Franz Josef and the ice

After being disapointed many years ago when our Heli Hike on the Franz Josef Glacier was cancelled at the last minute due to bad weather you can imagine our excitement we were told that we were good to go this time.

We all gathered at the booking hut eager to go, I say all, Dawn was a little aprehensive.
Kitted out in our boots and crampons we boarded the helicopter. As advised we were dressed in our 4 warm layers! It was a beautiful sunny day and we soon found out that the extra clothing was not essential for today at least.

We were met on the glacier by George (no not that George) who explained how to attach our crampons and what we could expect to see whilst we walked on the ice.
There is no sense of scale on the glacier, The creaking wall of ice. that seems to be in touching distance is brought into reality when you see the tiny figures in another group that are closer to the face than we are.
George was almost as informed about the history of the ice as bus driver George was about the area.

He straight away had Chris at ease with his laid back hippy style. We walked on the ice, crawled through brilliant blue ice holes and watched in amazement when two large chunks of ice tumbled down towards us. We were quite safe of course because George had kept us a safe distance from the face.
We walked for about 2 hours and returned to wait for the helicopter which as it turns out was 45 minutes late. Eventually it turned up to whisk us off the ice and back to the town in time for a beer. What a great day we had and it was certainly worth the 12 year wait!

As we sat enjoying the scenery who should drive by giving us a toot as he passed, you got it, George (not bus driver George) but Hippy George of the Mountain!

Has anyone seen George?

We left Queenstown on the slow bus north to Franz Josef Township, it was overcast and quite cold. Our driver was not the happiest of. people, he had been called in on his day off at short notice and I don't think it went down well. Anyway he was only taking us to the halfway point of our journey and he cheered up a bit as he reached the end of his stint.

As we crossed the mountains and onto the West Coast the weather changed dramaticaly and so did the mood of the driver! Our new man, George, was a different character all together. He was cheerful and very talkative, pointing out all of the landmarks on the way. George also seemed to know all the local history and he loved to tell you all about it.

We disembarked the coach at the small settlement of Franz Josef, George dropping us off outside of our accomodation and that was the last we would see of him, or so we thought.

We went for a beer before dinner and who should be in the bar but George dressed in his civies and having a beer while watching the rugby on the TV.
Turns out that he is one of the few residents of the township and only drives the bus two days a week.

George's house in Franz Josef, opposite was a car in the window was a notice advertising it for sale. The notice simply said contact George.

The next morning we were walking to get some breakfast when George passed us, this time in his overalls and driving a tractor! Looks like he is the local farmer as well.

Our plan today is to go on a Heli Hike on the glacier as long as the weather permits.
We arrived at the office to be told that we should call back in 40 mins, worried we might not be able to fly we went away for a coffee.

On our return we were informed that to our relief that the helicopter was good to go. After being taken to collect our boots, crampons and coats we were led to the helicopter. We were tasked with taking a chocolate milkshake up to our guide who was already up on the glacier.

After a short flight over the glacier we set down on the ice about 5km from the face and were met by our guide.

Imagine our surprise when we found out that it was George! A much younger version but George nonetheless. It seems that everyone in Franz Josef is called George or at least it did to us.
What about the glacier I here you say, well that was stunning but I will tell you about that another time.

Queenstown and the snow

We arrived in Queenstown on a wet and grey day, but worst was to come. The following day we awoke to snow on the surrounding mountains! Snow in summertime!

The view from the Gondola was fantastic, I think I might have to jump off on a paraglider maybe.

It was a very cold early morning when we left for the Shotover river and the jetboat ride, thank heavens for the heated handrail.

But Queenstown came into it's own as the sun came out in the afternoon? Talk about all the seasons in one day!