Franz Josef, New Zealand Travel Blogs

Rivers of ice
Dec 28, 2006 (13 photos)

The day dawned sunny, and I was highly excited! We were off to do a heli-hike on the Franz Josef glacier. A helicopter was going to carry us high up onto the glacier, where we would explore the crevasses and ice caves. At the heliport we were given boots ...

Grounded...
Apr 22, 2007

... early. We had planned to look into getting a helicopter flight over one of the glaciers, and we were advised to organize from Franz Josef - the biggest one. At lunchtime we arrived at Fox Glacier and took a walk to the bottom of this one and admired ...

Glaciers
Nov 21, 2005 (10 photos)

... had to take a back seat as they'd run out! I made do with a bacon and egg toasted sarnie instead. We arrived at Franz Josef early afternoon, and once again I'd scored highly in the tour guide stakes. I'd chosen a nice motel for us to stay in as we were ...

Walks around the Glacier
Jul 15, 2005 (8 photos)

The weather was atrocious on the journey to Franz Josef. On the way, the coach driver played a video about glaciers and how they are formed, so that made the trip interesting. I was certainly excited about seeing the glaciers up close, as I found it an ...

Glacier walking in Franz Josef
Oct 25, 2005 (12 photos)

We rolled up to little Franz Josef village, which is basically just a selection of motels, hostels and the odd restaurant / shop, in the late afternoon. Has to be said that the views are awesome...... We picked the hostel that had the freebies thrown in ...

Franz Josef
Mar 7, 2005 (10 photos)

... was ok with me. I little info about the trips. I was going to pay $120 for a 20 min flight that included flying around the Franz glacier landing at the top and being able to walk around for 3 mins. The upgraded trip: cost $360 you are in the air for 45 ...

Franz Josef and Fox Glacier
Apr 9, 2007 (13 photos)

... . We killed the rest of the afternoon watching the first Lord of the Rings film, trying to spot places we had visited! Our final day in Franz Josef was spent being rained on and just chilling out. We chose the right days for our glacier visits at least!

I SEE SNOW!!!
Jun 24, 2006 (18 photos)

... wasnt so i ended up landing face first into this pool, making a complete fool of myself as normal! The pinnacle of our New Zealand trip was to happen the next day when we climbed the Franz Josef Glacier that cannot be described as anything other than ...

Headed South
Oct 11, 2004 (18 photos)

... bus yelled "drink!" and the rest of us followed suit, hit an offies and had a carry out on the bus heading for Wellington, New Zealand's capital. The craic was brilliant, none of us were looking for a booze cruise tour, but a wee drink once in a while ...

Franz Josef Glacier then the TranzAlpine train
May 8, 2008 (22 photos)

Following our stop over in Queenstown and feeling rested and ready for more adventure we make plans to head to the Franz Josef Glacier on the west coast of New Zealand.  FJ (as it will be called as Franz Josef is far too long a word to type) was a ...

Franz Josef - Glacier Hike
Jul 20, 2006

Glacier Hike

Glacial Expedition
Dec 4, 2003 (5 photos)

... to discover that our journey had in fact taken us nearer five and a half hours by the time we reached the outskirts of Franz Josef (more winding mountain roads slowed us down too) and we had driven into a different weather system. Heavy cloud loomed low ...

Franz Josef Glacier
Dec 8, 2004 (15 photos)

... came down and the drizzle started (the west coast of NZ almost always pours with rain!) until we arrived in the town of Franz Josef and checked into Montrose Backpackers! (Thomas asked for a locals discount but the guy behind the desk was a bit thick and ...

Nelson to Franz Josef Glacier
Jan 21, 2006 (17 photos)

... them, and swings them onto the bus as if they were full of foam. She drives like a manic and takes the corners around New Zealand's extremely bendy roads, like she's driving a rally car. Whilst "flying" down the coast on the way to Greymouth, we stop ...

My new job as a Travel Guide!
Oct 12, 2005 (1 photos)

... up - I was going back to Shortbread Cottage! So, after departing the Milford Wanderer, we set off on the long journey to Franz Josef at 9.45am. It would be a full 12 hours later that we'd arrive at our destination... We passed through some amazing, ...

