The Franz Josef Glacier

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Following the previous day's activities which involved jumping out of a perfectly good plane at 12,000ft we figured the best thing to do was to hike up the Franz Josef Glacier, a truely awesome experience. I've been on quite a few walks and hikes in the past, but the Glacier hike was one of the best. The glacier creeps through the valley in Franz Josef and as you stand on the valley floor you can see right up the ice, it's a scary thought to scale the thing. We set off early at 9.15 and after walking for an hour or so alongside the river in the valley we reached the foot of the glacier where we were shown how to put on crampons and some useful techniques for walking on the terrain. We gradually progressed up steep stairs carved from the ice taking in the amazing formations the ice had formed around us. Huge blocks of ice stuck up from the body of the glacier creating huge chasams which equalled certain death should you lose your footing. Intially it seemed like it was a tour of the glacier and I felt slighty annoyed I had paid to be taken for a walk, which is a pretty alien concept when the Caroll and Lane contingent get together, but after an on hour on the ice the glacier became difficult to navigate and I conceeded that it would be really stupid to not have a guide up here. Aside from the guide knowing the best places to take us, they also had to carve paths to further our progression up the glacier.

We stopped for lunch at a fantastic viewing point; looking up the glacier white peaks were vivid through the cloudless deep blue sky, looking back to the valley floor the glacier body was pure white pushing the mountains on either side and with waterfalls falling from the green rocks. Awesome. After a huge bar of Cadbury's (on offer at the local shop, good sales plan) and 8 jam sandwiches we pregressing on to the exploration part of the day, through ice tunnels, climbing through crevases inches wide and using ropes and chains to hike through some awesome ice formations. This was where the glacier showed the most character, no two parts of the glacier looked the same every formation and section of the glacier was different, it was really cool to just take it all in and be amongst the glacier. The pictures give the best impression of all the glacier, it's impossible to describ.

On the return journey we stopped at a plunge pool, were those mad enough themselves into +0.7 degree water could do so (not me, thank you). Nick and Ross obliged willingly, however on seeing their reactions some poor bloke who'd stripped to his boxers, started to put his clothes back on. Walking the last hour or two back down all of us said the day had been one of the best so far, and New Zealand was unrelentlessly climbing up our favourite county league. In all the climbs and hikes we've done on the trip I enjoyed this one the most, because it's an entirely new experience, I have never worn crampons before or hiked a huge wall of ice. It was also one of my favourite hikes I've ever done. The day was rounded off with a nice dinner and a game of pool in the oven like bar at our hostel. The next day we went to Wanaka, which was a fantastic drive past the mountains and lakes which made up the majority of Middle Earth in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. The following day we arrived in Queenstown, the adventure capital of the world, where I had my own personal trilogy to achieve.

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