The early Maori knew Franz Josef as Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere (Tears of the Avalanche Girl).  Legend tells of a girl losing her lover who fell from the local peaks and her flood of tears freezing into the glacier.

Wow, wow, wow – the best activity we’ve done in NZ and possibly on our trip so far.  We took a guided walk and an ice climbing activity on the glacier.  Simply incredible.  We have done a fare bit of walking in NZ (we needed it) but walking on ice with crampons was a whole new experience and one we’d love to do again.

The ice climbing was the highlight but also the most strenuous.  A total of 8 hours inc. 2–3 hours climbing and 6 walking.  Danny (bless him) was the star of the show climbing to the top of each glacier wall with ease whereas I struggled at the end as the muscles in my arms gave way.  It’s easy at the start but once you’re vertical you have to pull your own weight with picks.  Sam and Janneke also faired pretty well and climbed to the top but only two of the 4 walls.  Although we were climbing pretty high we all felt as ease at the summit – just don’t look down!

The views on the glacier were incredible, which you see below, mountains and waterfalls in the background.  It was a little surreal given that we were walking on ice in temperatures over 30 degrees.  By the end we all had tired legs and sores from the hard walking boots provided but we still mustered the energy to open a bottle or two of wine to celebrate our achievement.  The memories of this experience will live with us for a lifetime!