Days 7 & 8 of Fall Break: Franz Josef Glacier

WARNING: This blog post is Rated R for Adult Language. Reader discretion is advised.

The ocean I was able to wake up to

We departed Mahinapua at 9:30 on April 14^th, but before we left I had time to take in the sights of the ocean which was about 300 meters from our hostel.  It is not every day I get to wake up to the ocean.  Oh wait, I guess I do that in Wellington a lot, but I am not right next to it—I just have an “awesome as” view.  It was a relaxing way to start the day.  Then, to my surprise when I headed back, I was able to see the mountains that were covered by clouds the previous day.  It was another scenic drive as we made our way to Greymouth—home of Franz Josef Glacier. 

Friendly mama goat

Our first stop; however, was not scenic.  We stopped at the Bushman’s Center to learn about deer population control.  The “tour” consisted of an entertaining video watching people jump onto deer from a helicopter—literally, among other hunting techniques.  Thankfully, after the educational video we were able to feed possums and see a real eel that was supposedly 80 years old.  I also got to pet a mama goat that was very friendly and just wanted some attention by everyone.  It brought a smile to my face.  After that we stopped at some neat places including a glimpse of the Southern Alps.  When we pulled to the side of the road, our bus driver reminded us of the importance of looking both ways before crossing the road.  He said, “In NZ we have this really awesome law—it’s called ‘common fucking sense’ so look both ways!”  It was pretty funny.  Our last stop was at Lake Mapourika, which turned out to be more of a bathroom break because it was a windy day.  It is a sight that produces some neat mirror images, but we did not get to enjoy them. 

View of the Southern Alps

Upon our arrival in Greymouth we went to book our glacial activities for the next day.  My mom and I planned to do the Glacial Explorer.  This particular activity included a helicopter ride up to Franz Josef Glacier and a three hour guided hike.  Afterwards, we went on a hike in town called the Canavans Knob Walk.  We were able to see the Tasman Sea and Franz Josef Glacier at different points during the hike.  It was a fun and free activity because the hike was about an hour walk away from the Rainforest Retreat, our hostel for two nights.

During the helicopter ride

The real fun began the next day.  I feel like this day was and is by far one of the best days of my life.  I was able to cross off two things from my bucket list: a helicopter ride and exploring a glacier.  It was absolutely incredible.  In fact, I don’t think that incredible even comes close to describing this experience.  The whole morning was so fun and being on a glacier was indescribable.  We hiked around, crawled through crevasses, sat in glacier holes, saw waterfalls on the ice, and climbed through ice waves.  What is so unique about this experience is that every group that goes on the glacier experiences something different—we literally had to chop out “ice” steps as we moved around the glacier.  Hands down, one of the coolest things I have ever done in my entire life.  I still feel like it was a giant dream and it does not seem like something that was a reality.  Luckily I have amazing pictures to remind myself that it really happened.  I’m proud of my mom too.  She’s afraid of heights and doesn’t like small spaces, and she conquered her fears effortlessly the entire morning.  We finished the afternoon off at Glacier Hot Pools.  There were three separate pools: 36, 38, and 40 degrees Celsius.  It was relaxing after a morning of playing on the ice.

Views of Franz Josef Glacier

My mom and I during our glacier hike