Franz Josef - Glacier Hike

Monday 9th January - Tuesday 10th January

We are up early and head for Franz Josef where I have booked to do the Glacier Hike on Tuesday.  En route to Franz Josef we stop off at some lovely view spots.  We are just surrounded by lakes and spectacular mountains, so calming when looking out the window J

I have made a friend called Kate, so I have a bus buddy and someone to enjoy the scenery with!

Takes just a few hours on the bus which is refreshing after Australia’s epic bus journey’s!  We check in a really nice hostel in Franz Josef and we then have the afternoon to just enjoy the little town.  The hostel has a hot tub which feels very luxurious for a backpacker!  After a little soak we go to get ready for dinner and the hostel has but signs up everywhere saying that the town has run out of water due to the lack of rain!! Crazy really, and the first time I have wanted it to rain since I have been on my adventure…. Backpackers need showers, haha!

Early night for me as been nearly a week since I have had a proper night’s sleep and I want to be full of energy for the hike!

Glacier Hike

After being given all our gear at the hiking centre we head to the Glacier about 10am.  We are spilt into groups and off we go on the hike!

There was a lot of ground to cover before we hit the ice, but when we did it was a strange feeling to be surrounded by such vast amounts of ice.  We had to walk through some really narrow crevasses that you could only walk sideways through, little bit claustrophobic but all add’s to the experience.   Once we got to the top we stopped for some lunch and then had the 3 hour walk back down, which was pretty tough going on our feet!

The hike was so much more than I ever expected and the guide told us that by June this year if more of the ice melts at the bottom they may have to stop the tours, so yet again one lucky Ruthy!

When we got back to the hostel we had free passes to enjoy the hot pools in the town centre – perfect ending to our days hiking!

Another fairly early night as we were getting picked up at 7:30am to head to our next destination, Lake Wanaka where I think I am going to do my Skydive……!!