November 26, 2015 Franz Josef NZ

Today is glacier day and we are treated with grey skies, but not actually raining. We have to eat breakfast out this morning, so its about 10am or so before we head toward the carpark. As we are crossing the river, a minor miracle happens. See photo below:

Peeking through the clouds. Franz Josef Glacier NZ

What's this? Could it be a break in the clouds? Is that the sun and is it actually shining on just the glacier?

We get more and more excited as we get closer to the carpark.

Franz Josef Glacier NZ

Franz Josef Glacier NZ

The trail from the carpark starts of through a bit of a rainforest, so the view is obscured right until you top a small rise and them - Wham!

Franz Josef Glacier NZ

Now isn't that one of the prettiest sights you've ever seen? The trail eventually spills out onto the moraine left from the million years of reaching glacier and you walk along the valley floor on a rough formed path where 10,000 have already walked before (and that's just this month).

The moraine covered floor the valley. Franz Josef Glacier NZ

You can't help but stop and grab the odd snap of things other than the glacier as it's now obscured around the bend

Lichen and moss covered rocks. Franz Josef Glacier NZ

Fabulous waterfalls. Franz Josef Glacier NZ

Rocks that have been gouged as the glacier moved past. Franz Josef Glacier NZ

Moraine and snow-melt river. Franz Josef Glacier NZ

After about 2km the end of the track and the viewing point for the glacier are coming into view. That last few hundred metres is a bit of a slog as you climb over the huge heaps of dumped rocks - but then, you are there, face-to-face with the ablation zone and terminus of a glacier.

Snout of the Franz Josef Glacier NZ

Look at the colour of the ice! It's blue because glacial ice is so highly compacted that it absorbs every colour except blue. 'They say', that if you put a chunk of glacier ice into a glass of water, it would expand so fast and with so much power that it would shatter the glass. Sounds like one for Myth Busters.

This was all glacier back in 1970. Franz Josef Glacier NZ

Franz Josef Glacier NZ

The ice as it comes over the last 'fall'. Franz Josef Glacier NZ

Franz Josef Glacier NZ

So there you are, a real glacier. And yes, at the moment it is receding, but it is known as a cyclic glacier and may well start advancing again, dependant on the snowfall over the next five years in the 20 square km catchment area.