Sunday November 14th – Franz Josef glacier hiking

Although it was a rainy day, the Franz Josef full day glacier hike was totally worth it. After getting all geared up with raincoat, over trousers, hiking boots with the warmest wool socks, hat & mitts, & red waist bag for ice crampons the more than 60 of us loaded the bright red buses out to the glacier valley. How deceivingly far the glacier is from the carpark, it took nearly an hour to get to the piles of rock debris at the base of the glacier. We were split up into 6 groups of 10 each, with the fastest/most skilled heading out first to the slowest/least challenged required group. I stuck myself in the group 4 area not only as I was unsure how physically fit this hike would require but the guide for the group was a rather hunky, humorous guy (Ryan). It was a good call as he was not only interactive, knew all of our names within the first 5 minutes but you could tell he really loved doing this & being only maybe 5’5” using his pick axe to cut steps in the ice was clearly all muscle . I quickly made friends with 2 girls from Chicago (what’s with the Chicago crew in NZ? Haha), Carrie & Margy & Barrie from Ireland. We hiked our way up the moraine, taking in the scenic waterfalls, the treeline of where the glacier had receded from since the last ice age as well as learning how to not only strap on the crampons to our boots but how to walk with them. It’s funny how your instincts to be careful on the ice due to your normal paranoia of slipping & falling need to go out the window in order to tramp on the glacier & move effectively. After a running demo from Ryan, we practiced going up & more importantly, coming down the ice crevaces. As we climbed up & down, Ryan & the other guides with their groups cut out steps, ledges & bored in hand ropes in order to help get around. & yes, we got wet not only from the spitting rain but leaning on & touching the walls of the ice. But it was sooooo cool to see such enormous amounts of ice, how the movement forms holes, the water flow creates holes, dugouts & almost waves upon itself. & the ice was blue in layers, white in others & crusted with rocks in others. So neat. We did have a ‘concern’ when a member from a different group fell into & was wedged into a deep hole. It was interesting to see how, what felt like out of nowhere, 3 other guides came from around the corners with gear, ropes & swiftly took our groups out of the way & got her out with ropes. Very cool & professional. When we quizzed Ryan later about the frequency of these problems, he stated ‘when guided properly it never happens’ with a smile. Yep somebody was getting in trouble back at the office when they got back. Super fun, wet, energizing hike topped off with a trip to the glacier pools to relax the muscles & a great dinner out with new friends. (Side note: Encouraged my new friends Carrie & Margy to go skydiving the next day before leaving Franz Josef….. I should be getting a commission  ).



November 15th Travel from Franz Josef to Wanaka

On leaving Franz Josef we made a stop off at Lake Matheson, the mirror lake. It is nicknamed that as it is a small pool lake, left over from a glacier melting, & has no rivers pouring into or out of it therefore allowing for complete calm on the water’s edge. It also has leaves fall into the water, rot & sink to the bottom creating a black bottom, the perfect mirror. The mirror is of Mt Cook & Mt Tasman & Franz Josef & Fox glaciers. Pretty amazing & definitely postcard picture ready.

On through Bruce Bay, where folks come for deer & wild pig hunting & trout fishing, through to Ship’s Creek. This bay gets its name as a ship wrecked back in the 1800s off the gold coast of Australia & parts of it floated across the Tasman Sea & lodged in this location, talk about a long way to go. This beach, along the Haast & Waita Rivers was covered with sand dunes but we did not see any Hector dolphins or NZ fur seals that sometimes frequent the spot.

Next it was the twisty switchback roads of the Haast Pass, leaving the West Coast & making our way inland to Mt Aspiring National Park. This is one of the most scenic section with mountains so close you can touch them, beautiful waterfalls, rockslides on the road & the potential for our driver, Mark, to make one wrong move & that would be it for the Magic bus! The one-lane bridges seem even more narrow. We continued through Makarora, along Lake Hawea through Alberttown & into Wanaka late in the afternoon.