Another free day! Yeah! There is so much to do in this tiny township. We had the choices of heli hiking, scenic helicopter flights, horse trekking, quad biking, skydiving, glacier valley walk, lake kayaking or a hot pools visit. We opted to just have a relaxing day and did some hiking and exploring of the area. There are 110 kms of walking tracks which pass through the forest and are dominated by the lofty peaks of Cook, Tasman, and La Perouse.  
The glacier is 5 km from Franz Joseph village. There is a barrier that prevents people from being caught in ice falls and river surges from the glacier so you can't get too close to it unless you tak the hell tour. In fact, in February 2007, 2 tourists were injured after being hit by falling ice when they ventured too close. We were told that people have been killed here, as well. We didn't want to spend the $400+ each to take the helicopter (the only way you can get onto the glacier). We figured we've seen enough ice in our time in Canada and Vic and I have seen glaciers in our travels in Europe). 

 We decided to take the shuttle (5 km drive) to the glacier and then do the Franz Josef Glacier Valley Walk, 1 1/2 hours, to view the glacier terminal face to say we at least saw the glacier. Again AMAZING SCENERY!  

 Fun facts about glaciers:

• a glacier is a large body of ice formed by snow that remains after the end of each summer, where winter snowfall exceeds the summer melt. About 20-30 cm of snow falls in the Franz neve annually
• the snow accumulates over time, compresses and turns to ice and flows downhill
• as the ice floes down to warmer temperatures it melts away
• variations in speed of travel in different areas of the glacier and uneven bedrock cause the surface ice to crack, forming crevasses
• when more snow and ice is accumulating at the top of the glacier than melting at the front, the glacier will be advancing. When more ice is melting than being replaced by compressed snow and ice, the glacier will be retreating
• it can take about 5-6 years for an increase or decrease on the Franz Josef Glacier to affect the glacier advance or retrea
• glacier ice is blue because blue is the only wavelength in the visible colour spectrum that is not absorbed by the dense glacier ice
• when glacier ice is white, it is because of tiny air bubbles
• NZ has about 3,100 glaciers, most of which are in the Southern Alps between Arthurs Pass and Fiordlan
• Franz Josef Glacier is about 12 km long
• Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers are 2 of the very few glaciers in the world that extend through temperate rainforest to areas around 300 meters above sea level. This occurs because of the high rainfall and the steep narrow nature of the valleys they descend down
• the ice slides downhill to the more level river valley below, where it is still 300 meters thick. The movement is lubricated by ice that melts under pressure between the glacier and the steep valley floor. This effect, combined with the high snowfall feeding the top of the glacier, means the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers flow around 10 times faster than most valley glaciers. 

We also went through the kiwi zoo so we could actually say we saw a real live kiwi bird instead of just the stuffed ones in the Te Papa Museum in Wellington. The kiwi is a threatened species and they are nocturnal so the chances of seeing them in the wild is a long shot. The kiwi has a round body covered in coarse feathers, strong legs and a long, distinctive bill with nostrils at the tip for sniffing out food. We were not allowed to take pictures, unfortunately, but we stayed about 3/4 hour to watch them forage and play. I went back when Vic was resting and then again with him when he was feeling better. We saw 2 juvenile birds. Very cute and frisky. 

 Fun facts about kiwi birds:

• there are 5 types - great spotted, little spotted, north island brown, rowi, and tokoeka- kiwi are a nocturnal, flightless bird only found in NZ
• they are part of the ratite family, and are related to birds like the emu, ostrich, and moa. Ratite refers to their flat breastbone, which does not have a keel from which strong flight muscles are normally attached - but they still have a tiny wing!
• kiwi have many strange characteristics and are often referred to as an "honourable mammal". These mammal like characteristics include: ground dwelling, marrow filled bones (birds that fly have air filled bones to make them lighter), body temp 37-38 degrees C (human body temp is 37 degrees; other birds 39-42 degrees C), strong sense of smell.
• kiwi are the only bird in the world to have their nostrils at the tip of their bill; all other birds have them up at the base
• kiwi have an excellent sense of smell which they use to find food underground and on the leaf litter. They also have sensory pits at the tip of their bill which can feel movement of bugs in soil
• kiwi live 50-75 years.
• they are monogamous and start breeding at the age of 4 or 5
• they lay 1-4 eggs in a year and the male does most, if not all, of the incubation (depending on species)
• they lay huge eggs - about 20% of the females body weight. This is the equivalent of a human giving birth to a 6 year old child - OUCH!
• A kiwi egg can weigh 250-500 g
• kiwi eggs are incubated for about 80 days, the longest for any bird in the world, at 35.5 degrees C
• chicks hatch fully feathered and can be independent at as young as 2 weeks old.
• the West Coast Wildlife Centre works with the rowi and Haast tokoeka kiwi. There are less than 400 of each remaining in the wild today and both are critically endangere
• rowi kiwi are local to Franz Josef
• Haast tokoeka kiwi are found 2 hours south of Franz Josef in the sub-alpine sanctuary near Haast
• the stoat (looks similar to a weasel or fisher or ferret) is the main predator in the forest, originally introduced to control rabbits in the 1880's. A stoat can kill a kiwi under 1 kg in weight (it can take a kiwi over 12 months to reach this weight)
• kiwi defend themselves with their sharp claws and strong legs. They can outrun a human; they never bite with their bill.  

After dinner we wanted to take a short walk (30 minutes), called the Terrace Walk, to view glow worms. On our way we met Trish & Ian who said they didn't see any. Vic was chilly so we turned around and came back to the hostel with them. I've never seen them before so it's another new experience I still have to tick off. I guess I'll just have to come back! ;)

It was a nice relaxing day (except for some grumpy moments from the sicko).