New Zealand - South Island West Coast
Jan 4, 2007 (6 photos)

... glacier in the distance. It was slightly steeper than Fox and did not have the dogleg in the downward slope. The structure of Franz Josef means that the ice cracks across the glacier, instead of down in the case of Fox. Leaving Franz Josef we followed ...

Glaciers and Jelly Wrestling, a nice combo....
Apr 9, 2006 (7 photos)

This area of New Zealand is home to a bunch of glaciers, one of which (Franz Josef) we planned on climbing. It was pretty cold here, even more snow on the mountains than there was further south. We thought that we might get to go up to see the glacier ...

Glaciers sparkle
Aug 9, 2004 (3 photos)

... we might have missed it!!)we realised that Kaikoura which we thought was a sleepy town was actually a buzzing city in comparison. Franz Josef exists for sight seeing and trekking tours of the nearby glacier and therefore every building is either a hostel, ...

Put me on ice
Oct 6, 2006 (24 photos)

... impressed) so I rushed into the Intercity station there to book a ticket for the next leg of the ride. So glad I did. Franz Josef is famous for its glacier, unique in that it carves through the mountain to almost sea level into a subtropical landscape. ...

The Dark of the Glacier
Nov 3, 2005 (2 photos)

The long retreat
Dec 12, 2003 (4 photos)

... as snow, then smothering the snow, bouncing on top of it until compacted to ice, which it then shoves slowly down the mountain. Franz Josef flows downhill at up to 5m a day, pushing plane wrecks kilometers to the bottom in less than a decade. The ice ...

Snow and Ice at the Glacier - no Polar Bears!
Dec 11, 2006 (9 photos)

... - once again we hopped out of the car to gaze in awe at the scenery. Soon enough we arrived in the township of Franz Josef - famous for its name sake Franz Josef Glacier which is just outside of town. Our campsite is just so nice, the kitchens are clean ...

Nice To See You, To See You Ice
Oct 2, 2004 (12 photos)

... my greatly delayed not so great report on tonight's Olympic action . . . Gary Cordery . . . News at 3am . . . deepest darkest New Zealand. 26/8 This morning we were to go glacier hiking, so by 8.45am we were in town at the 'Franz Josef Glacier ...

Ice Ice Baby!
Oct 27, 2008 (2 photos)

... a look at what we were going to be hiking tomorrow - it's look blummin' big! Tonight we stopped at the Rainforest Retreat in Franz Josef. We had a double room booked for us as it was cheaper than a dorm bed each!! Go figure. Anyway it was another bed ...

Hiking up a moving glacier!
Oct 28, 2008 (73 photos)

We were up at 7am today to go on our hike. We got given waterproofs to wear and a pair of crampons for our boots. This is to make it easier, and safer, to walk on the glacier. We had a 45 minute walk to the bottom of the glacier. It's only when you get ...

Franz Josef Glacier
Jun 11, 2005 (4 photos)

After a brief stop for lunch we then drove to Franz Josef Glacier and instead of walking to the terminal face, we did the Sentinal Rock walk instead, which provides good photos and views of the glacier. The glacier was named by Julius von Haast after ...

Friday 6th july well it had to happen a ...
Jul 6, 2001

... Kiwi Experience bus to Wanaka, and on to Queenstown for two days skiing (sorry Carol) and back to Christchurch. The drive to Franz Josef was everything people told me it would be and more the mountains capped with snow and the icicles all over the place ...

Glaciers
Jan 11, 2008 (29 photos)

... it, from the youngest to the eldest (including the 32 year old pimp!) The next day we were off again, this time to Franz Josef, another small town near some dramatic mountains and a glacier. After an early night (we all need one sometimes!), we headed ...

Tramping around Middle Earth
Dec 6, 2003 (17 photos)

... to wearing green cloaks and other Middle Earth garb. (I read that some Japanese Tolkien fanatics had placed an order with the New Zealand company that supplied costumes for the film crew. The order was not written in Japanese or English, but elveish!) We ...

More penguins and stuff
Sep 17, 2003 (6 photos)

... as 1999 - at one point they were moving as fast as 12m a day which must have been quite a sight. I left the Franz Josef Glacier yesterday for a four and a half hour drive through rain forest, over mountain passes and past beautiful lakes to arrive back ...