One of our goals that was high on our bucket list for New Zealand was a visit of the Franz Josef Glacier. The Franz Josef Glacier is a long glacier in Westland Nationalpark on the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on the west side of the New Zealand Alps. The glacier gate is very famous, you can see it in the fourth picture. Since we werent there in the deepest winter, it had not snowed there for a long time and the glacier or the ice, had already receded somewhat. There are differnt ways to visit the glacier: We drove to the National Park parking lot by car. From there we walked the Franz Josef Glacier Walkway for about thirty or forty minutes. The way was very easy to reach from the parking lot and hardly overlooked. The Franz Josef Glacier is a very well known attraction in New Zealand and we just joined the people who ran you there. The walk is not exhausting in itself, it is not going uphill or downhill.
What was really great: During the walk we passed incredible waterfalls. Okay, maybe can not call them waterfalls. But there are actually small streams of water going down the rock faces, probably from the glaciers. The rock faces are partly covered with dark green plants. Nature and plants always changed on the way to glaciers. Sometimes I felt like I was in the Hobbit setting, maybe it was even shot there, I could imagine that very well. Many stones were covered with light green moss. After a while we were accompanied by a small river on stream to the glacier.
When we arrived at the gate of the glacier after some time, we ere in a large crowd and we had to wait a little to take photos. The gate was fenced off so that tourists would not run up to the glacier.
There are of course other ways than visiting the glacier on your own: You can book for example guided hiking tours up to the glacier or fly up with a helicopter. In winter there should be a lot of snow. Admittedly, that would have exceeded our budget. Since we only travel on a small budget, that was out of question for us. But the walkway was also very nice and completely free, so it did not cost us to walk there.
In the village of the same name, there are numerous options for sleeping, eating and drinking. Relaxation is offered in the glacier thermal baths, you can also visit the local wildlife center or rent a kayak on nearby Lake Mapourika. All in all, the trip to Franz Josef Glacier was one of our best experiences in New Zealand, even if the weather was not good and it was very cloudy and partly rainy. So the atmosphere was somehow very pleasant and it looked like in the Hobbit movie.
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