The first stop after our Beaconstone departure was the natural wonder of the Welcome Flat hot springs.
26 kilometres south of Fox and Franz Josef glaciers, the hike to the hot springs is the first section of the technically-demanding Copland Track. We aggressively hiked the 17-kms to the springs in 5.45 hours – lots of rock-hopping alongside the Copland River, and many flood/swing bridges (we were lucky…it hadn’t rained in a while).
Our sore feet and backs were rewarded with four natural hot pools with temperatures hovering around 35 degrees Celsius. Relaxing in the hot water, surrounded by the Copland range and big blue sky is definitely one of our NZ highlights. What wasn’t as enjoyable was sleeping in the hut with 21 other trampers.
