Rain it did.  We woke up to pitter patter in the morning and we didn’t see sun for the next 24 hours.  We weren’t happy about the precipitation but Franz Josef Glacier Guides gave us socks, boots, pants, hat, gloves, raincoat, and we were off – off on a 1.5 hour steep difficult hike.  We were divided into three groups for fast athletic people, medium pace and slow.  Hendrik and I chose to go into the slow group but soon realized that we were the fastest group.  Since we were the last group to head out we had to cover the same ground as the rest of the groups in the same amount of time, so I pretty much had to jog to keep up with my short legs.  We hiked trough the woods all the while the rain pelted down.  At one point the terrain was so steep there were ropes tied to the trees so there was something we could grab on to.  The rain had made it a muddy slide so it was one thing going down but I feared going back up the rest of the day.  I was exhausted after the hike, and we had just made it to the base of the glacier.  I wish they would have forewarned us about the hike because I had no idea it was going to be so tough.

I was pretending to enjoy the hike

There we put on spikes called crampons onto our shoes and we were off hiking up the glacier.  The first part of the glacier wasn’t too nice since the ice is mixed with lots of mud and rocks so it hardly looks like a glacier.  The higher we hiked the prettier it got, even in the rain.  Some of the ice was so incredibly blue that I’ve never seen ice like that in real life only in pictures.  In some parts, it was pretty magnificent and stunning but I’m still not sure the effort was worth it.  I would definitely splurge on a helicopter if I had to do it again.  Being cold and wet while hiking strenuously was not my idea of a good time. They also offered a ½ day tour which is useless because you don’t even get to the pretty part of the glacier but just stay on the muddy part, and a ¾ day which we wanted to do but it wasn’t being offered this day.

We did not stop for lunch and had to eat while hiking.  Even though it was raining, I would have appreciated a break.  Our guide was very nice and cheery, and I had no idea how she managed to do this every single day.  She not only had to hike the route every day but carve paths out for us in the ice with a giant pick.  She didn’t even mind the rain and said that it rains two out of every three days so statistically we had a good chance of rain.  The guide found nooks and crevices for us to take pictures in which were extremely claustrophobic but also surreal, to be completely surrounded by huge walls of ice.  The whole time Hendrik was worried about his camera since he had a new EOS camera and it wasn’t waterproof.  We did our best to keep it covered, but there was only so much we could do in the pouring rain especially since we wanted to take pictures.  I told him that it survived acid rain so it should survive regular rain.

Posing with the pick

There were a few scary points along the way.  Occasionally there were holes in the ice and if you would fall in there would be no help.  It would be almost impossible to rescue someone because of the flowing water and shifting ice.  We saw how quickly something can disappear when the other guide who was being trained accidentally dropped his pick, which is really huge, into one of those holes.  It vanished instantly though he poked and scoped the hole for a while with no success.  This is why it was necessary to go with a guide because if you are not familiar with the glacier and its patterns it is very dangerous.  On the way back Hendrik and I were a bit behind the group, only about 20 paces, but since we didn’t know the path the group had taken we didn’t know how to catch up because to us there did not seem like there was a path.  I slipped and fell down a short wall.  At least there weren’t any holes at the bottom, and I wasn’t hurt, but it was just scary to feel so out of the element.  Our guide immediately came and helped us to the rest of the group, and I stayed at the front for the rest of the time.

Us in a crevice

That night, it was wonderful that our campsite had a spa since I was in pain.  Spas seemed to be really popular in New Zealand and almost every single campsite had a spa.  I debated which visit to the glacier I had enjoyed more and couldn’t decide but what I did know is that I was in less pain after tequila night.

View from the glacier

In the morning, in Arthur’s Pass, Beata and I went on a hike to Bridal Veil Falls, since it was less steep and looked prettier on the picture on the information sign.The boys went to Devil’s Punchbowl.Our track led us up and down and we saw a bunch of small waterfalls along the way and after a while when we thought we had walled too long we ended up on the road.

Most interesting thing I saw on the hike

We were a bit disappointed that we had done the track and hadn’t seen a remarkable waterfall and decided to take the road back to Arthur’s Pass since it would be easier which it was.Once we met back up in the parking lot the boys were very satisfied with their waterfall, so we had probably chosen for the wrong one.In the parking lot and all around Arthur’s pass were a lot of mountain parrots or Keas, and these big birds aren’t afraid of people and sometimes got uncomfortably close, especially when there was food involved.They also liked to chew the rubber around car windows.

flying Kea (Yes, we chased one around to make it fly to get a picture)

The second half of the pass was also very pretty, and we were in Glacier country in no time.As we drove along the windy road without seeing a mountain in sight we wondered how exactly could there be a glacier here.Our plan was to book a tour for Franz Joseph since you cannot walk on it alone because it is too dangerous, and then go to Fox Glacier since you are allowed to walk on it a little bit without a guide.

Arthur’s Pass

We quickly checked ourselves into a cabin at Top 10, and went to the info center.We were very excited since I had never been on a glacier which I remember.I asked the lady to give us some information about the Fox walking trek to which she almost laughed.After she realized we were serious she said that everything is flooded and that Fox is closed and all but 3 walking treks in the whole region were also closed.That was a blow we weren’t expecting and Simon was particularly upset since he was set of seeing the sunrise from Fox.Nevertheless, it was okay since since we could still go on Franz.We asked about a tour.She said the tours were all booked for the next two days.Time-wise we could not afford to chill out in Glacier country for two days and in 1 minute our glacier dreams were shattered.

As soon as we left we decided to get a bottle of Tequila for the night, but before we could drown our disappointments in alcohol we went to at least look at Franz Josef.The glacier itself is pretty far away from the viewing area, so when we saw it, it was rather disappointing as well.Simon couldn’t stand it and decided to walk to the glacier, but there were streams to cross and I didn’t feel like it and I think the others didn’t feel like it either, so Simon went on his own and we had a photo shoot “in front” of the glacier and showed how miserable we were.

Simon took longer than we expected because the walk to the glacier was longer than he had expected and he still couldn’t get to the base of it because there is a raging stream around it.We decided to go to the town of Fox which lies underneath Mr. Cook and do the Lake Matheson Walk. It is famous for its reflecting views of Mt. Cook, but since Mt. Cook was totally covered by clouds we didn’t see a spec of it and the walk was pretty dull.

We managed to have a nice dinner back in Franz Josef at the backpackers’ pub and then had the next quest of finding a liquor store.I asked the lady at the supermarket as we bought breakfast food and a lemon and she sent me to the Franz Josef Hotel.We found it, and it was very posh, but I went in anyway even though I felt like it was the wrong place and asked the hostess.She sent me further down the road to their other branch.Funny how it ended up being right next to the Top 10 we were staying at and was even marked as bottle shop on our map.The boys stayed outside pretending to be mechanics as they listened to the new rumbling noise the rental had started to make, because a broken car was what we needed now.

Beata and I went into the pub/bottle shop and it smelled like stale beer and unwashed people.There was no one behind the bar so I ventured out by the pokies machines where it was mullet heaven and every machine was occupied.At least everyone concentrated too hard to pay attention to me.I went out back and peeped outside to see if there was a server there and all I saw was a group of what looked like retired biker dudes, so I booked it back to the main bar where Beata was and we continued to wait there.Eventually a large butch woman appeared and we got our tequila and ran.

And the rest is history…