because we have an exam in a month, we wondered whether access to the Hector Glacier was ready yet, so we went for a walk. Walk being the important term. It was possible to skin to the bottom of the opening below the waterfall pitch, but snow cover was between 20 and 30cm and was refrozen rain soaked snow with last night's dust on top. Long story short, the waterfall access is not in. The ice was thin and hollow, with very little snow covering it (pic attached) and if you followed the summer trail up as high as it would go you would end up at an open pool of water to cross to continue. Much of the rock on both sides was covered in verglass, topped with 5-20cm of snow. More snow and more cold is needed here. Speaking of more snow and more cold, we then decided to go see what the canyon access to Bow Hut looked like. This was more positive. There is still open water in the canyon, but it can be avoided all the way up to the normal exit up into the trees, with several other places where you could climb out, if you wanted to. The slopes above both sides didn't hold enough snow to avalanche (yet). So give Hector a pass for a while, and maybe head up towards Bow Hut, if the mood strikes.