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Published: August 20th 2006
Ice Cave...
Very slippery and very beautiful...The skies were clear, the air was crisp and I was prepared for my heli-hike on the Franz Josef glacier by wearing four layers! I was very snug indeed...
My trip started off by sizing myself up with a waterproof jacket, socks and hiking boots with attatchable spiky talons. Feeling like the Michelin Man I boarded a white helicopter where I was very lucky to get the front seat - prime window view! We took off smoothly and made our way to the glacier, passing over lush green trees and lakes gleaming in the sunlight. It was a brilliant sight going round the corner and then seeing this magnificent glacier ahead of you. It looks like a gigantic avalanche, spilling its way in the direction of the ocean. I was quite overwhelmed at how huge it actually was, especially when I landed on it to do some hiking at the top.
It was strange how everything was just ice, with a fresh layer of snow from the previous night. This made it a bit easier to walk on but we still had to put our talons on our boots for extra stability. I sure didn't want to fall down
It's huge...
Looks like a massive avalanche, but indeed it is a big big glacier... one of the many crevasses you had to leap over because of a slippery boot! Man, stepping over those was so scary, even more so because I was at the end of the single file line we formed for the hike. The guide was at the very front, deciding the route as she went along and using her pick axe to create steps every now and then. I used my pick as a walking stick and to bang the snow that was constantly getting clogged up under my boots!
Parts of the glacier are such a vivid blue, yet when you go right up to it you can see through it perfectly, its delicate vein like structure inside. You could see this most in the ice caves which were also incredibly slippery and ocassionally made a scary cracking sound...
At one point quite far back on the glacier, you were graced with such a wonderfully constrasting view. Snow white glacier, menacing mountains, thick temperate rainforest and the distant ocean. This is the only place in the world where you can see those many forms of nature in a single viewing. Another stunning, memorable moment in Aotearoa...
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coco pops
non-member comment
wow
You could have borrowed my ice skates Wonderwoman and skated all the way down the glacier, it would have been quicker !