So today was one of the main points I'd been looking forward to the most - Franz Joseph township (where we've been staying for the past couple of nights) is at the base of a large glacier which runs down from the Southern Alps into the rainforest below, and for a price, you can get a helicopter ride to the top of the glacier, and a guided walk around the craggy ice. It was not cheap, and by far the most expensive thing we've done so far ($325 NZ per person), but we hoped it was something truly unique, and boy we were not disappointed.
Our ride wasn't until noon, so we had a fairly relaxed morning, staying in our room at the B&B and watching stuff on our laptop. We headed out with enough time to buy Yo some new hiking trousers and a pair of sunglasses (sunglasses we essential on the Glacier, and we wouldn't be allowed up without them).
Getting suited up involved being handed a pair of waterproof over-trousers, a pair of warm woolly socks, boots (we couldn't wear our own, alas), and a fairly hefty coat. We were also given a shoulder bag with crampons inside, which also had enough room to hold our snacks, drinks etc. annoyingly, the guy suiting us up told Yo not to take the water, as there were plenty to drink up there (it being a Glacier), so we left it behind. All in, there were ten of us on this tour, and once we were suited up and all looking the same, we headed on out to the helicopter.
Here's a pic of Yo looking dandy:
Each helicopter could only hold six, and as our group consisted of a party of six friends they took one helicopter, and the other four of us took the other. Neither Yo or myself had ever been in a helicopter before, so it was quite cool when we were invited to sit up front!
Movie of my helicopter ride:
At the top we were met by Josh our guide, and given the safety tutorial and how to put on the crampons.
Pic of crampons:
He had a rather huge ice axe (looks like a pickaxe), which he said would be used to cut our path across the glacier. Franz Josef is one of the quickest moving Glaciers in the world, moving around 5 meters every day. As such, the face constantly changes as new paths open and old ones close. All around us we could hear sounds of small rocks and chunks of ice falling down the slopes, which was a big eye opener to the thought that we were actually on a moving, evolving ice flow.
We hiked up some pretty gnarly ice formations, Josh constantly hacking away at the ice to make steps or hand holds. At one point, he got a radio message from another guide saying the (rough) path we were taking had already changed up ahead and was unsafe, so we quickly took a detour and cut a new path.
Pics of landscape:
At various points we come across some truly amazing obstacles, first, the ice 'valley':
Movie of ice valley:
And at one point a truly dramatic climb through an ice cavern. The cavern was incredibly tight, no higher than a man or wider than me stepping sideways. It twisted and turned in all sorts of interesting directions, sometimes forcing us to even lay down as we scooched sideways.
Below are some videos of the caves. Currently they're in three parts as traversing the caves were so difficult at points I couldn't film and move
Ice Cave Vids:
As we entered the bright light of day, our guide told us those caves had only existed for two days, and would likely be gone in another four days or so. Once again another reminder of the ever changing landscape of the glacier, and it made me a little queasy to think of the already tight spaces suddenly shifting. Still, what an experience! Something that I plan to always remember.
Just outside the caves, Josh told us that in those same caves that very morning, he'd lost his axe down one of the deep cracks and had had to have a new one brought up for the afternoon tour. With the ice moving as it does, we weren't sure if that meant it would never be seen again, or turn up ay the base of the mountain ten years from now!
Heading on, he led the party forward and immediately noticed something not looking right. Gingerly testing the floor with his (new) ice axe, it suddenly sank into a hidden, sloppy pool of ice water and almost entirely swallowed the shaft! We cautiously walked around it while he radioed the other guides to warn them of the new hazard and be aware.
Pic of sunken ice axe:
By now (as we were told not to bring any water) both Yo and I were well and truly thirsty. The other hikers had all brought bottles with them, so why the guide at base camp told s not to bring water we couldn't figure out. Perhaps just being funny, I suppose. We told Josh, and he said the glacier was fully drinkable, so we found a bit no-one had walked on and helped ourselves to some fine glacier water. Normally, most people would tell you that it was the best thing they'd ever tasted, or it was the sweetest water in the world! Me, I think it tasted like water. Cold, to be sure, and very refreshing, but water all the same.
Then we'd headed out about as far as we could given the time allowance of the tour, and it was time to head back. Halfway down, we again got a radio message that the path had closed to us, and had to wait for about 30 minutes whilst several guides congregated together to cut a new path, secure ropes and such and take us back to the helipad on the ice. On the way down, we were told about the two New Zealanders Mark Inglis and Phil Doole, who in 1983 were stuck halfway up Mount Cook for almost two whole weeks. They hadn't planned an overnight stay, so brought no real food or sleeping gear for for the first 3 - 5 nights slept in a rudimentary shelter made of ice. At one point, a helicopter dropped them supplies of food and sleeping bags, but it was two weeks before a helicopter could come close enough to rescue them. By that time frostbite was so serious they each lost both their legs just below the knee. A grave reminder of the dangers of nature when not taken seriously.
The glacial hike over, we decided we still needed a little more walk time, so followed a trail for about an hour and a half that took us to the very bottom of the glacier. It was kind of neat being able to see how high up we were and think that just a couple of hours ago we were up there in a completely different world.
Meanwhile, we got some scenic photos of the second walk:
Now all activitied out, we thought the best way to relax was a trip to the hot pools within Franz Josef township. As pat of the glacial experience we booked, we got free entry to the pools and boy were they nice. There were three different pools out in the open air, one at 36 degrees, one at 38, and one at 40. Yo (obviously) preferred the hotter pools, whereas I found the 40 to be a little too prickly for comfort. We kept switching round though, and it was a pretty sweet and relaxing way to end the day.
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