Smoke from Australia's bushfires has created a haze across New Zealand thousands of kilometres away with normally white glaciers turning a shade of caramel, according to social media posts Thursday.

The acrid-smelling smoke first appeared in the country early Wednesday when in many areas the sun appeared as either a red or golden orb, depending on the thickness of the haze.

"Smoke which has travelled around 2,000km across the Tasman Sea can clearly be seen," New Zealand's official forecaster MetService tweeted.

"Visibility in the smoke haze is as low as 10km in the worst affected areas."

A Twitter user called Miss Roho tweeted: "We can actually smell the burning here in Christchurch."

Another woman, Rachel, posted a photo of the Franz Josef Glacier -- more than 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles) away -- with its usual pristine white taking on a brown hue.

"Near Franz Josef glacier. The 'caramelised' snow is caused by dust from the bushfires. It was white yesterday," she said in a post Wednesday.

Comedian Jemaine Clement posted a photo of a golden orb.

"All the way over in NZ the Australian bushfire smoke in the atmosphere giving us this strange sun," he said.

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Forest and Wild Fires - News, Science and Technology

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Australia scrambles to reach thousands stranded by bushfires
Sydney (AFP) Jan 1, 2020
Fire-ravaged Australia has launched a major operation to reach thousands of people stranded in seaside towns after deadly bushfires ripped through popular tourist areas on New Year's Eve. Navy ships and military aircraft were deployed alongside emergency crews Wednesday to provide humanitarian relief and assess the damage from one of the worst days yet in Australia's months-long bushfire crisis. Three people died in just 24 hours and five others remain missing after the country's southeast was d ... read more