Franz Joseph

Franz Joseph was amazing! Despite hiking on the Fox Glacier in the rain, it was one of the highlights of the trip! None of us could get over just how vast the glacier was and as we hiked all day long, despite being so tired and cold, everyone was in disbelief! The photos do not do it justice; one only wishes it had been blue skies because the day would have been made perfect! We climbed up ladders, pulled ourselves up the ice with ropes and crawled through tiny ice caves. It was awesome! I think we were on the ice at least 6 hours in all, but it went so quickly, I would definitely do it again, for sure!

The morning after the hike Skins took us to see the glacier in the sunshine which was really cool, we managed to getgroup photo from a few km away so it just looks like a mountain covered in snow, it was hard to comprehend that we had been climbing over it just a day before!

He also took us to see Lake Matherson which has got to be the best place to take photos ever. The day was so clear that you could actually see Mount Cook covered in snow in the reflection of the lake, to the point that you would struggle to see which was round the photograph was actually taken, unbelievable! New Zealand just keeps amazing me with its un-spoilt beauty. Even when I'm sat on the bus and we're travelling to scenery and to all the well-known places, you only have to look out of the window and you are surrounded by mountains, lakes, waterfalls, before you even go anywhere! It's hard to put into words and its hard to take in because its everywhere! Definitely my favourite country so far!