Well we arrived in Franz Josef last night - its a huge place - one whole street! This is a fairly common site in New Zealand and it impresses me each time that people live here permantly! The whole reason for visiting this place is to walk on the Franz Josepf Glacier - the steepest glacier in the world I'll have you all know. We all set off around 10ish once we had all the gear on - waterproof trousers, jackets, gloves, hats etc. It took us about 45mins to actually walk up the the start of the glacier. Once there we put on our talons (the spikes on the bottom of the boots to allow you to grip onto the ice....or at least try to). We then began our ascent up the glacier. We had chosen to do the full day trip as this gave us 6 hrs on the ice. It actually took some time to get up the first part as the ice steps are stupidly big, especially for those of us who are vertically challenged. I was literally climbing up them like a small child! Anyway once we had completed this section we stopped for lunch. Nothing like trying to eat a sandwich in the pouring rain hoping it wont disintergrate before you've managed to have a bite, while at the same time attempting to retain the grip on the ice. Walking on the ice is easier said than done...or so I found. I experienced a few problems. For example, it is important not to bring your feet together as the talons can get caught and you can trip. Unfortunately we paused for a little while and subconsciously I must have slid them together, as when I tried to move on.....I didnt. Instead I did an amazing slow-mo fall onto my knees. It was superb! I then got the giggles and couldnt get up for some time. Another incident happened when we were walking through a rather small cravass which you had to side step through and then step up onto a ledge. Unfortunately as I stepped up, my talon didnt quite catch the ice properly so I slipped and did the splits. Not overly comfortable when you then find yourself wedged between to huge slabs of ice. It took a while to free myself out of that one. Apart from the few encounters I had (though to be honest they were just so amusing they simply added to the day!) it was one of the best trips I've done so far. The views are amazing - its like being in Narnia! I would say the one downfall would have been the gear we were given. As mentioned at the beginning of this journal I said we were given waterproof clothing. Unfortunately we were later told (as we were soaking and freezing) that it is in fact only waterproof for the first 3 days....good stuff!!! An excellent day out - if the get the opportunity you have to do it, make sure its the full day as you get much more time up there!