Friday, March 4th in FUN Franz Josef Glacier!

 

So even with all of the research we had done for this trip,

we were still surprised when we drove into the quaint village of Franz Josef on Thursday afternoon.

WHERE IS THE GLACIER??

 

We both really did expect it to be right in our face when we got here,

but it was no where to be seen.  And it was GREEN, not snowy. 

 

But when we got up at 6AM on Friday and opened the curtains ...

 

 

 

  

OH!  It's WAY up there!  So we set off on our first "tramp" of the day to see how close we could get to the glacier. 

 

 

 

 

Global warming .... SUPER EVIDENT HERE. 

The glacier has been receding since 2012, as it used to reach the river bed! 

 

 The Glacier USED to reach past the bottom of this image!

 

 

Full zoom looking at the top of the glacier 



You mean ME keep walking up there? 
No worries ... I'm thrilled to have walked this far with my toe
(which is STILL healing).

  

We certainly weren't done exploring for the day, so we decided to tramp up to the Tartare Tunnels.  The start of the trail was just a few meters from our motel.  Super convenient!

 

During the Gold Rush of the 1860's, they blasted these tunnels to force water through them and into a sluice box to separate gold from the rock.  Unlike in the states, they just leave these open and let you walk through.  Enter at your own risk!

 

Hey ... so THIS is why we packed our head lamps!

 

It was absolutely PITCH BLACK in there, with a small stream of VERY COLD WATER running through the bottom.  The flashlight on my phone came in VERY handy as our headlights didn't do much to slice through the darkness.  The tunnel was 350 meters long, and we ALMOST made it to the other side.

 

 

But once we realized we couldn't feel our feet anymore (DAMN it was cold!) AND we found some glow works, we turned back.  The best part ... WE WERE THE ONLY PEOPLE THERE. 

The proverbial "Light at the end of the tunnel". 

 

Hey Denice Barsness ....your Tunnel Singer friend would have LOVED THIS PLACE!

 

Thanks to Bear Grylls (again), we knew to ring out our soaked socks, put them back on with our dripping Tivas, and hike the mile plus back out again. 

 

 

Next tramp .... STRAIGHT TO THE HOT POOLS.

 

 

We rented our own private pool for an hour and relished every minute.  We even had our own private cabana with a toilet, sink, shower, and changing room.  The PERFECT ENDING to our big tramping day. 

 

 

Oh ~ but wait.  Now we're HUNGRY again!  So we did a Progressive Dinner hitting three different places, culminating with fish and chips and Dennis Big Black Beer.  Happy man!

 

 

Tonight is the last night of our solo adventure.  Tomorrow we take the Tranz Alpine train through the Alps and into Christchurch to meet up with Tony and Carrie.  It will be interesting to see how we can keep up with the blog once we're traveling with them, but we will do our best.  Dennis has really gotten into the process with me, which makes it much easier (and more fun). 

Thank you so much for tramping along with us!



Love this electric fireplace in our Franz Josef room.
Just like home!

 


SATURDAY MORNING POST SCRIPT:  Once again the clouds have rolled in.  The mornings have certainly offered the best weather most days, and less people.  And as I look out our window on this Saturday morning, the Glacier is socked in.  CARPE MOMENTO. 

The South Island of New Zealand has proven to be even more stunningly beautiful than we expected, with SUPER FRIENDLY and VERY HAPPY people.  NO ONE is fat here; everyone is in great shape.  The beds have been crazy comfortable with heavy blankets, the wine fabulous, and even the instant coffee is good.  New Zealand has a WELL organized tourism program.  We learned that 5,000 tourists visit Queenstown EVERY day and 3,000 tourists visit Franz Josef EACH day.  We both could live here quite comfortably.  Who knows what the future will bring.