Ice and a slice?

Trip Start Feb 11, 2008
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Trip End Jun 30, 2008


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Friday, May 9, 2008

After we dragged ourselves away from Dan, Cathy and Shea's company the sun came out and the weather turned for the better. We drove down to the Franz Josef Glacier and took a look at this huge block of ice, which was moving at a rate of almost 1meter a day, pushing loads of ground rock and massive boulders before it. We made enquiries about taking a trek onto the glacier itself, but it was damned expensive, although we were advised to take a full day trek and we were considering it that evening at the campsite where we were staying when Jo came down with a nasty kidney infection, which meant that the last thing she really wanted to do was walk on a freezing block of ice whilst feeling that someone was repeatedly kicking her in the small of her back. We did take a gentle stroll along the valley floor towards the face of the glacier, but we were unable to get close to the ice as the path was restricted to paying trekkers!!
 
Anyway, we wondered around and took a look at some of the blocks of ice which had fallen from the glacier, wondered at the size of the block of ice, shivered in the shade of the valley sides and looked at the reflection of the glacier valley in the face of Peters Pool. Having had enough, we walked back to the car just in time to avoid a crowd of 18-20 something's emerging from another "Kiwi" bus on their fast paced trip around the country. We stopped at St James church, a mock Tudor elate 19th century church at the northern end of the town of Franz Joseph, which wouldn't look out of place in a Sussex village. We wanted to take a look as we had seen a painting at Dan & Cathy's place of the view of the glacier valley, with Mt. Cook and the Alps in the distance, taken from the view through the church window; and, yes, it was pretty good! The church was quaint and just a little warmer inside than the air outside.
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