After a bus journey from Nelson to Franz Josef, during which we stopped at Punakaiki to see the “Pancake Rocks” (heavily eroded limestones) and the blow holes, we arrived at our hostel, Chateau, in the late afternoon. After checking in, we went for a lovely stroll in a beautiful forest on Terrace Walk. The walk included climbing above some dead trees that were blocking the path which made it fun! Franz Josef is one of the three glaciers at sea level in the world - Fox Glacier, near Franz Josef, is another one. You can only get on the glacier by helicopter and we chose not to. Instead, on the next day, we took a shuttle to the glacier main carpark and walked to Robert’s Point, the viewpoint nearest to the glacier. It was supposed to
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