Franz Josef Glacier

For me this was one of the highlights of the whole trip.  When we got there we were just going to do a hike that started at the bottom, or terminal moraine, of the glacier, but then we managed to convince ourselves that since we were there it really would be rather rude not to go up in a helicopter!  So we did, and it was amazing.   The helicopter ride was about 10 mins each way and then we hiked on the glacier for about 2.5 hours.  Expensive but worth it.

Facts about the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers:

The glaciers are located on the west side of the South Island not too far from Mt Cook (3755 m, 12319 ft the highest mountain in New Zealand).

Nowhere else in the world at this latitude (so close to the equator) have glaciers advanced so close to the sea.  There are several reasons for this.  One is that the west coast of the south island is very wet, with an average yearly rainfall over 7 metres.  On the upper region of the glacier, where glacial ice is formed, this precipitation falls as snow so lots of new ice is formed every year.  This upper region is quite wide and so a lot of ice is created that gets pushed down the narrow valley.  These glaciers are also very steep, which means that they move quickly and so the ice gets a long way down before it melts.

The Franz Josef glacier is about 10 km long and currently moves at a rate of about 1 m per day, and has been known to move as much as 5 m per day.  In comparison, the average speed of glaciers in the Swiss Alps is about 50 cm/day.

 

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This is the helicopter we went in.  It held six passengers and the pilot.  Emma was the only one who had been in a helicopter before (she is a doctor and had to go in one for work).  She got me all scared by telling us that some people get sick in them.  After our narrow escape on the whale watching boat in Kaikoura I think we were overly sensitive!  We were all fine and wished that the ride had been longer.

 

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The views from the helicopter were totaly amazing.  This one was taken near the top of the glacier.

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Emma and Will in the back of the helicopter looking very happy.

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Jo and I were in the front seat.  It was a bit scary at first because we had glass under our feet at the front.  At one point Jo grabbed hold of me because the pilot steered straight at some very solid rock and then turned at the last minute!

 

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Emma is the one in the yellow jacket.

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The ice was amazingly smooth and I just kept wanting to touch all of it.  

 

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This part was really cool.  We had to inch along this crack with one foot infront of the other.  We had on hob-nailed boots and you just had to wedge your foot in until the sides of your boot jammed against the ice.  The girls were all walking at a much lower level than the guys because our feet were smaller and so were lower down before the sides caught on the ice.

 

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Jagged ice waves near where the helicopter landed.

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Me and Will.
We got to go through a couple of amazing ice caves.  The ice was so blue and pure I just couldn't stop marvelling at it.

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Jo climbing through one of the ice tunnels with a look of amazement on her face.

 

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Some bits were quite steep.  It was best to just follow the person in front and not look back down.  The guide cut steps in the ice, but even so, if you slipped and fell you could really get hurt.

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Jo was one of the unlucky two that got very wet on the trip.  There was quite a lot of running water in some places and you had to be careful where you stepped.  Jo was the last one in the group and followed the person in front of her, but this particular ice patch decided to give way on her.  She went in up to her waist and Will had to pull her out!

 

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Every time I turned around the view was more amazing than the last time.   With the ice moving at 1m/day you have to wonder whether any of it ever comes crashing down on people, but I didn't like to ask!

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Another ice cave, with me trying to look cool!!

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