A glacier in a rainforest

Before I could walk on the glacier I had to get to it. On the way from Greymouth to the Franz Josef glacier there is a place called Cape Foulwind. After about a 20 minute walk around the cape not only did I find a sign letting me know that I am never really that far from home but I also found a fur seal colony. This is just one of the pics I took but it gives you an idea. The seals just chill on these rocks that are surrounded by beach and the Tasman Sea.

After we saw the seals just chillin by the sea we (the bus) got jealous and decided to chill out on a little alcove beach for a bit. It was pretty nice and basically epitomizes my trip, I walk and I sit on beaches.

Once we were on our way past the fur seal colony we stopped for a night at Lake Mahinipua. There is nothing at this lake besides a pub with an 80 year old named Les who loves the Kiwi bus and for the past 20 years has let them stay there and cook them a bbq. Every night is a different theme for the bar. Our theme was guys in drag girls in trash bags. Needless to say the whole point of the night was to take advantage of the great drink deals (I got a free pitcher for doing the dishes after the bbq). It was pretty fun. I met these three girls while there and we had a good time. Belinda, the girl that has low cost written all over her, did the glacier hike with me.

Still not to the glacier yet. Before we got to Franz Josef we stopped at a place called the Bushman's Center. It's basically a place dedicated to honoring the hunters of NZ. NZ has no native mammals. All mammals that are here currently, like deer, were introduced by the English settlers in the 1800s. Deer are actually a pest in NZ since they eat the natural vegetation and destroy the balance. So it became legal in the 70s to openly hunt deer. After awhile the bushman realized that there was money in deer meat and decided to start deer farms. Now instead of killing the deer they just had to capture them. Before net guns were invented they captured the deer by chasing them with a helicopter and having the passenger in the helicopter jump out of the copter and onto the deer. It sounds a little barbaric but it was also really braveto jump out of a copter. Anyway at the center they have a wild boar. He was pretty tame but his teeth are wicked sharp.

Now onto the glacier. I was very nervous about doing a glacier hike. The full day hike takes 8 hours with about 6 hours of ice time. The extent of me actually walking for 8 hours straight is nil so I was a little worried if I could do it. But the motto for this trip is go big or go home so I signed up for the full day hike. It was completely worth it. The interesting thing about the franz josef glacier is that it is one of only three glaciers in the world that is situated in a rain forest. Fox glacier is another one, which is only 26km from franz and the last one is somewhere in South America so this hike was very unique. Franz Josef is also moving at its fastest rate in 10 years. So basically I walked on this moving thing and I paid for my guides to carve out steps so we could climb up it. When I get home I can explain better how a glacier winds up in a rain forest. The gist is that since the Southern Alps are on the west coast of NZ they cause the clouds to have to move over them to get into the middle of NZ. For clouds to get higher they have to dump rain, hence the rain forest. When the get even higher the rain turns to snow and this snow gets compacted into the valley causing the glacier to be created and sustained for thousands and thousands of years. So basically you look to one side and there is this huge block of ice and when you look to the other side there is this huge beautiful rain forest. This oddity made it possible for me to hike a glacier in shorts. When we were starting out it was hot and by the time we made it to the highest we were going to go, which turned out to be around 450 meters, it was cold and windy. And by the time we started to walk back down the glacier the wind had turned warm again. It was definetely a surreal experience.

Once we were on the glacier our guide took us to these narrow crevices. We all climbed in and shimmied along and then climbed back out. It was amazing to realize that I was completely surrounded by ice. And when I say these crevices were narrow I mean that we had to turn sideways to get through them.

I have lost a little weight since I have been in NZ. Because of this, my pants started to droop as we were walking along. At one point my shorts, which at first ended at my knees, were now ending at mid shin. I didn't have time to stop and fix them so I just kept going. Well to get out of one of the crevices you had to basically stradle the hole and take a big step up with your right leg. I did it and heard a rip. Yep that's right. I tore a hole in the crotch of my pants while on a glacier. No it wasn't breezy. Luckily no one noticed since we were all too busy worrying about falling on the ice and subsequently down

deep crevices. Walking on the glacier was definetly on of my top experiences while in NZ. Theres so much more to write about it but I think it will be conveyed better when I am at home and explain it in person.

I am now in Lake Wanaka. I am going to spend a

few nights here since there are some walks around the lake that I want to do. Also I am planning on letting my legs rehab from the climbing of the glacier for a couple of days and just enjoy the lake by way of the beach. Since I found a place that can post pics I will post some pics from the past couple of months too. So enjoy the glacier pics and look foward to some random pics. I miss you all!!