Franz Josef glacier hike

Friday, December 5th

At around 9:15am, we got up and ready for breakfast - pizza - and then headed to Franz Josef for our glacier hike. At the center we got a quick briefing about the hike and then we had to get our gear - boots, socks, rain jackets, and crampons. They didn't have my boot size so I had to wear a bigger size with two pairs of wool socks. This should be interesting. Oh wells, just suck it up and hike. I was excited to see how this is different from Norway.

We had to drive 10mins to the start of the hike, then hiked an hour to get to the glacier. The hike was pretty scenic. Parts of it we had to hold on to a rope to make sure we didn't slip off. We also had to walk through a small stream. My right boot got wet. Not so nice. When we reached the base of the glacier we learned some Franz Josef facts.

James Cook found New Zealand, but when he saw Franz Josef, he thought it was just clouds. It was not till 1860 that a German explorer found the glacier and named it after the emperor. In the 1900s glacier guiding began at Franz Josef, and it's been pretty much the same type of hike ever since.

This glacier is a dry glacier, so we didn't need to be tied onto each other, unlike the one I did in Norway. The front of the glacier moves around one meter a day. But, during summer it's melting and moving at the same time, so it negates itself. The last few weeks it rained a lot, which made new pathway formations since it came forth a lot. It even rerouted the river which forced us to hike through the forest.

The hike was not too strenuous. We had to climb up ice steps that the guides carved out at 6am. We were told to hold the ropes face up in case we slip we would pull our shoulder out of the socket if we held the rope the other way. Yikes. Glad that did not happen to me, although I did slip once grabbing onto the rope for balance.

After the steps we were supposed to walk on the ice, but because we were running late, they only permitted 5 mins of it. How crappy. We quickly snapped a few photos, one inside a crevasse. It was still pretty cool. We just wished we could of walked on the ice for longer before having to turn back. I had a better hike on the glacier at Norway.

Back at the hostel, Alfio and Nilesh took a shower while the girls just chilled by the car. When we were all ready, we got in the car for our road trip.

Alfio drove again. He is a very good driver. We stopped by Knight's Point, a beautiful lookout point for a few pictures. New Zealand is definitely one of the most scenic places I've been too, but it reminds me a lot of Norway.

The luxury of having a car is that we can stop wherever we want. Dinner was at Haatst town. It was very nice in there, with pool tables and a beautiful view into the plains. I originally wanted the lamb pie, but decided to change my meal to tomato soup and mushrooms on the side. A bit healthier than what I've been eating. Alfio had my first choice, lamb shank pie. Steph and Bernice had tomato soup and calamari salad (very fresh), while Nilesh had the good old fashioned fish and chips. Alfio enjoyed a beer with his meal, so he asked Nilesh to drive for the rest of the trip.

This was Nilesh's first time driving on the wrong side of the road, and driving a van. I have to say his driving was more sudden movements than Alfio, but we are still happy he was driving. On the way to Wanaka, we saw tons of sheep, cattle and deer farms. It was beautiful. Bernice likes the sheep because they have cute butts. At one sheep farm we stopped to snap a few photos. It was incredible that they were all baaahhh baaahhh-ing and it was really loud. Pretty humorous. I snapped a few photos, but they were all running away. So I only got photos of the butts.

We also stopped by other scenic places, Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka, to take photos. It was beautiful. So nice. Totally Lord of the Rings. At around 10pm we got to base backpackers at wanaka. We showered, some used the internet, and then the bar. The bar was more like a club and it was good fun. We were not dressed for it. I was wearing my shaggy capris and tank, my hair was still soaking wet. Steph was wearing her pjs.

We had NZD10($5) vouchers and 2 for 1 special cards. So I ordered a rum and coke for NZD6.5 ($3.5) and got two. What a deal! The rest had beers and did a beer chugging contest. Nilesh was all about getting drunk that night because he wasn't going skydiving with us the next morning. Nilesh was pretty funny...and drunk. He tried to pawn off his rupee coins to the Kiwis, but it didn't work out so well. Instead we played who can spot the rupee. He mixed all the nzd and rupee coins together and we were supposed to pick out the rupee. Stephanie was good at it.

At around 1pm, the four sky divers went to bed. Nilesh stayed out drinking. He met a kruger that night. She asked if he could do cpr on her....yuck. He said I'm too drunk and dismissed himself. He came back into the room to read his comic strip instead.