The Franz Josef township is home to the 12km Franz Josef Glacier. It is quite unique in the fact that it descends from the Southern Alps to less than 300 metres above sea level admist the greenery of a temperate rainforest. It is one of three glaciers in the world to come so close to a coastline and I am going to climb it...

At first I was debating whether to do the full or half day climb, partly due to my recent lack of exercise (the leaflet said that climbers must have a high level of fitness) and partly due to my poor level of resistance to the cold.

Eventually, I decided on the full day, despite my muscles probably screaming at me to do otherwise, and I prepared for the cold by wearing all of my clothes plus the hire clothes! I was ready to go. A bus took us from the township to the valley from which we had to walk to the base of the glacier along the river's path. At the base we were instructed to put our crampons (spikes that connect to our boots to grip the ice) on - we were off and before I knew it, I was on the ice; I was so excited.

It was amazing. It was so big. The guide took us all over and carved out steps along the way for us. We had our own ice picks to help us grip and at points we had to use ropes to help us up the steep ridges. We were taken through narrow crevases and we saw a couple of caves too; the ice was blue, it was stunning. My favourite feature of the glacier was the big Blue Cave.

The trip was worth every cent - I saw some breathtaking sights and the whole thing was so different to anything I have ever experienced before.