Arrived in Franz Josef today and I'm super excited as the main attraction in Franz is that there's a huge glacier here that you can go walking on.

However, we quickly found out that earlier this year a massive chunk of the glacier actually fell off (damn global warming) so the only way you can get on that one safely now is by doing a heli-hike so taking a helicopter up, hiking round and then flying back down. Because that's the only way you can get up it was actually being sold at a reduced rate so we all decided to do it and I was super excited to go in a helicopter.

Anyway, as we get closer and closer to the hostel the rain got heavier and heavier. They rang Mark, the driver, to let him know that no helicopters would be flying today... Gutted!!!
We were all pretty disappointed because I'm sure it would have been amazing but then at the same time I felt slightly relieved because I'd just saved myself a lot of money and I'm already spending far too much in this country.

Mark kindly offered to drive us up to the bottom of a walking track you can do and then would come pick us up later on. So that's what we all decided to do rather than do nothing...

The walking track was a round trip of about 1hr45mins and takes you as close to the glacier as you can get to it safely: a few years ago some Australians didn't believe this so jumped over the fence where a piece of ice fell on them and killed them. I decided not to take that risk!

The first part of the track is just like any other walking track but then you suddenly walk into this huge piece of land that looks like something from the prehistoric age.
It was at this point I realised that I do in fact have a slight phobia of dinosaurs... Yes I know this is completely illogical as they don't exist anymore, but who really knows that? I mean people have been telling me for years that unicorns and Santa don't exist but well as the great band 'the monkees' said "I'm a believer" which I actually realised makes less sense because I'm prepared to make myself believe in something that I'm scared of - alas, I am illogical!!
Anyway, as you're walking along this piece of land it feels like you're walking in a scene from Jurassic park and at any point you're going to get eaten by some raptors; no one agreed with this feeling...
The reason there's this massive crater is because hundreds of years ago the glacier would have actually filled this whole piece of land but over time from the climate and just general erosion the glacier is shrinking more and more. Most of the lakes in New Zealand actually came to be from falling pieces of glacier.

It didn't seem like this walk was going to take that long at all as we could see the glacier right from the start. But, each rock along what looked like a minefield became another rock and we'd suddenly been walking half an hour without feeling like we were getting any closer. We passed natural waterfalls that were just so beautiful and would have been inviting if it wasn't so cold; I kept hoping Robin Hood was suddenly going to be stood there showering but he never appeared!!!

We finally reached the barrier for as far as we could go and I have to be honest I was more mesmerised by the vastness of this valley then I was the actual glacier. Unfortunately because so much has broken off, you can't see that much from the bottom. Mr weather you've won another battle of me completing items on my bucket list!!!
It was still really impressive but I am glad I'm going to Alaska where I'll see more because otherwise I think I'd have been very tempted to stay on for the weather to clear.

We then walked back, and got a lift back to the hostel which is really nice and cosy. We watched a bit of the Olympics, cooked carbonara and then played cluedo.... Because that's what all the cool backpackers do right?!?

Thought so!!