Franz Josef

Treking Franz Josef

It was a long bus ride from Nelson down to Franz Josef but we did stop at some great stops on the way. We are booked onto inter-city buses which as well as taking you from A to B, they also try to give a bit an explanation of the areas your traveling through, the history and the things to do in each place. They also stop at the sights where tourists want to get their camera's out. We stopped at the famous Pancake Rocks situated in Punakaiki and then continued south, passing Greymouth and then Hokitika, through gorges and mountain peaks and travelled vast lakes.

Eventually we reach Franz Josef. The village of Franz Josef (like it's southern neighbour Fox village) are small, quiet locations encompassing just a few interconnected roads. There is about three or four bars, a few places to eat and the rest - accommodation. It's a stunning place just to come and visit, with extreme mountains looming in the distance and great walking tracks surrounding the village. The main reason that travellers come here however is because the town is the gateway - to the Franz Josef Glacier. First explored in 1865, Franz Josef Glacier had advanced 2km between 1985 and 1996 after a long period of retreat (well glaciers don't really retreat - it's just that the ice melts faster than the body can advance). Since 1996 however the glacier has returned to a state of 'retreat'.

Darren and I booked ourselves on a day's climb over the glacier. Your set in groups, geared up in arctic clothing and then you make the short trip out to the glacier. You first have to trek over the rocky meltwater river-bed which was mostly dry due to the winter temperatures. You then put your ice-pic shoes on and with your guide - start heading up the glacier. Our guide (Kevin from Malaysia) would lead the way, decide on our routes and keep us from wondering off or falling into a crevass!!! Kevin obtained the almighty pic axe which he used to cut our route. We treked for about 7 miles altogether although it was slow and relaxing. Some parts were steep and slippery but generally the ice boots kept you on your feet.

Along the trip we crawled through ice tunnels and holes, past narrow ice walls and across ledges. The whole thing was great fun despite it being relatively tiring. Although it didn't look it at the time we did manage to get quite far up the glacier, passing the dirty (rock embeded) toe of the glacier and continued up, further in where the ice becomes blue and clear. By the end of the day we were both knackered.

While we were in Franz Josef, we also managed to do one of the walking tracks. It was only a 30 minute return walk and the main reason we did it was because the track is home to glow-worms. We obviously went at night - finding our way using the light on Darren's phone but they were there, clambered to the sides of trees and attached to mossy patches - hundreds of brightly blue coloured glow-worms. It gave a very magical feel to the place and it's definately the longest i'v ever spent looking at a worm - I can tell you that. It was well worth it though.

We left the icy Franz Josef and continued on our way down south. We were heading to New Zealand's extreme sports capital. We were off to Queenstown.