Day 15: 15/1/13
Nobody was too happy this morning to hear an alarm! We had to check in at the glacier hike place at 8:15 so we only had about 5 hours sleep! I wasn't sure if I was going to survive!
We got to the hike reception on time anyway. There were supposed to be 11 I out group. Four of us were in the same room- we all made it. One of the guys made it. The rest of the people were mostly in one room and they all slept in. We waited a while for them to appear but they didn't and they wouldn't let us go back for them as we didn't have enough time. They were really disappointed when they woke.
We got kitted out anyway- boots, over- trousers, jackets and a bun bag thing we had to wear around us with our cameras and the crampons, the spikes you stick your boots into. We didn't put them on until we got on the ice.
We had to get a helicopter ride onto the glacier. I was a bit nervous about that bit as they looked like they would be swaying mad, but it was fairly steady actually. The pilot only looked about 12, but I'm sure he must have been a few years older than that! The flight was only about 5 minutes long and I was in the middle of the back row so I didn't really see much. It was cool to land on the ice though.
After landing we spent about twenty minutes putting the crampons on our boots. Then we went off walking on the ice. I was surprised at how hilly it was. I thought we'd be on the flat but there was a lot of climbing. We didn't actually walk very far but it was just the fact that you were on ice, it felt like you were going to fall when you were climbing up or down! Thank God for spikes on boots!
There were about five groups on the ice around the same time but with all the crevasses and peaks in the ice you'd barely see them. We looked down a hole where the water had watched it away. Later we climbed through a a cave type thing and when you got to the end you were looking up a hole in the ice. It was quite cramped getting through there and I didn't really like it as it felt like I'd get stuck. Luckily I didn't and luckily ice is slippy so you can just slide off it! We went through a really narrow passageway too that we had to duck down and go under some ice. It was cool because you could really see the bright blue colours of the ice.
The guide was lovely and easy-going but didn't do much talking as we were chatting away to each other. We did learn that the glacier is 10km long and it's shrinking at the moment. They have been running tours since 1903. There are barrels around the place containing ropes and equipment that you might need to pull someone out if they were in trouble.
We got lots of good photos of ice and us kitted out in terrible bulky gear. While we were on the ice they cancelled some of the hikes that were to happen in the afternoon as it was too windy on the flight path for the helicopters. We were very lucky as today was the first day they were able to do hikes since Saturdy as it was raining. Because of that, the guide had to carve new steps and tracks out with his pick all the time.
After the hike we went to a bakery for some lunch, then went back to the hostel and didn't know what to do with ourselves when we didn't have any travelling to do! Everyone was pretty tired so we lay down for a while. I didn't even sleep though, was just chatting and trying to get the wifi to work right, which it won't! One of the girls went putting on a bikini to go to some hot pools down the road. Next thing the fire alarm went off and there was a bit of a panic to find some clothes! When we went to the corridor noone else was bothered at all! It turned out to be a false alarm anyway and even happened a second time.
Another girl lost a dress and remembered she left it in a place we were in about a week ago. Her sunglasses were broken too. Everything was going wrong. One of the other girls is really witty and made some comments that don't sound funny at all but were hilarious at the time!! (Do they not have sun in Germany?!) I got into a fit of laughing! I think it was sleep deprivation really but I was laughing for the day!
We just had noodles and stuff here this evening even though some of the group went for a curry. I sat for a while playing cards with two of the girls and then got dressed and ready for another night! We only had a few drinks tonight and just sat around chatting. There was no dancing or singing or anything at all tonight so was very tame! Everyone was really tired from the night before!