Yesterday was one of those rare days where everything goes well and things just fall into place. It was a text-book traveller’s day. The weather the day before, on Saturday, was rainy and miserable. We spoke to the group that arrived in the township of Franz Josef the day before us and hiked the glacier on the Saturday and they said it was cold and uncomfortable up there. We, on the other hand, had a great day for it on Sunday. No rain, partly overcast (too sunny and you get hot under all those layers) and a light wind. We were put in groups of about 10 based on our confidence and ability, geared up with hat, gloves, waterproofs and boots with talons and drove down to the glacier.
The Franz Josef Glacier is one of over 3,000 glaciers in New Zealand, but it’s the most popular, largest and most accessible. It’s located on the west coast where the world’s biggest tectonic plate fault line bisects the south island. The Australasia and Pacific plates are actively grinding together causing hundreds of earthquakes yearly. Most are undetectable to humans although a ‘biggie’ is now overdue.
The hike involved walking up sculpted steps made by our guide in the ice up on to the glacier’s trunk - the area where the ice is forced down a valley by the gathering snow at the main body. From there we worked our way upwards, trekking along slippery slopes and climbing up through icey caves. 1,000 metre high mountains line the valley where the glacier flows. We hiked up to about 500 metres. The wind, rain and constant flow of melting ice down the glacier is constantly changing the surface, forging seracs and carving out new crevasses for exploring all the time. We were on the ice for six hours in total. We got some great views up there and the terrain was challenging at times which made for a very enjoyable day. Also, back at the bottom of the glacier I bumped into the Portsmouth girls me and Chris met in Thailand who did a hike with a different group on the same day. Small world.
Back at the hostel, Rainforest Retreat, the night’s activity was a killer pool competition. The night before was karaoke where Ed, Joe, Pete, Lara and I could be heard belting out Wonderwall by Oasis and Hey Ya by Outkast. As for the pool comp, 30 people entered but there was only one winner: me! I lost one of my lives early on but a succession of competant shots kept me in the game and secured a bit of a showdown with one other guy at the end. It was tense, the whole bar gripped by the action, and luckily I held my composure to finish off the match after stiching the other guy up with his last life. With the $35 bar tab winnings I bought all my new buddies a pint, because that’s the kind of gentleman I am…
Today the bus drove us south to Wanaka (yes, there is an a after the n) where we’re staying one night. En route we stopped to check out Lake Matheson, with it’s reflections of Mount Cook and the Fox Glacier. The scenery on the way was really special, I’ve not seen anything like it anywhere else. Tomorrow we leave for Queenstown - New Zealand’s adventure capital.