So apparently hiking in New Zealand is called tramping instead of just walking, they have much better names for things than we do! e.g Jandals vs Flip Flops!
Anywho, regardless of name the title says it all, we were driven to Franz Josef town early in the morning to get our gear on and start our amazing hike up one of the largest glaciers in New Zealand!
We were all pretty excited as we had already been for a walk to the Fox glacier terminus the day before, though it was also a bit daunting as walking on glacial ice is tough work!
Location:
And here are some obligatory photos showing our journey:
Anywho, regardless of name the title says it all, we were driven to Franz Josef town early in the morning to get our gear on and start our amazing hike up one of the largest glaciers in New Zealand!
We were all pretty excited as we had already been for a walk to the Fox glacier terminus the day before, though it was also a bit daunting as walking on glacial ice is tough work!
Location:
So here's one of my typical Google Earth pictures, Franz Josef Glacier is pictured right in the top-centre :)
And here are some obligatory photos showing our journey:
Nothing like a cheeky fault line running across the valley to make you worry about earthquakes ;)
A scary crevasse, a friend of mine almost fell into one of these and died on the same glacier back in 2009, crampons people!
Only on a glacier could you get away with such interesting attire.
Crampons are your best friends in such situations!
It's okay to straddle a glacier in oversize sunglasses!
Just thought i'd include this as my guide looked so happy about something, wonder if he knows his face is on the interwebz...
Franz Josef glacier valley.
A supraglacial melt water channel.
Cheeky little icefield where we had our lunch :)
Would you believe that a person on this photo would be about a quarter of the size of that giant rock at the back!
The glacier from the front.
A kea parrot, these things are known for ripping open tourists back packs for goodies so I kept mine well away haha!
Moulin :) If you've ever seen Frozen Planet, you will see Aberystwyth's Alun Hubbard hanging down a much larger one!
Icey stairway.
Super blue ice!
So as you can see, we had a rather jammy time up this glacier, definitely a must do if you're ever in the area or just in the country...
It's a shame that this glacier is so sick :( It is receding fast along with the Fox, Tasman, Mueller and Hooker glaciers and so it won't be around for tourists to see for much longer. If melt rates increase it will become too dangerous for us to experience such an amazing hike again! So i'd go sooner rather than later for the time of your life ;)
.jpg)
