Franz Josef Glacier - NZ South Island

Franz Josef is a small, quiet town, nestled amongst the rainforest of the Westland National Park on the Western coast of New Zealand. Tourists flock to this village throughout the seasons to explore the main attraction - Franz Josef Glacier. This is a 12km long glacier, discovered in 1865 by an Austrian explorer.

We stopped at Franz Josef as our final destination in the South Island, and having heard so many amazing stories about the glacier climb, we really excited about the adventure ahead. On the advice of the YHA hostel, we booked an 8 hour advanced level tour with Franz Josef Glacier Guides, and rested up with an early night before the hike. Great excuse to feast on lots of carbs for dinner!!!

We were up at the crack of dawn, as we had to be at the tour guide office at 8am for a quick safety brief. We were also decked out in some sexy hiking gear... crampons and all!

Next we were introduced to our lovely guide Bernie. Quite a strapping young lad, and it's fair to say that we all quickly developed a crush on him. Nothing like a guy with an ice-pick to get the ladies going!

The hike itself started slowly, as there were hundreds of people trying to make their way up the initial apporach to the glacier. However, once we made it past this section, the pace soon picked up - as did the challenge! We soon discovered that we would literally be 'climbing' the glacier - hacking steps and footholds out of the ice. At times we faced verticle climbs on the sheer ice - thank the lord for Bernie!