Flying High in Franz Josef.

We left Milford Sound for Franz Josef in the Westland with a quick night stop in Queenstown on the way through.

Dad and I were still getting used to driving the van and although it had its faults, gutless and with a crunchy gearbox, some interesting situations were due to driver rather than campervan error. These included the time that ‘someone’ forgot to lock the fridge which resulted in a gooey mix of yogurt and breakfast cereal spread across the campervan floor and the time I bounced the van off the curb going round a steep hairpin bend. Mum wasn’t impressed by that move very much! Dad however wasn’t entirely faultless and somehow managed to put the van into reverse when trying to pull away from some traffic lights which gave the driver of the car behind us a bit of a shock!

An impromptu stop on the way to Franz Josef to clean up the van after the yogurt incident!

One of the spectacular views on the drive to Franz Josef.

Riverbed cairns on the drive to Franz Josef.

We arrived safely in Franz Josef however late in the afternoon. We were staying at a Top 10 Caravan Park with a pretty good view of the glacier at Franz Josef and the surrounding peaks.

Top 10 Campsite a Franz Josef.

The view towards the Franz Josef glacier from the campsite.

I’d been to Franz Josef with Ali back in 1993 when we were on our gap year and we had been on a really great guided walk on the glacier. I had imagined that we would do something similar this time round. We found out however that due to the glacier being in a period of retreat its snout was too unstable and walks on the ice had been stopped 3 years ago. We decided to do a 2 hour guided walk in the morning that would take us up alongside the glacier and slightly off the main tourist track. The walk was led by Tim a strapping Yorkshire man, ex British Army and head of the volunteer ambulance service for Franz Josef. Mum and I felt we were in very safe hands! We were also happy to find that we were the only people in the group so we got to ask lots of questions.

The view up the valley to the Franz Josef glacier.

Studying ice with Tim!

The Franz Josef glacier viewed from the valley floor.

I’d been told by someone I’d been chatting to in Queenstown that due to climate change the glacier would be gone within ten years. When we arrived I was pretty shocked at how far it had retreated since I was last there – by about 80 meters. I asked Tim whether this was due to climate change and he was clear and confident in his opinion that this was just a natural phase of glacial retreat, one of many in the history of this glacier. After a few hours of walking, scrambling across scree, looking at different types of ice and asking heaps of questions we headed back to the town for lunch and to reflect on our morning.

Although it was an interesting and informative few hours I was a little disappointed and felt that we hadn’t really been able to really experience the beauty and wonder of the glacier fully. We discussed taking one of the helicopter or fixed wing flights to help us get our full glacial fix. There were a number of helicopter operators that provided tours and we walked up the main street checking out their prices and pitches. The helicopter tours generally included flying up along the glacier and landing on the ice where you could wander about for about 20mins taking photos (and lots of glacial selfies probably!). The other option was a fixed wing flight that didn’t land on the ice but took in a greater number of glaciers and mountains at a higher altitude. After some deliberation we decided that we’d all prefer the fixed wing flight.

We headed off to Air Safaris to check out the various flight options and timings. We decided to take their ‘Grand Traverse’ scenic flight at 4:30 that afternoon. The Grand Traverse was advertised as a 40 minute flight taking in views of the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers, the Westland National Park and Mount Cook. We however had the added bonus of landing at Mount Cook airport as one of the other passengers and his bike was getting off there.

Home

The Air Safaris GA8 Airvan one of four on their fleet.

It was expensive, NZD$340 but I can honestly say it was one of the best travel experiences I’ve had. I grinned for the whole hour of the flight, the views were amazing. We circled between the peaks and flew along the glaciers. As we were at a higher altitude than the helicopters you really got to appreciate the full magnitude and beauty of the landscape. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.