I got up early this morning to check in for my Ice Explorer trip with Franz Josef Glacier Guides at 9am. I was excited, but a little apprehensive. Due to recent rapid melting of the ice at the foot of the glacier, the full day hike starting from the bottom is no longer possible. This is because there is no access on foot from below the glacier anymore, thanks to a big hole at the bottom. I'd say that worked out pretty well for me though, as it meant we'd be getting a helicopter ride onto the glacier instead! Awesome!

We were given all the gear we'd need at check in - socks, boots, crampons, hat and gloves, waterproof clothing, etc. it was boiling hot down in the village, even at 9am, so we looked at bit overdressed to say the least!

The helicopter ride was even more exciting that I had expected! There are some perks to being small - I was chosen to sit in the front, right next to the pilot, both out and back, so I got absolutely amazing views! I can't believe how quickly helicopters take of and land. They change direction so quickly too, so often I felt like we were heading straight for a rock face, but we'd swoop upwards at the last second. It's also very cool when they dip downwards and tilt sideways!

Landing on the glacier was so surreal, we were dropped off on this big, icy wonderland, with steep rock faces either side and the village far down below in the valley. Our guide looked like Lara Croft and was such a lovely, cheerful woman! She had a big ice axe to hack away at the glacier, carving out steps and making our path easier.

It was weird getting used to walking on the ice - at first my natural instinct made me scared of slipping as obviously I was walking on pure ice, but it was fantastic once I learned to trust the crampons and I just happily plodded on up the glacier.

We had the perfect day for it - blue skies and brilliant sunshine. They get a ridiculous amount of rain on this side of the coast so I really have been lucky! The pictures describe this trip better than I can possibly put in to words so I'll get those up soon if you haven't already seen them on facebook. This was the cheaper (but certainly not cheap) trip offered by this company due to the shorter flight time than the more expensive trip, but it meant that the hike on the ice was longer at 3 hours and it was much more adventurous too. We crawled down and through ice tunnels and squeezed though giant cracks, marvelling at the amazing shades of blue in the ice and fresh glacier streams cascading down the surface. We had a good look (from a safe distance) at some huge crevasses too - definitely wouldn't want to fall down one of those!

This was definitely one of the best experiences I have ever had and not one that I'll be forgetting in a hurry. I was only sorry that I didn't have someone I'm close to around to share it with! You all have to do it one day, that's all I say.

Feeling re-energised after a good lunch, I went for a run along some different bush tracks - one to the impressive Callery Gorge and another to the Tartare Tunnels. I certainly can't complain about the abundance of running trails with a view!

I'll be sad to be leaving Franz Josef behind tomorrow morning...