Day 80

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The journey down to Franz Josef was broken up by some gold panning and a bushmans centre along with yet more stunning scenery before we arrived in Franz Josef, home to the famous glacier! After much deliberation we decided to go for it and join the half-day hike! Dressed in yet more attractive gear, this time waterproof trousers, raincoat, boots, hats and gloves, we made our way up the valley in the pouring rain, ever so slightly apprehensive about the rather dim views of the glacier! Luckily however the weather began to clear as we approached and by the time we had fitted our crampons we were getting really excited about hiking up the ice and onto the glacier! An hour later we had made it to our high point where we had fun taking pictures in the beautiful ice formations gazing up at the sheer cliffs of the valley with their waterfalls running down into the ice which glowed a stunning blue beneath! We hiked our wak back down, our guide hacking stair -cases into the ice, where we dismounted our crampons a little wet and cold but so glad that we had been able to experience a glacier! That evening we went to the pub and warmed up with a few drinks with our bus buddies!

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