"Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero." It’s not often you get the chance to cut and paste a little Latin into the Wānaka Sun.
But occasional reporter and failed Latin scholar Mark Price felt justified having just seized the opportunity to walk the oft closed Rob Roy Glacier track.
The Rob Roy Glacier track in the Mt Aspiring National Park has been more often closed than open in the past five years.
On Sunday, not only was it open, but the sun shone - the whole day.
It was a moment, and who knows when there will be another.
In the Raspberry Creek carpark at the start of the track, there were 51 cars, one bus and two camper vans when we arrived.
A brightly coloured bunch of pack rafters was setting off down the Matukituki River.
A couple of bikers with big backpacks were pedalling to the Aspiring Hut.
And locals and tourists bearing day packs were heading for the vital link to the Rob Roy Glacier - a wire rope bridge freshly restored by the Department of Conservation.
Pre-Covid, the bridge carried 20,000 people per year, but 18 months ago it closed for safety reasons.
Since then, Doc has carried out "complex rock drilling and structural work" to improve the bridge’s "ability to bear weight".
It reopened a fortnight ago.
The track to the glacier from there is not to be underestimated.
Pre-schoolers would struggle and at the other end of the continuum those with heart conditions would do well to take it easy.
Halfway up, there is a four-storey stack of relatively new wooden steps, the solution to the previous problem that closed the track for 18 months back in 2019.
The steps bypass the precipitous bluff where 450m of track through a rockfall and slip zone was damaged by heavy rain.
That problem was solved and now there are only signs of potential problems - like "rockfall possible, no stopping next 50m".
Another, nearer the top, warns of avalanches crossing the track from "June to November".
"Are you carrying rescue equipment including transceivers, shovels and probes ... "
Who knew?
Unscathed walkers on their way back from the glacier preview what’s ahead.
"Amazing. Super white and bright and beautiful."
And the glacier is exactly that, with all the attributes necessary for a toothpaste commercial.
The end of the track is not just about the glacier.
Sure, there is the thunder of a distant icefall and a little bit of chatter among those watching and listening.
But, otherwise it’s quiet - a tourist spot with no idling diesel buses, no cafe, no queues, no internet connection.
In fact, a young spectator sitting on a smooth, sun-warmed, rock is trying to use an actual pencil and notepad to record his thoughts.
It is a place for poetry, and photos and a packed lunch.
On our day, we saw perhaps 40 track walkers - without exception pleasant, courteous and well impressed.
Carpe diem.
