We woke up in good time to make the check in time for our glacier hike but unfortunately we didn't realise that it was daylight saving overnight and this made us an hour early. How frustrating - missed an extra hour in bed which would have been nice. Nevermind because the weather was so nice it would have been a shame to miss out. In fact it was torrential rain and had been for most of the night. The rain was so bad that you could hardly see up the street. We checked in anyway, after having a non-decaf coffee by accident (definitely shaping up to be one of those days) and we were given the option of a full refund for the trip due to the bad weather. We decided to go ahead anyway as there was nothing else to do in such bad weather. After getting togged up in boots, waterproofs etc. we boarded the bus for the trip to the glacier. Luckily by the time we got to the car park the weather had cleared a little and the 2km walk to the terminal face (the start of the glacier) was reaonably pleasant (save for the uncomfortable boots).
Franz Josef and Fox glaciers are fairly unique in the world because it is very unusual to have a glacier descend into a temperate rainforest and I must say that it does look slightly odd. Anyway after our walk to the face, we donned our 'Talonz' (kind of toothed metal plates that attach to the bottom of the boots) and started to hike up the ice. We chose the fastest group and after about 20 minutes I was starting to regret it as my lungs started to burn. After this it started to get a bit easier as the climb got steeper and the group slowed down. I was quite impressed with how far up the glacier we managed to go - must have been another 2-3km (it is 11km long in total). I slipped whilst negotiating the descent of a crevasse and nearly took the group out, luckily though Karen broke my fall (although I do have a lump on my leg and a cut on my arm to show for it). Managed to get enough breath together to speak to a nice Welsh couple and a nice bloke from Melbourne before we headed back down to the hike to the car park. I think that this is a good way to experience the glacier - you really appreciate its scale when you hike up it. Would have been nice to be helicoptered to the top though!
We got back to Franz Josef town at around 3:00pm and had a shower in the street(!) and then moved on towards Punakaiki up the west coast. It was dark by the time we hit the most scenic part of the coastal road but we could take comfort in the fact that it was apparently spectacular anyway. I also saw my first live possum having seen a few hundred dead ones on the road (apparently the possum population is around 60 million!) We made it to the Beach Camp motor park at around 8:00pm and then ate pasta in the van (good option given that it was Sunday and nothing was open). We then fell asleep to the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks.