Glacier Hike weekend!!!!

Friday the 24th of July was the start of another south island trip for me, Kathryn and Sara! Just the three of us, so it was going to be a really chilled out girls weekend! Friday morning we woke up sooo early around 4 am to get to the airport, we were in Nelson by 8 already walking around town. The town was so cute and it’s known for its art! If you know me well enough you know I love art and design and drawing etc. so I was so excited. We went into so many galleries and I felt so inspired! Then we walked down to the water and went into the beautiful Cathedral at the center of town. The lord of the ring’s ring was made at the jeweler there so I got to see it!!!!! The museum showed all of the history of Nelson which was interesting. Also we went to a movie, at the smallest theater I’ve ever seen with 10 seats, and relaxed in the hostels lounge. I went to bed so early from waking up so early!

Saturday the 25th
Once again we woke up so early to leave Nelson; we have a lot of travel plans for one weekend so we can cover a lot of land and see more of the south island of New Zealand! Our bus ride was going to be 10 hours to Franz Josef! I know it sounds long but little naps and lots of stops made it kind of nice. The entire ride was along the coast and it was so gorgeous! For lunch we got to stop along the coast and where able to walk along a path to see the waves crashing onto the “pancake rocks”, the picture will show how the formations looked like a stack of pancakes! It was really tropical scenery with tall palm trees everywhere! I loved it! When we got to Franz Josef it was still daylight so we ate some dinner and found some cute souvenir shops. The sky was such pretty colors and the mountains were covered in snow peaking up behind our hostel. Bed early again so we could be prepared for the GLACIER HIKE in the morning!

Sunday the 26th
We walked to the Franz Josef Glacier place to sign in and put on all the gear! Pants, hats, hiking boots, crampons and fanny packs! Haha stylish! The bus took us only 10 minutes away to the beginning of the trail and it was so pretty! The guide we had was a lot of fun. The hike started as a peaceful stroll along tons of rocks because we were surrounded by mountains that had cracks form the fault line! Streams and waterfalls were beautiful; this Glacier was considered a “warm” glacier. The Franz Josef Glacier was in sight but the illusion made it look like a 10 minute walk from the start, it was really 50 minutes away! It was so weird! Once we got to the bottom we climbed a ladder to a platform where we put the crampons (the spikes that attach under the boots) on so we don’t slip on the ICE! There was an ICE staircase to climb it was so cool and once we got up it was so stunning! I was so hot on the glacier, not what I expected but the weather was perfect and the suns reflection was so strong! There were so many cracks in the Glacier and it was even taller than where we stopped, the view back to where we started was so pretty with the streams and mountains and the ice we stood on had the color blue underneath. We crawled through an ice cave and then hiked up through another valley with tall walls of ice on both sides! It was so amazing! The hike was a little over 5 miles and we got back by 2:00, we only did the half a day hike so it was nothing like Tongariro crossing! But it was still worth it! I always thought I would like hiking but now I know for sure its one of my favorite things to do! We hurried to catch our bus at 2:20! Always on the move this weekend! That bus took us back up north 2 hours to Hokitika! Hokitika is a small beach town and I could see myself living there! Everything was along the beach and so pretty! The houses were cute and the people looked so friendly! The hostel we stayed at wasn’t even a hostel it was a home! So we have a living room with a cozy couch and fireplace, a kitchen, dining room and a bedroom with regular beds not bunks! It was so charming; the home even had a path right down to the beach in the back! The girls and I dropped off the luggage and went back into town and walked to the beach in time for the sunset. The sunset was gorgeous and the beach was so relaxing. When we got back to the house we sat by the fire and played battle ship and UNO that lasted hours! But Sara and I didn’t give up! We shared a lot of laughs it was so much fun!

Here is a video of our fun guide Ryan talking about the Glacier we're about to hike up closer too! woo hoo!

This is what happens when you let your hiking guide take the picture!!!! hahaha Glacier photo shoot!

look into the shades! Franz Josef GLACIERRRR :)

Arrived at our Hokitika beach home for the night!

Monday the 27th
We were in Hokitika for a short time and I wished I could have just stayed longer, but we got onto the SMALLEST plane I’ve ever been on in the smallest airport I’ve ever been too! It was one building with one runway and only one seat on each side of the plane, and I could see the pilots they didn’t have a door! So freaky! It was short and we got to Christchurch really early. Our flight to Auckland from there was in 5 hours so we took a taxi into the city and it was almost similar to Auckland. We walked into shops and saw Christchurch’s famous Cathedral. I was ready to get back to Auckland by the time our flight left, all the traveling wore me out but I’m so happy we saw so much and did the Glacier hike I really wanted to do! Living in Florida it’s not everyday I can hike on a Glacier! Haha

smallest plane ever at the Hokitika airport!

The Our Father translated into New Zealands Maori language!

Tuesday the 28th
Back to work! Sorting sediment again and we’re almost done with all the samples! This week is a short week of work for me; my boss is really cool about everything though. Lara, Hannah, Courtney, Sabrina, Phil and I had tickets to fly to AUSTRALIA tomorrow at 4pm! I can’t wait to see another country on my list of places to see!!!! G’day mate!