Franz Josef

Franz Josef is a little town squashed between a glacier and the Tasman Sea. The main reason for being here was to hike for the day over the glacier. We all kitted out in boots, and some very nice wet weather gear and headed to the glacier with a guide in pouring rain and low cloud. The glacier is 12km long and you can only see 4km of it from the valley where we were and we walked about 1.5km of it. A maori legend explains the glaciers formation as a maidens frozen tears, crying after her lover fell to his death after climbing a nearby mountain. Thankfully the cloud cleared in the afternoon so we could see all the amazing shades of blue the ice was. It was so much fun to be climbing up ice carved step and squeezing through crevasses and it certainly showed how huge the glacier is. I have another full day in Franz Josef and was planning to go sky diving but sadly the bad weather has come in from the south and it's been cancelled but looking out of the window now its clear blue sky!