We continue down the west coast of the South Island after leaving Blackball. We pass through many small towns like Punakaiki, Greymouth, Hoktika, Hari Hari, etc. This is a sparsely populated area with many farms along the road. With the mountain on one side and the ocean on the other, the scenery is simply breathtaking. Our destination is the Franz Josef Glacier, or rather the village nearby where we'll be staying. You can walk to the glacier (about an hour away) but you only get to see it from a distance. You cannot climb it. In order to get on the glacier, you have to join one of the tours.
I joined the "Ice Explorer" tour, which costs NZ$260. First, we took a short helicopter ride to the glacier itself. We had to put on special pants, jackets and boots to get on the glacier. On the boots are strapped spikes so that we can walk on the ice. We were allowed to bring a small bag of personal belongings and a camera. Once on the glacier, our guide took us through a maze of ice and explained the environmental changes over the last few years. We walked through caves and crevasses and saw some very interesting ice landscape. Some of the crevasses were so narrow that we had to squeeze ourselves through. Some parts of the glacier were steep and without the spikes, we would not have been able to climb them. After about 3 hours on top, the helicopter came back to take us down to the bottom. We were lucky with the weather because as we were getting ready to come down, the clouds darken and got lower. If the wind gets too strong or if it rains, the helicopter may not be able to fly and we'd have been stuck up there until the weather improves. It was an amazing experience hiking and exploring the glacier.
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| Helicopter ready to take us up to the glacier |
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| Guide hacking out steps for us to hike up |
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| Hiking up a steep slope |
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| View of valley below from the glacier |
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| Walking through a crevasse |
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| These talons are strapped to the boots to make it easier to walk |
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| A narrow crevasse that we had to squeeze through |
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| Clouds rolling in as we get ready to go back down |
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