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We arrived in Franz Joseph mid morning and had the yummiest chicken, brie and cranberry pastry. Mmmm.. The majority of people on our best went up the glacier in the afternoon but one of our friends was feeling a bit rough from the night before so we decided to chill out and just have a walk around town. Which is lovely but very small.
Today though, we were up early and at the glacier hikes base by 9am. We got kitted up in waterproof trousers and jacket, gloves, hits, wooly socks and big boots! The we had our helicopter briefing and helicoptered up to the glacier. It was a pretty tight squeeze but so much fun and the views were amazing! When we got on the ice we put our spikes on our boots and then started our walk.we started our accent and at the risk of sounding stupid I thought there would be more snow on the glacier but it was just solid ice! I was walking behind our guide, Sian, and kept getting hit by ice chips as she axed away the steps to keep the path visible. We heard this cry for joy and the guide in front of us was so excited as he had chipped away the wall of a pond and made a little waterfall down the ice! It was awesome and we were allowed to taste the water. So we got our try if fresh glacial water straight from the source! Continuing our accent we climbed up going through tunnels and passages with ice either side. It was really quite amazing! At one point, there was a section where we were completely surrounded by ice. It was class and everything had a blue tinge. On the hike we had a couple of slides to go down which was fun. And right at the end there was a little tunnel where we had the option to wiggle through on our tummies. It was tiny and we had to go on our side in some areas and just wriggle. Then at the end there was a little drop so we sort of fell out and flopped on the floor a bit like a seal. Getting back to where the helicopter landed we took off our spikes and got the helicopter down. On the ride down we got views of Franz Joseph town and the river that leads out of the glacier. It was a really amazing experience and so much fun. We both loved it. We then treated ourselves with beans on toast and went for a walk in the surrounding hills. We walked to a place called Tartare Tunnels which were made for an electrical company. We wondered part way in but there was ankle deep water which was freezing and it was pitch black and we only had one touch for 6 of us. On return from our walk we went to the hot pools as our entry was included with our glacier hike. They were so nice and relaxing! It was amazing! The we cooked a nice Mexican with the girls. Yum yum.
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