Exploring Franz Josef Glacier by Land, Air and Sea – Part 1

Local Maori legend tells us of a young woman by the name of Hinehukatere whose greatest passion in life was climbing mountains. Hine was absolutely crazy about climbing, and then one day she met Wawe.

The two fell in love, but Wawe did not share Hine’s love for climbing. Hine so badly wanted to share her passion for climbing with Wawe, and so one day she persuaded Wawe to go climbing with her. Tuawe was not nearly as skilled or experienced a climber as Hine, but he agreed and followed her into the mountains.

Wawe was no match for the climb, and he slipped and fell to his death, leaving Hine broken-hearted. She made her way to the top of the Southern Alps and cried for years and years. The Maori Gods felt so sorry for Hine, they froze her tears to form the Franz Josef Glacier, or “Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere” meaning “The Tears of Hinehukatere”.

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The town of Franz Josef sits on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island and is among one of the most unique places in the world. Home to the famous Franz Josef Glacier, this small town can be considered the cornerstone of where soul meets body.

The vast Tasman sea lies to the west while some of New Zealand’s highest snow-capped peaks of the Southern Alps lie to the east, and meeting them in the middle is the Franz Josef Glacier, one of the only three glaciers in the world that runs into a temperate rainforest. (The other is Fox Glacier, which sits right next to Franz, and a glacier in Argentina.)

I remember first learning about Franz Josef and the glacier climbs from Nadia and Amy, the two British girls on a round-the-world trip who first sparked my interest in traveling New Zealand. 

I had been incredibly lucky so far with the weather in New Zealand, but I was worried about how fickle my days in Franz would be. I arrived on an night that was bucketing down with rain, and I felt the despair start brewing.

I had a variety of weather-dependent activities lined up for my days in Franz, and I could give it no more than four days to show me some sunshine and playful, warm rays to make or break the days before having to continue further down South.

Without a doubt, Franz Josef should rest in the top three places to visit whilst traveling New Zealand while travelers still can. The glacier has been receding throughout the years, and scientists predict that by 2050 the glacier will be gone.

I decided that I wanted to experience all that Franz Josef could offer me, jumping on the opportunities to explore it by land with a glacier hike, by air with a scenic flight and by sea with a kayak on the lake.

Franz Josef by land with the Ice Explorer Climb

First up on my itinerary for Franz Josef was an Ice Explorer climb with Franz Josef Glacier Guides, one of the activities I had been most looking forward to in New Zealand for years.

Unfortunately the morning looked like scene out of The Day After Tomorrow as a dark and dreary sky stretched over head. There was a slight drizzle building up, and I was worried that my climb, which included a short helicopter flight to the base of the glacier, would be pushed back a day until the weather was better for flying and for climbing.

Yet all systems were a go, and our climb was on despite the overcast morning.

I made the quick, one-minute walk from my hostel to the Franz Josef Glacier Guides office just on the main street (the only street really) in town. There I was given all the gear I would need for the climb: waterproof pants, a waterproof jacket, wool socks, boots, a beanie, gloves, a fanny pack that for some reason we wore diagonally across our bodies and last but not least crampons – boots with some kind of ice-climbing thing to tie on to the bottom of our shoes to give us a good grip.

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We set out in a group of ten – four high school girls on a class and their teacher as well as four kids from Sweden – plus our guide toward the helicopter pad for our short flight to the base of the glacier.

The chop of the propeller as it sliced through the air made me feel like the helicopter had landed right on my eardrum. It pounded away through the atmosphere, giving the air what sounded like a serious beat down. A few of us boarded the first helicopter, hopped up into our seats and put on our headphones. Suddenly the world went dull. The click of my camera as I took pictures sounded like it was happening in slow motion a million miles away.

The flight was only a few minutes – maybe three if that – and the helicopter hung low above the rainforest and vegetation that flourished on the hills and mountains surrounding us.

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We landed on the glacier, and I carefully stepped out of the helicopter so as not to slip and break my neck. I instantly felt the cold whip through my body. I wished I had worn a scarf.

I looked up at the glacier that towered like a wave above my head.

My first thought was, This snow and ice looks like the kind you would see in New York 24 hours after a storm.

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No, I am not trying to claim that this year’s polar vortex that swallowed the city whole transformed the streets into giant glaciers; however, this glacier was for the most part a lot dirtier than the glistening one I was picturing in my head. I was surprised, really, and the gloominess of the sky above our heads did not make the land look any brighter.

We strapped on our crampons and made our ascent up the glacier, and the higher we went the more afraid I was for the inevitable: walking back down.

I have two practically paralysing fears in life: bees (though New Zealand’s abundant wasp population left me with no other choice than to tame my outbursts when one buzzed near me) and going downhill. The latter is a terribly stupid fear that I have talked about before, but I am afraid to fall face first and break my front teeth like my best friend Alexis did when we were in 8th grade. Walking down a steep and slippier glacier seemed like it would enhance the possibilities of that happening.

The Franz Josef Glacier is12 kilometres long and stretches from the snowfields nestled within the Southern Alps that rest at the top of the glacier. (Thankfully we did not have to climb all the way up.)

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Our guide carried with him an ice axe, and as we made our way up the glacier he chipped away at and sculpted steps for us to follow.

We passed crevasses and massive pinnacles, and at times we walked through narrow ice tunnels with streams of water trailing down their walls and dripping on us from the overhangs above. The detailing in the formation of the glacier at times almost looked as if someone had handcarved all of its to create intricately beautiful slips and slops through the ice.

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 Some areas of the glacier bore this electrifyingly blue-colorer ice, caused by the refraction of light as it passed through the ice.

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At a little more than four hours, the walk often felt quite long, and there was a lot of stopping and starting due to the backlog of other climbers and explorers in front of us who were carving out steps as they went.

It was a fairly safe descent with only a couple of falls along the way down, but we all made it back in one piece.

My hands felt like they had turned to glaciers during the fours hours we spent out there climbing, and my toes were most definitely not bending on command. I was undoubtedly ready to say good bye to the glacier and cosy up with a cup of hot chocolate somewhere.

Whether it was among the best things that I did in New Zealand is debatable, but nonetheless it is something I would most definitely recommend for anyone who heads to do when on a trip to New Zealand. Franz Josef left me well impressed by the expanse of this massive span of ice stretch between mountains and sloping down into a rainforest. I was in awe of its sheer grandeur and the way it lit up with these thick, steady and strong blue shining through the layers of ice.

It is one of the most unique places and environments on the planet, and sadly it will not be around for travelers, tourists and locals to marvel at forever.

And though climbing on the glacier was a must-do experience, taking to the mountain tops by air the following day centered me like no other. Stay tuned for my review on how to discover Franz Josef Glacier by air, one of my most favorite activities in any country I have ever traveled.

**(Please forgive my lack of photos. The internet is not being my friend.)

Disclaimer: I was a guest of Franz Josef Glacier Guides. As always, all thoughts and opinions on the experience are my own.

Category: Quotes

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