Doing the Franz Josef guided heli-hike was one of the highlights of my New Zealand roadtrip. It was a once in a lifetime experience that is well worth the price in my view. Weather in the Glacier Country region can be temperamental at the best of times. They don’t give the go-ahead for hiking on the glaciers until the day of the hike.
We were expecting the hike to be cancelled as they had predicted the weather to be rainy and cloudy (not the weather for hiking glaciers!). The next morning, we headed to the Franz Josef Glacier office for our scheduled morning tour. We were pleasantly surprised that the weather had cleared up on the glacier and the tour was a go-ahead! It was a 4 to 5 hour guided tour that involved a lot of safety precautions. We were given a safety brief and the necessary cold-weather gear to change into. Then we headed to the heli-pad for the 5 to 10 minute helicopter ride to the glacier. It was the first time in a helicopter and it was a pretty cool experience. Had an amazing view of the region from the air.
We landed on the glacier, popped on the crampons and carried out trusty walking sticks that enabled use to hike on ice for the next few hours. We had a wonderful guide who was literally carving out the path as we walked amongst the ice. It was once of the most unforgettable experiences. The air felt crisp and fresh. While it initially felt cold, as you progressed through your hike and climbed over ice, you’re soon sweating under your jacket!
During the hike, we were invited to drink the fresh icey glacier water as we got further up the glacier. They say it’s the cleanest and freshest water you can get! After the end of the guided tour, we had a quick lunch. Then we enjoyed a complimentary session at the Glacier Hot Pools to relax our muscle aches from all the hiking we did earlier in the day.
As the weather still held up well and we still had a couple of hours of daylight left, we decided to check out Ōkārito which is near the coast. The area had a number of easy walking tracks. We decided to check out the Wetland and Trig walk which took us around 1.5 hours return. You were treated to a nice view of the coast and surrounding areas at the Ōkārito Trig viewpoint at the top.
Looking through my New Zealand photos and blogging about my travels has really reminded me of the carefree days of travel and access to almost anywhere in the world. I am looking forward to exploring other parts of New Zealand when travel does open back up between Australia and New Zealand. Whenever that might be.
Thanks for stopping by today. Where are you itching to visit when you get the chance?
Your friend,
Janice
Leave a Reply