Franz Josef

After seeing the glaciers from above yesterday we took a morning hike onto the Franz Josef glacier itself. We travelled up onto the glacier by helicopter, landing into shadows on the ice as the sun was still making its morning ascent to crest the mountain peaks.

Attaching crampons to our boots we followed our guide, Pete, up through the ice, stopping periodically to allow him to knock ice off the trail with a pick axe. The glacier moves over time making the ice a constantly changing environment for each hike. As the sun threw its light across the glacier, the ice turned from white to blue, absorbing this colour whilst reflecting the rest of the spectrum.

We climbed up stairways chiselled out of the ice, moving further onto the glacier that towered up in front of us. Another group climbing ahead of us, like a line of ants, gave perspective to glacier's sheer scale. In places we had to crawl and squeeze through small tunnels honed out of the ice by the wind. Our waterproof gear kept us dry as we slid around the smooth surfaces of the unblemished blue ice.

As the glacier's surface filled with sunlight our sunglasses spared us the glare of its reflection off the ice. The exertion of our climb and the sun's warmth heated us under our many layers. Yet there were still cold shadows to be found as we moved single file through a giant crevice, edging down deep into the ice and out of view from the world around us. Here the blue ice shone in its full glory, time held still inside its walls until the glacier eventually retreated and exposed its contents.

The ice crunched under our crampons as our breathing echoed in our ears. A heavy silence hung over the ice and when we stopped to listen we could hear the ice creak and crack like the hull of a wooden tall ship at sea. Maori legend states that the glacier was formed by the frozen tears of a young woman whose lover died falling from the mountains whilst they climbed together.

Back in Franz Josef town we soaked in Hot Pools with temperatures varying between 36, 38 and 40 degrees. As darkness descended the air temperature quickly dropped causing clouds of steam to rise off the pools and envelope us.

Our hostel's bar ran an all-you-can-eat pizza night that we took full advantage of, stuffing our faces with pizza, chips and garlic bread before filling tupperware for lunch tomorrow (backpacker lifestyle). The bar then ran a competition to win a bungy jump in Queenstown where contestants had to run across the bar attached to a bungy cord, grab a drink and return it to their partner to down. The quickest time won, with time taken off for those willing to do it with as little or no clothing on. No photos to see unfortunately/fortunately depending on your point of view but we can confirm there were naked contestants by the end of the evening (not us!)...Read more