An early start to meet our helicopter for a ride up onto the Franz Josef glacier. Boot fitting, crampons, coats and cameras and we were away.
Quite a spectacular approach. The ice formations up close were beautiful, on a huge scale, dirty, and left us with a sobering sense of reduced majesty.
Exhausted after 2 hours climbing on the ice – we needed a recover. Lunch, a regroup and a gathering of brochures – and a plan for the afternoon emerged. North to tiny Okarita for more beach play and a walk across wetlands and the trig walk. We realised half way up the second steep climb that a trig point was probably going to be a high point. Correct in both senses of the phrase. Amazing views up and down the coast and our first glimpse of Mt Cook through the clouds.
Back to the village for a quiet Monteith’s ale/cider and an early night.
The Obligatory Blog 