Wow what an incredible day! We climbed the Franz Josef Glacier - Ka Roimata O Hinehukatere (Maori) - which was possibly one of the best things I've done, it was so beautiful, a totally new and different experience. The ice was so smooth and blue it was amazing. It was a 13km return hike. We got a discounted price as we are travelling with kiwi experience, and all the gear - boots, socks, crampons, hats, gloves, waterproofs etc were all included, so didn't have to pay extra to hire which was good! We all got kitted up and then jumped on the bus to the glacier. We had to walk to get to the base, and then we were split into groups, of how fast we wanted to go. I ended up in the slow group, but we did exactly the same as everyone else and actually ended up having more time on the ice than the other groups! So more for our money's worth! We were with the Leeds gals and some welsh girls we'd also made friends with so that was nice. The group was only 11 as well plus our guide so it felt like it was just us up there. We walked over crevaces and through tunnels and saw such beautiful ice formations, the ice just looked so beautiful and the sun was out so it was all good! Helen and I crawled through a tunnel no one ahd ever been through before, it was really tiny i was lying flat, and then you had to turn sharply to the right and it thinned out down to the bottom, I thought I would get jammed in, but it was really cool being completely encompassed in an ice tunnel that we were the first to go through! We carried on making our way to the top, with a few stops here and there, and one for lunch. We then walked back down and back to the hostel for a nice hot shower! But it was just such an amazing day, the glacier was so beautiful, there are 2 and half thousand in NZ alone! And another bonus - no blisters!