Franz Josef Glacier, NZ

Welcome to the Franz Josef Glacier. After we visited the Fox Glacier we drove further down Glacier Country to the Town of Franz Josef where we got a nice room at Chateau Franz, a clean and cosy backpackers hostel. Upon arrival we immediately booked an all-day hike on the franz Josef Glacier for the following day. After an early wake-up call the next day, we went to the hike briefing where we got cool blue windbreakers, large woollen socks gloves, and a hat, leather boots, and some ice cramp-ons for better grip on the icy surface.

After a short bus ride, we started walking with a relatively small group towards the edge of the glacier. Now, FJ Glacier is current 12 km long and we were going all the way up to the first plateau. The guides had already chopped out some nice steps in the ice for the steep ascent of the first part of the glacier. Once up there, we navigated through and over some really nice cracks while our female guide (another one!) cut some more points to jam our feet securely into. We encountered some small patches of ice water and some of the blue-est ice you have ever seen (this is because the glacier presses out the oxygen of the ice which makes it turn blue).

We climbed further up the glacier (sometimes using a rope) to have lunch at the furthest spot we would go. it was a great place for some pictures before going back down. Now, as smooth as the ascent went, so long took the descent. Because the guides decided to take a path down less (or never?) travelled, it took a very log time before we got down. And since everyone had to get down before it became late, we had to wait a long time before we were back in the valley. However, this made it all that safer, but Sois still managed to almost fall down some icey stairs.

All in all, it was a great experience to walk among those giant ice masses. And besides ice, we also encountered one of NZ's coolest birds called the Kea (which makes a sound similar to ke-a, hence its name). It was just the cherry on the cake of a wonderfull day. It was our last real adventure before our time in NZ was almost over. Keep on checking back though because we're not done yet!

Follow the girl with the ice axe

More glacier than meets the eye