Well surprisingly the day after the 'poo party was more than slightly painful. We all piled on the bus (far too early after a few hours sleep and horrible hangovers) to travel to Franz Josef. The only redeeming feature of the fact that we were cooped up on a coach feeling like we were dying was that literally every over person on the bus was feeling just as terrible and we were all united in wanting to kill Smiley our bus driver everytime he came on his microphone to tell us some really useless information.We made one stop on the journey which was at a very bizarre little possum themed café which had fur covered seats and tables (animal lovers would have been outraged!) but to be honest all I can really remember about it was a massive big sausage sandwich and a really good strong cup of tea. After what felt like a lifetime (but was actually a few hours) we arrived at the tiny little town of Franz Josef which exists solely for the purpose of tourist access to the glacier which is next to it. We checked into our hostel, which was a gorgeous Alpine village kind of place with cabins, stocked up on chocolate and headed to bed with our books at around 8.30. In fact pretty much everyone from our bus did exactly the same.

The next day we woke up to the knowledge that today we were going to do the heli-hike on the glacier. We behaved like small children at Christmas running around and screaming with excitement! We headed off to the office to check in for our flight with Sian (who is a helicopter veteran unlike me) having to persuade me that no I wasn't going to have my head take off by the propeller thingys and it would all be fine. At the office we had to be weighed due to something to do with weight distribution on the helicopter. This did not go down well as we both know that we are not our skinny S.American selves due to the fact we have to squeeze into our clothes, we do not need it to be flashed up onto a screen in front of us! So we basically begged the guy in the office not to be told the result and after some strange looks he agreed that this was fine. We feel that we had a really good rapport going with this guy and after a while he agreed that if we got some really good photos on the glacier then we could replace the really dated ones that were on display in the office. Result, we were practically going to be supermodels!

After checking in we headed down to the heli-pad area to get kitted out. So on went our sexy waterproofs, hiking boots and mittens and we were ready to go. We all headed down to get put on the helicopter and this is when we started to cause trouble. Basically they wanted to separate us and out us on different flights and we were not having that. After complaining loudly the guy said he would change it but this was not a simple procedure. After about 5 radio calls and lkots of confusion it was finally all sorted but we were hated by all the staff and left to go on the last flight.

We eventually got on the helicopter (after I walked towards it as if I was being shot at in a war zone) put on our headphones so we could listen to the pilot and settled back for the scenic flight. I cannot describe it in any other way than absolutely gorgeous in fact none of us spoke but simply stared out of the window stunned silence.

The silence was not to continue however once we had landed. The helicopter literally lands on the glacier itself and you step out onto the ice (you are told to be very careful and we all walked across it extremely dramatically). It was then that we were introduced to our guide Simon and pretty much all fell in love at first sight ( he was tall, dark, tanned, handsome and had a lovely kiwi accent). We were told to listen very carefully to how to put our crampons onto our boots which were like giant spikes which would make walking on the glacier possible. Obviously the watching carefully completely passed me and Sian by and we both stood there dumbstruck until Simon came to the rescue and helped us both. Not before he had made some comment about me being blonde however, charming. We were then given our bum bags and ice axes (no end of fun but slightly dangerous when you accidentally carry them by the blade end instead of the handle which we both did) and set off. Walking on the ice is very very odd and we all stumbled and fell all over the place. The views were amazing and it was actually quite tough going ( we blamed our lack of fitness on a two day hangover so Simon wouldn't judge us). It was about half the way through the walk that we came across a little cave through which we could climb. Deciding I preferred to be chief photographer I climbed to the top to get in prime position for when the guys came through. I waited a while and then I heard Joel coming. Scrambling and shouting he eventually made it through after Simon climbed in and hauled him out (the photos I was supposed to be taken had been compromised by the simple fact I was laughing too hard to take them).If I thought that was bad Sian made Joel look like a professional. The only way I can describe the scene that unfolded was that she was like a bug which had fallen onto its back, limbs flailing all over the place. I was honestly unsure if she was ever going to get out as everytime she lifted herself up she seemed to fall even further back down again. But have no fear once again Simon came to the rescue and thankfully we all got down safely and back on the helicopter without any remakes of Touching the Void ( a genuine fear for all of us)

SH xx