10/7/06 – Today was a travel day. We were picked up by a taxi and taken to the bus stop for our journey to Franz Joseph Glacier. It was raining almost all the way so we didn’t get the photo ops that would normally happen on the scenic trip along the coast. We went through some pretty incredible valleys as we wound our way through the mountains. They get precipitation in this part of New Zealand measured in the tens of meters!
10/8/06 – Franz Joseph Glacier. One of only four glaciers in the world that are growing, Franz Joseph was a greater experience than I had expected. We got up early to see what kind of tours or hikes we could take. As it turned out the weather in the morning was beautiful and, since the morning half day hike on the glacier was filled I went on the helicopter hike. We were flown quite a ways up the glacier and deposited for a two hour guided hike. We were hiking in a flatter part of the glacier but our view was a very tall wall of ice. As the glacier advances the ice breaks off in chunks and falls down the steep slope. We went through holes, into small caves and along chasms. The ice in the deeper part of the glacier is a beautiful blue color. The helicopter ride there and back was also an adventure as it took us up to the top part of the glacier field where it is actually formed by the weight of the huge amounts of snow they get compressing the air out and forming a very hard ice. The glacier advances about 25 meters a day up there and slows to 5 meters a day as you go lower. Our guide also said that Franz Joseph and Fox glaciers are the lowest in terms of altitude due to the weather patterns originating in Antarctica. Jan, who won’t ride in a helicopter, took a bus ride up to the base of the glacier with our new friends from Michigan and reports that the walk was beautiful and the glacier from that perspective was awesome, with lots of blue ice.
10/9/06 – Our adventure is coming to an end. Today is a travel day. We bussed to the town of Greymouth and boarded the Tranz Alpine train, our last scheduled adventure. The train winds its way through the southern alps, goes through a tunnel that takes 15 minutes to get through and then goes down through a beautiful river valley to the flat plain where Christchurch is located. We saw some beautiful scenery and it is easy to see how this train is regarded as one of the world’s must do train rides.
10/10/06 – Christchurch. With a morning to kill before our flight home we bought a tram ticket and toured the central city, stopping at the botanical gardens and an old street where each building mirrored the one across the street.