It was frustrating for me to stop in Greymouth as the next stop would be the glaciers, and I could barely contain my impatience to get to them. But yet again the bus driver had different ideas and we stopped at the village of Ross, famous for it's gold. The museum there was quaint and we got to have a go at panning for gold. Obviously set up so we would find some gold, it was still good fun and I managed to come away with a few specks. Then I found some jade, oddly enough already cut into a perfect square! You must have some real luck to find the nuggets though!

Our driver interestingly told us that it is estimated that several millions dollars of gold is sat under the township itself. However, the villagers have refused to move for the government to claim it. As a result the land law now reads that the owners of each house only own the topsoil and the rest belongs to the government, so any gold found underneath rightly belongs to the crown. The villagers as a result have sent the government carrot roots etc which have grown below the topsoil- well after all it does belong to them!

But enough with the side adventures, the glaciers. The main stop was at Franz Josef. Legend tells that when a girl lost her lover, her tears fell and froze creating the glacier. The glacier was first explored by Europeans in 1865, Austrian Julius Hasst naming it after the Austrian emperor. It flows from a height of 2700m above sea level to only 240m in as little as 11 km, making it the world's steepest and fastest flowing commercially guided glacier.

Wanting to make the most of my experience here I booked onto a heli-hike. This gives you a 15 minute helicopter flight over the glacier then drops you off higher than any of the day walkers get to, to walk about the glacier. Now for those who know me well, or even if you don't, you should know I have a massive fear of ice and in particular walking on it. It is in fact my biggest fear and one I was about to meet head on, especially when the introduction to the walk warned that anyone getting too far behind would have to be flown out of the glacier at their own cost!

With this in mind, I was very glad that we were given walking boots and crampons. A group of 8 went on the hike in 2 helicopters. This was really good fun. We swooped over where the glacier started and then circled around the mountains to see waterfalls adding to the glacier and then headed towards the top. Stunning.

The glacier itself was immense. It was not smooth, but full of towering pillars of ice and deep cracks. Some of the ice was the muddy type we get after snow has been on the ground for a while, and then some would be the brightest blue you could imagine.

The helicopter landed on a tiny piece of ice and the pilot warned us to be careful getting out as it would be slippy (we did not have the crampons yet). Great. Panic 1. I managed to cross with out incident but, believe me, my was heart racing.

We met our guide who handed out the lovely, lovely crampons and after a very brief lesson on how to use them we were on our way. There was not a set path, the guide chose where to go and carried a pick to cut out steps in the ice where necessary. I was about 4 in the group and looking up the guide had dashed far away already. Panic 2. How was I going to keep up?

The path he took us on meant we had to jump across a gap of flowing water from one ice block to another. Panic 3. Luckily another girl was not sure, so a guy stopped to give us a hand across. Life saver. My hands by this point were shaking and my heart beating at a million miles per hour, but I had not yet slipped over. We then had to walk across a near vertical piece of ice rock. It was about this point that I realised how good the crampons were and you could really dig in. It did not stop the panic though. Panic 4.

We stopped in amongst the towering pillars and I started to experiment with my footwear to build up my confidence. I also realised that the ice was not as slippy as I thought but crunchy under foot with considerable grip. Panic eased. I started to appreciate the wonder on which I stood. We were below a a massive bit of rock, where the glacier tumbled over. The cloud moved in and out, with glimpses of blue sky. It was a serene but surreal experience. We saw a minor rock slide which made you realise that you were actually stood on a moving thing. Our guide had explained that the glacier was currently retreating as it had warmed 2 to 3 degrees in the last few years. However, it was not necessarily due to global warming, as in the hottest year in the 20th century the galcier had actually grown.

Our guide said becausing we were moving so well he would take us to explore deeper than he had been for a while. This gave me a lot more confidence and for the last hour I moved fairly nimbly, with a more calm air. We passed rushing water and still lakes all with the muddy white, pure white and occassional blue dwarfing over and around us. We stopped to have a go with the pick axe and felt its weight. We were shown how easy it was for the ice to collapse in certain points, demonstrating how much we needed to follow the guide.

He pointed out where the glacier had dropped over the years and highlighted a hut high up on the mountain beside. You could barely distinguish it between the trees, it was so high up. In the last 100 years the glacier was as high and you could literally walk off the glacier into the hut. Since then the glacier has worn away the ground and retreated so much that the hut is at the distance it is. Remarkable.

At one point there was a cave we could go through, but seeing someone slipping in front of me, definitely put me off so I followed our guide (who gratefully walked around it). Good job as we soon all had to go through another cave. This was slippy and set my fear rising once more. I have never felt claustrophobic but I think because the walls were so smooth, and you could not stand straight for a decent grip, I began to lose my confidence. We then had to cross a crevace where the guide cut out steps on each side and you had to literally straddle with a foot on each side. There was nothing to grip onto and I had to put all my trust in the crampons. But soon we made it back to where the helicopter had left us. I had survived!!

It was certainly one of the best things I have done and a truly stunning, magical experience. Words cannot describe the beauty or immensity of that glacier.

I had planned to go to Fox glacier as well, but the day's experience was enough. I could not face the panic two days in a row. Plus as my excuse will be, the bus did not run on the right days for me to do both. I did drive past it though and got as many pictures as possible.

To end the day, I relaxed in the lovely alpine village. For those who don't know the mountains are part of the Southern Alps. Yes- the Alps are not just in Europe! I went on a little walk to see glow worms, but nice as they were, they could not beat the day's experience. And yes, more wine was involved.

Franz Josef - must see! Heli-hike - must do! Amazing, amazing, amazing. Told you words were hard to describe it!