Franz Josef Glacier was one of the nicest place i've been so far.. (well, it's only my first week.. i expect more :P) The photo above was taken at Peters Pool.
We managed to get hitch ride in Greymouth (and it was difficult!) and we were lucky as one couple stops to pick us up and guess what? He owns few backpackers house all round NZ! He's Cedric, and we had an agreement to stay at one of his place if he give us a ride..yeah, why not! We went to quite a places along the way, visiting few lakes, do some shopping at Hoikitika, buying greenstones, and finally reach Franz Josef around 5pm. We stay at Chateau Franz, cost 21NZD a night and we do woofing, working 2.5hours a day for a night accommodation free! sounds great isnt it? my sister got to work as cleaner while me, as a photographer of his place. Sounds not worth it but well, i'm ok with that..
We stayed a night, and plan to go for a full day hike but it's full.. so we stayed another night and went for the hike the next morning. It cost 180NZD for a full day hike, and all the equips are provided, plus a complimentary hot pools entry.
We join the Franz Josef Glacier Guides company and it was one of the good ones there!
It took about 20min to reach this restricted area (from the parking lot)
And the guides brief us for a little bit and divided us to 3 different groups
and here we go, up up here we come..
long long way to go.. the duration to get up there is about 4-5 hours!
after 10-15min walks.. here's the ice!
Such a magnificent crevices!
What a glacier formations.. it changes all the time throughout the year
Look at what we walking on! Blue blue glacier!
And the stairs were made of that too!
What a view...simply breathtaking!
Look at the tiny guide in the centre!
and he is building some stairs for us..
Oh man... so blue!
walking through tight spaces..crawling under the ice.. it was quite fun and slippery!
and that was pretty much the highest point we can go.. :(
Such a nice hike..tiring for me though.. im OLD... :( and legs full of blisters from stupid Hi-Tec shoes and hiking boots.. pains in every steps. SHIT! It was a great experience though, who get's to climb glacier easily? You.. YOU can! just come over to Franz Josef or Fox Glacier in South Island, New Zealand! :P
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