Franz Josef Glacier - a Very Big Lump of Ice!!

We went to Hokitika the home of green stone, where I finally managed to buy myself a green stone necklace (and also some earrings!!) Our next stop was at a Bushman's centre in Pukekura and were met by the owner, Pete. We saw a video about deer hunting and export in New Zealand (we'd been warned that if we liked Bambi, this wouldn't be an easy film to watch!).

We then saw the wild pig that was resident there. It was JP's job to feed it bread (making sure that it sat first). He looked pretty scared when he saw the big teeth! They also had possums there and a little feature offering the 'Weta Experience' - which fired out water at whoever pressed the button. Sam got hit straight in his face!

Back on the bus, we headed to Franz Josef Glacier and gave the bus our rendition to Bohemian Rhapsody at the tops of our voices! I don't think the rest of them were very impressed!

That night, Dermot showed us his driving licence photo which looked like an illusionist doing a publicity shot. He then became "Dermot Lavelle - Illusionist", a name that he will be forever known as! After a few drinks, Dermot decided to tell us a bedtime story - his rendition of Goldilocks and the Three Bears! He made us laugh so much that our sides were splitting and Fiona was reduced to a heap on the floor as it was the only way that she could laugh without too much pain from her cracked sternum!!!

The next day we climbed the Franz Josef Glacier. We arrived at 8:15 and were given our waterproof trousers, socks and boots, jackets, hats and gloves. We were driven to the glacier park and had a 45 minute walk through the forest until we saw the glacier. We were lagging behind the rest of the group due to the fact that we were doing silly poses for the cameras! We came to a sign warning us of 'Extreme Danger' if we proceeded but that didn't bother us! We also saw some other bizarre signs!

We walked to the terminal face of the glacier and were shown how to put on our crampons (spiky shoes to help us grip the ice).

Sam & Ian decided to show off their crampons in a 'Kung Fu' style! (It was to be the day for silly photos!!)

We began climbing up man-made steps, using the rope to help. We had to cross two small bridges that crossed deep chasms - we were told not to look down if we were scared of heights! We were also told not to stop on the bridges because, if they broke and we fell, our guide (AJ) was not going to rescue us today! We left the steps and AJ began carving a new route through the ice (why not!).

We stopped to pick up ice picks, which was a big mistake as the boys decided to attack the ice at every given opportunity and use it to play golf with!! Although they didn't manage to get many 4's! They ended up being told that 'ice is not the enemy'!!!! They really shouldn't have been given ice picks!!

We stopped for lunch on some rocks and had a chance to admire the amazing views of this large piece of ice! It did beg the question - 'how much Baileys would it take to cover this much ice?' - a fair few bottles me'thinks!

We climbed a little higher, through ice tunnels before crossing the glacier and heading back down. We came across and small hole which we were encouraged to climb into. The only problem was that it was a small angled hole that really didn't suit people with hips! Still, I managed to get into it and have my photo taken. I then had difficulties getting out, so our guide took a photo of that before hauling me out of the hole! It was such an attractive photo!!

Back at the hostel, we all jumped into the hot tub (which could fit about 15 people in). Sam got surrounded by blondes (and continued to wear his shades) so gained the nickname - the Heff (after Hugh Heffner)!! After the others had finished having an alcohol fight in the tub, we headed off to the bar for another night of drinking (lots of) red wine!!!