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| The road to Franz Josef, once the fog burned out |
NZ Day 3 - We head out from Greymouth early while it was still dark and drive between the alps and the pacific through intense fog and heavy rain... doesn't sound exciting but it was beautiful as we watched the light break through the clouds an hour before we get to the little town of Franz Josef, home to one of the South Island's glaciers by the same name... The plan was to climb the glacier!As one of the firstpeople to check in for our glacier hike, we had enough time to grab some breakfast in a cafe with a view of the snow peaks before it was time to gear up - gore-tex rain jackets, snow pants, hiking boots, gloves and crampons.
A short bus ride and a 30-40min hike later, we were staring at the perennial face of the Franz Josef glacier - a magnificent wall-like body of ice with a little river flowing out of it... Quite similar to the Gangotri glacier that gives birth to the Ganga River (in India). The glacier and the valley it had created had a dwarfing effect that became apparent as our guide pointed out the little barely visible specks in the middle of the ice were actually people climbing :)!
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| The mouth of the glacial river |
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| Franz Josef Glacier - there are more than a 100 people on it - too small to be seen in the photo |
The initial hike along the rock-covered surface was a bit strenuous (and the heavy pouring rain did not help) but very quickly brought us to some serious height and to the part that was all Ice and deep crevasses. After a quick tutorial, we 'stepped into' our crampons and were ready to rock-n-roll...
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The crampons sure took a while to get used to but we diligently stayed with our guide and tried not to look down into the valley or deep crevasses except when told it was safe to do so... And for nearly 3 hours we stomped and chopped our way through the ice and up the glacier's face with a stunning view of the valley and a few dozen waterfalls... Probably the best 'experience' of the trip. Nothing like we could have imagined.
We were later scheduled to take an epic ski plane ride across the three - Franz Josef, Fox and Tasman glaciers and land on the Tasman glacier and have the plane engine turned off for what is supposed to be an experience of a life time and on many a bucket lists. Unfortunately this was cancelled due to the weather and also the next morning due to cloud cover - something to come back for, another day!
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| The valley where the receding glacier once was |
Instead we did the next best thing - spent a couple hours in a local hot pool resort, taking in the heat.
A great day called for a fitting end and Dinner was at a local favourite called the 'Landing' where I tried a local favourite which is exported from this region to most of the world - Venison meat - only serious carnivores should check the link out. The meat was fantastic and lean; seemed to melt in your mouth like fresh made goat meat... Not dissimilar to Reindeer meat I tried in Siberia years ago :). Priyanka chugged down a schooner of her now favourite fresh local beer.
More pictures of the day on: http://priyankaandankurdownunder.shutterfly.com/pictures/149
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| Beers and snacks at 'The Landing' in Franz Josef |
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| A highly recommended glacier experience |
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