icebreakers enables them to continue moving forward in extremely cold environments, and this technology is now used to lead tourists to explore places like the Tasman Glacier.
The powerful engine and special hull design of icebreakers enable them to break through thick ice layers, which is why they can offer us such a unique travel experience. The bow of an icebreaker is specially designed in an arc shape, effectively splitting ice chunks and allowing the hull to continue moving forward.
Conclusion
塔斯曼冰川破冰船旅遊是一個絕對獨特且讓人難忘的體驗。這是紐西蘭唯一的冰川船之旅！不僅適合家庭旅遊，而且讓你有機會親眼看到和觸摸到純淨的冰晶，甚至品嚐到來自南阿爾卑斯山的冰川冰晶。這個旅程將帶您進入大自然的美景，讓您親身體驗冰川的魅力，並與這片壯麗的土地產生深厚的連結。
無論是熱愛大自然的旅行者，還是只是想尋找一個特別的活動，塔斯曼冰河船之旅都是一個絕佳的選擇。如果有機會，一定要親自體驗這個旅程，感受冰川的神奇和大自然的奧秘！
Interested in exploring more tourist spots in New Zealand? Visit RosyArts' dedicated New Zealand page：Click here for more!
If you want to see more New Zealand landscapes and seek excitement, welcome to read:
[New Zealand Queenstown] KJet Jet Boat Experience: The Perfect Blend of Thrills and Scenic Beauty
Recommended dreamy destinations in the South Island of New Zealand.:
The Christchurch Pass
Akaroa Shamarra Alpaca Farm Tour
TranzAlpine Ticket between Christchurch and Greymouth
Lord of the Rings Edoras Guided Day Tour from Christchurch
International Antarctic Centre Ticket in Christchurch
