Well what can I say about Franz Josef, the place is incredible (even if we have styed here longer than anticipated due to overcrowded busses!), its a small town with a few hostels and funky cafes, a bit like ski resort, but the views are incredible. There are huge mountain ranges all around with the Franz Josef glacier making its way slowly down the centre of the valley, probably the most amazing site I have seen and the weather has been perfect which is unusual for the west coast.

The first day we were here was pretty relaxed as we had planned our ice climbing for the follwoing day, so we decided to do an hour and a half long walk to some tunnels that used to be used to transport water. The walk was fine, pretty easy going, then we got to the tunnels. Us being us we decided to explore not knowing whether there was an exit at the other end or not! Luckily after about 200m of walking in torchlight (pitch black otherwise) there was light at the end of the tunnel. It was pretty scary at times and reminded us of that film 'The Decent' but it was still pretty cool because there were glow worms all over the ceiling which reminded me of a teenagers tacky bedroom!

The following day it was time for our ice climbing, I didn't really know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. It begin with an hour long trek to the base of the glacier where we donned our crampons and cold weather gear. Then it took us a further 3/4 of an hour to reach our climbing destination! Walking through crevasses and all kinds of ice creations, the views were amazing! Once we reached our destination we had some basic training on how to climb then we were unleashed on the ice walls! The technique is basically to kick your crampons into the ice with your heal facing down so you get as many spikes as possible then whack your ice axes in so they are in securely and try and walk up as if you were on a ladder! Not as easy as it sounds, trust me! The first 2 walls were pretty easy, with only a few slips but the following three walls were solid! The first was a lot higher and steeper and it had 2 holes in which Leeroy and G'bo decided to go over instead of around bad decision! At one point Leeroy was clinging on with just his axes, very funny to watch. The next wall was steeper still and even higher so it took a lot more physical strength but we all did that one fairly well. The final wall included an overhang, by far the hardest of the lot! You literally had to push yourself up using your legs and quickly hit the ice axe in before falling backwards, cliffhanger styley! It was too much for me after two efforts I had literally used all my energy and couldn't quite make it over the hang, gutted! But still I had an awesome day and after the hour and a half trek back I was absolutely shattered but wouldn't have missed it for the world!