Click the link to see the summary of the trip!
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Glacier Valley Eco Tour
Address: SH6 Main Rd, Tartare River, Franz Josef, New Zealand
Tel: +64 3 752 0699
Email: mike@glaciervalley.co.nz
Website: http://www.glaciervalley.co.nz/
Duration: 3 hours
Prices: Adult $70, Child (5 - 15yrs) $35, Children under 5yrs free
Departure Times: 9:30am & 1:30pm
After hiking up to view Fox Glacier (and getting drenched while doing it), we were having a hot cup of coffee at the Franz Josef Village.Next to the cafe where we were seated was a tour agency. On the whim, we signed up for their next tour to Franz Josef because we wanted to touch the ice so bad.
Mike picked us up in an hour and we realized we were all alone on this tour! The tour starts like any other regular tours, why it was named Franz Josef after Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria by the German explorer, Julius von Haast (Haast Pass is named after this guy and it's absolutely gorgeous!) in 1865. The science behind the formation (seriously, I tried to understand it, but it's pretty complicated), when and how it formed and of course, the Maori legend behind it.
The Māori name for the glacier is Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere ('The tears of Hinehukatere'), arising from a local legend: Hinehukatere loved climbing in the mountains and persuaded her lover, Wawe, to climb with her. Wawe was a less experienced climber than Hinehukatere but loved to accompany her until an avalanche swept Wawe from the peaks to his death. Hinehukatere was broken hearted and her many, many tears flowed down the mountain and froze to form the glacier.
Our hike starts through this path and through some vegetation. You can see the glacier in the background! Franz Josef Glacier is, in my opinion, an easier hike up and also closer.
Also, some perks of joining a tour is that the guide imparts all his knowledge about Mother Nature to you. Sorry, I'm a science geek. If we did not join a tour, how will we ever know we were standing right above and facing a fault line? We were technically standing on two tectonic plates at once! How cool was that!
The glaciers grow and shrink throughout the year. Even though it was Spring and quite warm for ice to even survive, we were able to cross the barriers with Mike and come up close to all the ice boulders! You're advised to just stay on the trek & behind the barriers which the park rangers had erected. You're allowed to go pass the barriers only with a guide.
We managed to touch and play with some ice while Mike stood guard and kept a watchful eye over us. Although that piece of ice that I was holding looks small, it was freaking heavy! I even had a hard time lifting it up. As you can see, the hike and heavy ice turned my face into a huffing-puffing-pink-tomato.
We asked about predators in NZ and being a local, Mike told us there were no snakes (deadly ones anyway), no foxes, no scorpions, not much predators in New Zealand. The only way you'd die is from hypothermia or if you drown in a lake or something. What a big difference from neighbouring Australia!
At the end of the hike up, Mike told us that there will be a 'Hard Rock Cafe' at the peak of the trail, over looking the glacier. Glancing around, and not seeing anything, I gave a bewildered look to Mike. He started laughing and pulled out his thermos flask and Cookie Time cookies. Sitting on a boulder, sipping my coffee, I started chuckling to myself. Hard Rock indeed.
On the Way~
I didn't really know where to place this, but it was too hilarious not to blog about!
So after staying a night in Franz Josef Village, we were on our way to Arthur's Pass where we passed by this farm with all those cows. G decided to stop for some pictures, so we slowly made our way over to the pen. The cows were scattered all over the field initially, but, as we made our approach, they all stopped grazing and stared at us.
As we walked towards them, they too, trotted towards us, forming a line eventually. Their moos were so deep and loud, I was rather apprehensive. I mean, check out the thin wires for a fence. If 20 cows started charging towards us, I really doubt the fence will hold.
The hilarious part was when G suddenly jumped on the spot and I think it must have scared the cows because all of a suddenly, they turned around and ran to the end of the field! 20 sets of hooves pounding the ground and deep moos really is quite alarming. The ground was shaking and I started the measure the distance and time it will take me to run back to the car.
Funny thing was, after about 30 seconds, the cows came back, formed the line and started at us again! G did the jump-on-the-spot thing repeatedly for about three or four times. All resulted the same. Perhaps we were the only humans (besides their owner/farmer) they saw and were probably just as freaked out as we were when they started running.
Glacier Valley Eco Tour
 |
| Franz Josef Glacier |
Tel: +64 3 752 0699
Email: mike@glaciervalley.co.nz
Website: http://www.glaciervalley.co.nz/
Duration: 3 hours
Prices: Adult $70, Child (5 - 15yrs) $35, Children under 5yrs free
Departure Times: 9:30am & 1:30pm
After hiking up to view Fox Glacier (and getting drenched while doing it), we were having a hot cup of coffee at the Franz Josef Village.Next to the cafe where we were seated was a tour agency. On the whim, we signed up for their next tour to Franz Josef because we wanted to touch the ice so bad.
Mike picked us up in an hour and we realized we were all alone on this tour! The tour starts like any other regular tours, why it was named Franz Josef after Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria by the German explorer, Julius von Haast (Haast Pass is named after this guy and it's absolutely gorgeous!) in 1865. The science behind the formation (seriously, I tried to understand it, but it's pretty complicated), when and how it formed and of course, the Maori legend behind it.
The Māori name for the glacier is Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere ('The tears of Hinehukatere'), arising from a local legend: Hinehukatere loved climbing in the mountains and persuaded her lover, Wawe, to climb with her. Wawe was a less experienced climber than Hinehukatere but loved to accompany her until an avalanche swept Wawe from the peaks to his death. Hinehukatere was broken hearted and her many, many tears flowed down the mountain and froze to form the glacier.
Our hike starts through this path and through some vegetation. You can see the glacier in the background! Franz Josef Glacier is, in my opinion, an easier hike up and also closer.
 |
| Fault line |
 |
| Glacier Ice! |
 |
| heavy as hell |
We asked about predators in NZ and being a local, Mike told us there were no snakes (deadly ones anyway), no foxes, no scorpions, not much predators in New Zealand. The only way you'd die is from hypothermia or if you drown in a lake or something. What a big difference from neighbouring Australia!
 |
| Hard Rock Cafe |
On the Way~
I didn't really know where to place this, but it was too hilarious not to blog about!
So after staying a night in Franz Josef Village, we were on our way to Arthur's Pass where we passed by this farm with all those cows. G decided to stop for some pictures, so we slowly made our way over to the pen. The cows were scattered all over the field initially, but, as we made our approach, they all stopped grazing and stared at us.
As we walked towards them, they too, trotted towards us, forming a line eventually. Their moos were so deep and loud, I was rather apprehensive. I mean, check out the thin wires for a fence. If 20 cows started charging towards us, I really doubt the fence will hold.
 |
| formed a line! |
The hilarious part was when G suddenly jumped on the spot and I think it must have scared the cows because all of a suddenly, they turned around and ran to the end of the field! 20 sets of hooves pounding the ground and deep moos really is quite alarming. The ground was shaking and I started the measure the distance and time it will take me to run back to the car.
Funny thing was, after about 30 seconds, the cows came back, formed the line and started at us again! G did the jump-on-the-spot thing repeatedly for about three or four times. All resulted the same. Perhaps we were the only humans (besides their owner/farmer) they saw and were probably just as freaked out as we were when they started running.
 |
| Cows, plains and me. |
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