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As we had missed the ice back home in England this year, we decided to have a day amongst it just to remind us what we had missed out on. We now remember and after one day had had enough of it!
We drove over into glacier country from Wanaka, passing through more mountains and the Fox glacier, before arriving at the town of the Franz Josef glacier. This new van really struggles with the slopes but it is getting us there, just in our own time.
We spent our first night in a cheap DOC campsite by McDonald's and Ottos creek. As we went to bed, the rain started and we were so glad we were not in our previous van with the tent on the roof. The rain beat away all night and kept waking us up.
We had an early start the next day as we were doing a guided full day hike onto the glacier. When we arrived we were checked in, our fitness questioned and given our gear. We were advised to wear at least 3-4 layers and with the rain, to keep our own raincoats on. We were then provided with another big waterproof jacket, trousers, hat, gloves, socks, shoes and crampons (spikes that attach to your shoes to walk in the ice). We took a short bus ride over to the glacier where we were informed that 5% of Londons annual rainfall had fallen in the town and on the glacier overnight, and that another 50mm was expected during the day! They also told us we had driven across the border between two tetonic plates. These are the plates responsible for the surrounding the mountains and we were informed that a huge earthquake is expected in the area within the next 100 years and it will be bigger than the Christchurch earthquake on the richter scale. Also, it won't have an epicentre, instead it will span around 300 kilometres of land. Franz Josef is quite a dangerous place to live in really!
We arrived at the base of the glacier to a huge expanse of rocky ground that we had to walk over for about half an hour. We reached a yellow rope where there were danger signs telling us not to cross and adverts of tourists who had died on the other Fox glacier recently. It is not illegal to cross this line, but it is advised not to unless you are in the guided group. The company is the only guided tour group that go onto the glacier and throughout the day we passed other people who worked for the company, picking out routes to make it safer to walk along. We were split into smaller groups and put our crampons on before we got to the ice itself. Throughout the day we were given lots of glacier and mountain facts of which hardly any we can remember! The guides were all really knowledgable and nice.
It took a while to trust that your crampons would grip the ice as we were walking up and down slopes, through valleys where the ice touched your shoulders and took big leaps across gaps in the ice. You would look at the ice and think you should be slipping all over the place. They were really good! I think during the winter, everyone should be given a pair at home to stop everyone falling over all the time! Some of the trail we took was quite steep and we were constantly having to take big steps over kravasses and the pace was quite quick. Ruth and Jade decided a full day wasn't for them so were left with some of the workers ice picking the track and then merged into a half day group when they came past.
We carried on as the rain pelted down and we were going over all the rises and falls. I thought the glacier would be flat, but as it is constantly moving and holes opening up, it is a treacherous path and our guide was constantly having to hack away at the ice and steps that had already been cut that day. Some parts had ropes to hold onto, particularly on the really steep inclines or declines. As we neared the top, the mist was really coming in. At times we could only see about 10 feet around us, then it would clear and we could see down the valley where we had come from, then the fog would return. It was a bit scary when we were coming back down as we couldn't even see the direction we should have been going in, plus the rain didn't hold up all day. Normally the ice is bright white and the pictures show tourists admiring the scenery and ice, yet we could hardly hold our heads up as it was so rainy and could hardly see the view! Also, the rain gave the ice a blue colour which was quite pretty. The guide said this was a 'beyond average day' so maybe that was a bonus! As we approached the top, the previous group had found two solo ice climbers who had become stranded on the glacier the day before when the rain had set in and needed their help to get down as they didn't have the appropriate gear to get themselves down. The company helped get them home safely and it really showed that it is a dangerous place.
There is only do far you can walk up the glacier to a frozen ice falls. The only way to get above this ridge to the top of the glacier is by helicopter. We ate our soggy sandwiches in the horizontal rain at the top of the glacier and were told we would normally be able to see a huge 1000+ meter waterfall, but today it was totally obscured by the mist. It was too rainy to have our cameras out, but we didn't manage a few snaps when the rain eased, so, if you want to see pictures of the glacier, maybe google it! A gap appeared in the mist and we could see the ginormous waterfall, it was amazing, we must have seen literally hundreds of waterfalls with all the rain, but this one was massive. Our guide has worked there nearly two years and said he had never seen it like that!
We were meant to explore some caves but all the usual ones they take you to were full of water! We found one on the way down that we got to go inside which was really cool, Sally wasn't so sure though! As we were traversing back down, we heard a huge rumble like really loud thunder, and across the valley a huge overhanging piece of ice had broken off and fallen to the base of the glacier taking large piles of rock with it. We were apparently in a cautioned area of the glacier where you can't really stop - just keep moving through it without stopping. The piece that fell was quite a long way away so we weren't in any danger so it was really good to see but did make you feel a bit wary of all the dangling ice around you.
When the mist did clear and you could look up the glacier trail and down into the rocky valley it was really incredible. It was like nothing I had ever seen, it was quite eerie but really beautiful and it was good to stop and take it in. The walk itself was well-paced, but you really had to concentrate all day where you were putting your feet and how. We taught all the different techniques walking on ice and slopes and the Franz shuffle (sounds more fun than it was!). It also meant you barely noticed how wet we had got! The shoes were waterproofed for a while, but then enough was enough and I think we carried half the river with us for the rest of the day in our shoes! It also meant Sally and I are both suffering with some nasty blisters now. Relieved, we reached the yellow rope to cross back off the ice into the safer stony ground. It was so amazing what we had seen considering it was such a miserable day being out in the rain all day and we were achy and exhausted but so glad we had managed the full day. When we look at the leaflet, the walk we did required the highest level of fitness and was classed as difficult as ice climbing. We were really proud of ourselves!
We were taken back to the office to give back the gear we had borrowed and were drenched through underneath it had rained so much!
We met back up with Ruth and Jade and went to wind down with our free entry to the glacier hot pools. There were three covered outdoor pools filled with water from the glacier and were set a 36, 38 and 40 degrees, it was so nice and relaxing we could have fallen asleep! Although we found the hottest one a little too hot to stay in for too long, life can be difficult for us at times! We had had such a good day and seen real natural beauty. It would be nice to see it in better weather, but it is still special the way we saw it and will remember the experience fondly for a long time.
Today we are moving north up to Nelson, New Zealand's sunshine capital so fingers crossed for sun! Although, I think the title is more to do with the fact the town has the highest number of daylight hours. I think we may stop off before we get there tonight, then after we have visited Nelson, we will be heading across to the north island for our last two weeks here.
Amy. x
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