Ramble Quest - Franz Josef Day Walks.

I immediately take a liking to the Franz josef area. I guess a bit of sun after deprevation helps, but mainly I'm surprised at how lush it is. With a 4000mm anual rainfall, it's all rain forest outside the glaciers. I check in at the well-run YHA (take the newer rooms) and eat at the Blue Ice Cafe -- excellent whitebait fricasee, so-so seafood chowder, washed down with Greymouth's Monteith beer (their black seems best).

Blessed with great weather, I spend the next few days exploring all of the day walks in the Franz Josef area. I may be the only tourist to stay in Franz josef for so long without taking one of the ridiculously popular guided glacier walks. Not that I think they are bad mind you, I'm sure they are fine, but I'm equally certain the treks I took were better. It's amazing how tourists are influenced by hype. Hordes line up to do the Tongariro Crossing, everyone pays to stand on the glaciers for a bit and I've heard of morons paying $NZ1500 to walk the Milford Trek. All the while, fabulous free trails, like those around here, have hardly anyone on them. Go figure.

Anyway, here's a short summary of the area hikes:

Alex Knob -- Starts with a long climb to 1300m and only two viewpoints along the way. However, once you are at the top -- wow! You get unsurpassed views as you are right in front of the glacier. You can also see the ocean and all of the areas lakes. Lots of snow on top for me, but worth standing in it to see such great sights.

Robert's Point -- This is a fabulously fun trail and the one I would recommend if you can only do one. It's a bit of a puzzle to get past the stream and waterfall crossings without getting wet, plus you need to look around sometimes to find the trail. This only adds to the enjoyment though. Plus there are swing bridges and cool wooden walkways along a cliff face. This trail brings you very close to the glaciers. You can watch the people lined up on the ice.

Tartare Tunnels -- Pleasant walk there, but you will get very, very wet in the tunnels. You must bring flashlights and a change of shoes for the mine. Actually, maybe a complete change of clothing. I went in with all my rain gear.

Terraces -- The only reason to go on this short trail is to see glowworms, which are the larvae of fungus gnats. They make cool dripping little sticky webs and then glow at night to attract insects into them. Very neat! Go at night and try to use your flashlight as little as possible so your eyes adjust. You can find glowworms near the stream and also under uprooted trees.

Glacier Walk -- Not the guided one, but you can walk up to the glacier on your own. Near the end of the gravel path is a roped off section with a warning, but just walk past the ropes. Do be careful after this point because there are some tricky bits. After a ladder climb you have a stream crossing to get to the glacier. It is too dangerous to walk on the glacier without proper equipment, so you can only go up to it. The people on the guided walks don't walk any higher than the level of Robert's Point, so they really don't go very far. Some take a helicopter to a higher point and hike around from there.

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