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After our lovely evening under the stars we woke up all very excited about the hike on the glacier that awaited us. Due to our excellent camping spot we only had a quick drive to where we needed to be, even though we're running very
late by the time we got there. We got geared up, had our crampons measured, then hopped on the bus to the glacier. Arriving at the bottom of the glacier we all stood and admired the view that greeted us! We had a short walk to get us to the point of the glacier where could start hiking up. Along the walk was a fresh waterfall which we all drank from and filled our water bottles as the water was very refreshing. We stopped to catch our breath and take in the view of the glacier from a great view point when we couldn't believe our luck. At the very front of the glacier we heard a cracking sound then managed to actually see a huge chunk break off and fall into the ice cave below with a deafening echo to follow. Our guide said she had never seen such a break which made us feel even more fortunate about what we had just witnessed. We walked down the final part of the track to the ice and put on our crampons. These are spikes to go on the bottom of your hiking boots to grip the ice and were definitely something we needed. There was a small layer of snow fall on the surface of the ice which were told was very rare and made walking on the ice significantly easier. We ventured up the glacier still in absolute awe of what we doing. Ice caves dropped down into the glacier giving some scale to the size of the piece we were on. We stopped for lunch at a big rock which had fallen onto the glacier. This bought a momentous occasion for me and Neil as we were introduced to our first peanut butter and jelly(jam) sandwiches. Probably one of the best things we had both been involved in! Our eyes had been open and our lives changed forever. Once the amazement of a sandwich had gone we then focused our attention on the final stretch of the hike up the ice. At the higher point of where we allowed to go were some great ice valleys and the perfect photo opportunity. Some of us took more advantage of taking photos than others as the girls took nearly as much on the hike as we had during our whole time in new Zealand! They even trusted us with an axe to take some photos which brought some amusement as some very funny poses were introduced that we didn't even know existed. Then was the time to say goodbye to great views and amazing ice an we begun our decent back down the ice. Before we knew it we were down and back on the bus. Reflecting on the great day during our coach trip back we saw the sunset behind the mountains and another photo opportunity. We then got back to where we got the equipment from collected our things and made for the vans with a long drive to greymouth awaiting us. Two fleeces and gloves better off that we had accidentally forgotten to return, we started Percy up and made our way onto the road all smiles from an amazing day on the ice. We stopped off in Hokitika on our way to greymouth and took advantage of seeing some of the natural glow worm caves they have there. We also took advantage of the dark hiding in the bushes to jump out on the girls and giving them a fright which took Jen to the floor bless her. Yep mature we are! Back in the van we motored on as time was against us and needed to be at the hostel before 9.30 to check in. Arriving bang on the mark we checked in to noahs ark hostel and were delighted to find out we were sleeping in the leopard room. Leopard print curtains and duvets were an interesting sight but it felt very welcoming and relaxing. Neil was on top bunk and was unfortunate enough to jump up, dodging flying pillows from the girls, only to hear his phone leave his pocket and fall to its demise down the side of the bed. The corner had cracked and as he doesn't get a great deal of luck on the phone front I felt very sorry for him. We got a good nights sleep in after some burnt eggs as the day had been long and tiring and we knew that we had a long drive the next day to get up north for some kayak action at Abel tasman national park. We awoke had some breakfast and were back in the van to begin the drive up north.
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