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glacier hike at Franz
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What a stunning place.... the Franz Josef glacier is majestically positioned between 2 mountains covered in rain forest flora and from our hostel, we could just make out the snow covered peaks. We actually arrived on a pretty cloudy, miserable day, but awoke the next morning to nothing but unobstructed sunshine and the view of the glacier we were going to climb up. After diplomatically working things out with the management at the Franz activity center (who did not want to let me climb because of the ACL surgery I had 2 years ago), we grabbed our crampons, hats, mitts and Gortex jackets to set out for the climb. Tim and I opted for the full day hike which turned out to be great with such beautiful weather. We were split into a group of 10 and followed a guide up the face of the glacier. These giudes are in pretty darn good shape as they basically pick axe steps into the glacier wall as we go.
The ice is so clear that it resembles pieces of glass and as we got closer and closer to the top, the ice seemed to take on a bluish tint. I honestly cannot put into words how amazing the views from the top of the glacier were, and I won't even try to describe the breathtaking waterfall that seemed to flow forever off the face of the mountain. All in all, a great day with perfect weather.
The night back at the Monsoon Bar was a good one spent with the rest of the "A Team". And since happy hour pints were 3 bucks, the night was a long one, especially when Tim and Sophie (one of the English girls) snuck about 6 pints out of the bar and into the dorm room! Funny stories from farting to lesbians were the hot topic of conversation and Tim's "dick dab" was also high on the list. Tim and I tried to spend as much time in the girls' dorm room since our roomies were the girl who went to bed the earliest and the girl who snored the loudest and were therefore not the most enticing to spend time with. The morning was a little rough, but nothing outrageous and we hopped on the bus yet again to make our ay to Makarora where I'm sitting right now. However, gotta jet because it's almost karaoke time and I'm already signed up! Missin' everyone at home, but definitely enjoying the sun here! 'Til next time!
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