Climbing the Josef Fritzl...I mean Franz Josef

I love so many things about our Jucy van, but I especially love her when it is pissing down with rain and there is no end in site and Al and I are nice a cozily hid inside the Jucy with food and a DVD player and some nice warm blankets to see us through the storm. This has happened a few times during our road trips through Australia and New Zealand, as I am sure you have all heard on the news, but we have been very lucky to avoid any major pitfalls or issues. We drove all along the west coast of the south island...probably some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen ever, all the way to Fox Glacier...one of 2 spectacular glaciers that you can climb, hike on, helicopter up to etc...pretty much anything you want to do to a glacier can be done here. Due to the unseasonable weather, Fox Glacier was closed, as it could not be reached due to mud and rock slides...not to worry though, as Alex and I hopped into our trusty steed to Franz Josef Glacier (not to be confused with Josef Fritzl...pictured, the man who imprisoned his daughter...pictured..., in a make-shift sex-slave lair for about 13 years where she bore his 7 disabled children, as Alex continually calls it) for some amazing experiences on the ice. To add to the excitement of the day, we were also given a free entry into the Hot Pools spa for a dip in their outdoor hot pools for after our grand ice trek...in addition to getting to wear an awesome outfit, totally rad boots and climb a glacier! What a day indeed. The first step was getting into the gear...and boy there is a lot of gear. We had to wear our own trousers - no jeans - and 3 to 4 top layers for warmth...they provided the water proof coats, pants, some woolly socks, HUGE boots, crampons (not tampons, as I continually called them), hats, cloves and a 'cool as' fanny pack...does it get much better than that!? After we were all geared up, off we drove to the front of the glacier...well as close as we could get, which meant a 3 km trek to where it begins...sad to say, but in 100 years of so, the glacier will have retreated so much due to global warming that there will be no more tours...we were very blessed to get this chance to be so close to her. After hiking through the forest and then a large open gravelly gorge with rocks and soot everywhere, you literally look up and BAM!!! it is right there in your face...spectacular! I have never seen anything like it...then we have to climb over a steep pile of rock covered ice until we find a space to put on our crampons...those spiky things that go over your combat boot to allow you to stab the ice with your feet and not fall...so cool! We were instructed to really slam our feet down into the ice, so I seriously became a member of a marching band...I am sure I over exaggerated the slamming skill, as described by the guide, but if anyone is to sustain in injury or have an accident, it would be me so I wanted to take extra precautions. And away we went...we were climbing a glacier...a giant ever flowing body of ice...it changes every day because it moves up to 2 metres per day...can you believe it?! It never looks the same from day to day. We walked over ice steps and through ice caves and at one point we were deep inside a slice of the ice that was blue and white and just so bright you could barely keep your eyes open. It was wet and smooth and silky to touch, but so cold. Alex wanted me to touch my tongue to a bit of the ice, but I have seen A Christmas Story and know how that turns out...not good! I took so many photos it is ridiculous, but I could not get over the splendour. When we reached a summit point, we looked out over the valley to the sky clearing to an illuminating blue with mountains on either side. We were literally surrounded by waterfalls and to the right, a silver milkshake river cascading and raging at a dangerous speed filled with giant ice cubes from the glacier...such a site. A Kea bird landed right next to me and Alex, but despite their beauty, they are scavengers always on the look out for a handout, either offered or stolen, so we were weary, but it doesn't get more special than standing atop a mountain of ice, overlooking waterfall littered mountains with a bird sitting to the left of us...breathtaking really. We made our way down...I had a little stumble, but nothing major to report...for once...back through the rock covered valley and the tree covered forest to the bus and returned our gear...Al really wanted to keep the boots, but I convinced her that we would get arrested if we stole them and off we drove to Greymouth leaving Franz Josef behind for new travellers to discover...at least for the next 100 years.