Franz Josef to Queenstown

31 August 2016

We didn’t book our transportation from Franz Josef to Queenstown in advance since we wanted to be flexible in case the weather would require us to reschedule our glacier heli-hiking. Fortunately, although there was a cloud hanging over the glacier on the day of our hike, it went on as scheduled with good weather. When we knew that our hike was pushing through (30 minutes before our meet-up time), we immediately booked through Intercity for early the next day. There was only one bus leaving Franz Josef for Queenstown, which leaves at 8 AM and stops through Fox and Wanaka.

Franz Josef

It was a long but scenic ride. For an hour or two, part of the route didn’t have any network connection (mobile or wifi), which our driver warned us about. He knew exactly where the network is out of reach and at which point we could connect again. Like our driver from Greymouth to Franz Josef, he also gave us commentaries along the way. We also gave us 5-minute stops in Bruce Bay and Lake Hawea so we could take photographs of the beautiful scenery.

Bruce Bay

We changed bus drivers at Haast; our bus driver went back via another bus going to the direction of Franz Josef, while their bus driver when back to Queenstown by taking our bus. During that change,we also had a few minutes stop where we could hike for a few meters from the main road to see the Thunder Creek falls.

Thunder Creek Falls

The bus route also passed through the edge of the huge Lake Wanaka until we had a brief stop in Wanaka, an adorable small town. The original plan was for us to stay a day or two in Wanaka for skiing and/or snowboarding before proceeding to Queenstown but our priority was to skydive and take the Milford Sound cruise first (we figured we can ski and snowboard in our next trips). Our itinerary was also open to going back to Wanaka after Queenstown.

Lake Wanaka

After 8 hours on the bus, we finally arrived in Athol Street, Queenstown and we walked to The Black Sheep Backpackers hostel in Frankton Road. Queenstown was very touristy yet it was lovely and picturesque. You could see the snow-capped Remarkables at the city’s background and there was Lake Wakatipu at the edge of the city. After checking in, we decided to book our Milford Sound cruise and skydiving. There were several travel agencies around Queenstown which seemed to provide activities at almost the same rates. Since the wifi wasn’t consistent at the hostel, we booked with Peterpans Travel for Milford Sound on September 1 and skydiving on September 3. That left our pockets burning but our neurons excited.

Queue in Fergburger

We ended our day by joining the queue for some Fergburger. There were heaters outside the shop so it wasn’t so bad queueing outside in the cold weather. I’m not really a meat person (or a foodie) so I can’t don’t really know how to describe food except but it was good. Good night Queenstown!

Glacier hiking in Franz Josef Glacier

30 August 2016

Glacier hiking in Fox of Franz Josef was one of the activities on my list while I was planning for my New Zealand trip. However, when I learned that you couldn’t just walk your way to the glaciers anymore and you really need to ride a helicopter, that plan went out of the window, thinking that it would just blow up my budget.

Glacier hiking

For some reason, I still found myself researching about glacier hiking and the prices in both Fox and Franz Josef. And I stumbled into Franz Josef Glacier Guides which offered a helicopter ride to the glaciers, 3 hours of guided hiking and entry to their hot pools for NZD 379. Expensive, but… it was affordable. I wasn’t quite sure if I was willing to spend this much money for 3 hours of hiking. Interestingly, when I told my mum about my dilemma, her response was, Go for it! YOYO! (Yup, she really said YOYO—You’re only young once). Weeellll, I’m an obedient daughter… I followed my mother’s advice. And that’s how we ended up in Franz Josef.

Franz Josef Glacier

Franz Josef Glacier Guides provided us with waterproof pants, jacket, shoes (with detachable crampons), socks and bag for the hike. They also gave away a beanie for each participant. We only needed to come in comfortable clothing and our happy selves.

Hiking through the glacial crevasses

The tour started with a safety briefing and hiking guidelines. Then we made a short walk through the forest to the helipad where we took a short helicopter flight to the glacier. We had a strong pretty lady as our guide who chipped off the ice and paved our way through the glaciers. There were several other tour groups but we were far apart. The hike was slow enough to take quick photos along the way. Some of the ice were dirty but a lot of them were crystal blue and white. It was pretty amazing to see the glaciers up close.

Going inside the glaciers

It wasn’t tiring at all and since it was quite sunny, I was pretty warm under the jacket they gave and the down that I was wearing. The hike wasn’t tiring at all and going through the tiny spaces between the glaciers was really cool. Before we knew it, three hours had gone by and we were flying back to the town.

Ice ice ice

After the hike, we made another trip to the Terrace Walk. We didn’t finish the entire trail the night before so we decided to walk a little bit earlier up to end of the trail, wait till it gets dark before walking back so we can check the entire trail for glow worms. We found the glow worms under the same tree we found them yesterday. Although the glow worms were still disappointing, the walk in the forest was nice and easy.

Terrace Walk

We ended the day by taking a dip into the hot pools. It felt so good that my runny nose got cured right away (I’m really meant for the tropics). I was glad I didn’t skip glacier hiking. Although a small town, Franz Josef has a charm of its own--a view of snow-capped mountains, hot pools and a memorable glacier hiking.

Christchurch to Franz Josef

 29 August 2016

It was only two nights ago in Lake Tekapo when we finally decided to go to Franz Josef instead of Wanaka. We decided to go back to Christchurch then take the route through Arthur’s Pass and Greymouth to Franz Josef. The issuanceof driver’s license in the Philippines was suspended until October, so when I renewed my driver’s license a few months ago, I only received a receipt which served as my temporary license. Obviously, that wouldn’t pass for driving in New Zealand (although I didn’t bother to ask), so we had to make use of public transportation. We found Atomic Shuttle, which provided transport from Christchurch to Franz Josef.

Another option (more expensive) is to take the Kiwi Rail

Early in the morning, our cousin dropped as at the pick-up point in Lichfield Street. The shuttle was early. It was quite spacious and comfortable although I prefer looking though the bus’s glass window. We passed by Castle Hill and made a stop at Arthur’s Pass, which was supposed to offer spectacular views. Unfortunately, it was cloudy when we passed by the mountains in Arthur’s Pass so although the scenery was good, it wasn’t quite spectacular.

The shuttle dropped as off at Greymouth where we had lunch and waited for about an hour until we resumed our journey via an Intercity Bus. The ride was quite nice because the driver provided commentaries along the way. We traveling along the west coast, with a great view of the Tasman Sea. We made another stop at Hokitika where we had another dose of the sea. The beach wasn’t as good as Kaikoura a quick break beside the beach is always good.

After more than 8 hours of traveling, we finally arrived in Franz Josef. The town was quite small that we got dropped off right across our hostel (and the other passengers were dropped off in their respective lodgings as well). It was still early when we arrived so we visited Franz Josef Glacier Guides and booked our heli-hiking.

That night, we decided to do a short hike at the Terrace Walk, where glow worms were supposed to be found. We were fairly warned that they were disappointing and true enough they were so disappointing that when we saw the glowing dots in one area of the forest, we just burst with laughter.

A 30-minute walk through the dark

And so, my day ended here. Tomorrow, I can’t wait to do one of the adventure activities we’ve been looking forward—to hike on a glacier.