Itinerary Help! Is there anything to do in Fox or Franz Josef on Christmas Day?

First, I would like to thank everyone who responded to my previous
message regarding travel to the South Island.  I completed my
intinerary and then realized I had a little problem.  Based on my
ideal intinerary, I was planning to be in Fox/Franz Josef on Christmas
day and would like to do a Glacier trip.  Now I realize that all the
tour companies are closed on Christmas (no real surprise there.)  I
was wondering if anyone could answer the following.

1) Is there any independent Glacier travel or hikes that don't rely on
tour companies that would be good for Christmas day?  I hear Fox and
Franz Josef are very small, is it going to be very quiet on Christmas
day?

2) My other alternative would be to travel from Christchurch to the
Glaciers on Christmas day, stopping at Arthurs Pass for a hike. Then I
would need to rearrange my schedule and was wondering if only a 1/2
day in the glacier area is enough time (Dec 26)  I could do a 1/2 day
Glacier tour in the morning and then travel on to Wanaka in the
afternoon.

3) Any other suggestions would be appreciated.  My tickets are already
set, so I need to keep the arrival and departures fixed.  We are
flying from Auckland to the South Island and I haven't booked that
ticket yet so I could change the arival city if necessary.  Also, I'm
doing Auckland on the weekend because we have a friend there and
wanted to see her (otherwise she is at work.)

Thanks for all your advice.

Regards,

Mike



Date     Intinerary                           Hotel
15-Dec  Arrive late night in Auckland       Auckland Airport
16-Dec  Rotorua                             Rotorua
17-Dec  Rotorua                             Rotorua
18-Dec  Tongario Park                       Tongario
19-Dec  Tongario Full Day Hike              Tongario
20-Dec  Tongario to Caves to Auckland       Auckland
21-Dec  Auckland/Hauraki Gulf               Auckland
22-Dec  Auckland to Christchurch            Christchurch
23-Dec  Banks Pennisula                     Christchurch
24-Dec  Christchurch/Arthurs Pass/Glaciers  Fox or Franz Josef
25-Dec  Glacier Trip                        Fox or Franz Josef
26-Dec  Glaciers to Wanaka                  Wanaka
27-Dec  Free Day in Wanaka                  Wanaka
28-Dec  Wanaka to Te Anau                   Te Anau
29-Dec  Te Anau/Milford Sound/Queenstown    Queenstown
30-Dec  Free Day in Queenstown              Queenstown
31-Dec  Queenstown, Depart at 3pm           Fly Home