Wednesday 21 September 2011

Franz Joseph Glacier

19 - 21 Sept 2011

After working hard for two months, I finally started my New Zealand south island travelling journey with Naomi, Zin and Edwin. Four of us rode on the Nissan Avenir Wagon for 3 weeks. We left some of our housemates, colleagues, and friends in Westport and headed to Hokitika. 

Hokitika is well known for its richness in greenstone. Greenstone is usually carved in different shapes to make pendants. Some of the shapes are fish hook, twist, and koru which symbolize different meanings in the Maori's tradition. You may even carve your own pendants. 

For more information about the meanings of different shape, please visit http://www.boneart.co.nz/meanings.htm





pic: Hokitika Beach

Though the weather of our first day of the journey wasn't too good, we got to see a beautiful rainbow on the way from Hokitika to Franz Joseph.


Glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation (melting and sublimation) over many year, often centuries. A glacier slowly flow due to stresses induced by its weight.

 

Franz Joseph Glacier is a 12km long glacier. Fox Glacier is located 20km to the south from Franz Joseph. People always have dilemma in choosing which to go. Some people advise that it is best to have full day hike in Franz Joseph Glacier, but heli-hike in Fox Glacier.


We thought it must be very cold to walk on the ice. We wore a few layers of shirts and jacket. Soon, I started to feel hot to hike under the hot sun with heavy backpack and a waist bag with crampons. I scratched my head, wondering why on earth the snow never melt under the hot sun.


It was totally a new experience to walk with the crampons on snow. No matter how steep the path was, we never fell or felt slippery. However, it was really uncomfortable to wear the crampons for me, due to its weight and the loose wool socks provided which kept slipping off.




It was refreshing to eat some snow/ice as the natural source of cooling water when we were dehydrated. Of course, we picked the clean ones. 



Last but not least, we went to Lake Matheson, also known as the mirror lake for its great smooth reflection on the water. However, it was a little bit disappointing. There are many other places in New Zealand which can provide even much better views.


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