Franz Josef, climbing the glacier

Trip Start Nov 05, 2007
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14
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Trip End Jun 01, 2008


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Flag of New Zealand  ,
Thursday, January 31, 2008

After Greymouth we got the bus down to Franz Josef. The place was a little town built next to a glacier up in the hills. We trekked through forests and up ladders, down slopes, and over rivers until we reached the base of the glacier. From there we threw on our crampons, divided into groups and let the guide lead the way up the glacier. Our guides name was 'horse', and he liked nothing more than smashing into the ice with his pick-axe to mould slippery steps for us. The lad was creating steps on flat surfaces where they weren't even needed. We stopped after a few hours on some gravel up on the glacier. I don't even think the guide had something to eat, he just sat there with rain splashing in his face, stareing out over the valley. A girl slipped and tumbled upside down a few times before stopping next to deep crevace. If she went down it that would have been the end of her. The guide just asked her if she was embarrased. She was fairly quiet for the rest of the trek.

The glacier was incredible. I filled up me water bottle with some of the meltwater. Delicious. After the trek we headed back to the hot tub in the hostel and treated ourselves to some of the free soup. We met a funny Irish fecker in his fortys down the pub that night by the name of Vinny. He convinced us that there was a place where they drive jeeps off bridges, while the jeep is attached to a bungy rope. We're still looking for the place, probably a load of the ol blarney.
Franz Josef hotels Slideshow

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