River of Ice at Franz Josef

Much to our surprise our first sight of the Franz Josef Glacier was completely different to that at Fox Glacier. It looked much more like a river of ice, and in many ways was more scenically beautiful than Fox Glacier.

It forms a narrow wedge between the mountains creating a blue tinge in the ice. We did not go right up to the face, because we heard a few days ago that there was no walking on the ice as it is regarded as being too dangerous.

Blue Ice.

The Franz Josef is a 12 km (7.5 miles) long glacier that terminates 19 km (12 miles) from the Tasman Sea. It is located in Westland Tai Poutini National Park on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.

Together with the Fox Glacier 20 km (12 miles) to the south, it is unique in descending from the Southern Alps to less than 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level.

The first European description of one of the west-coast glaciers (thought to be Franz Josef) was made from the steam ship Mary Louisa in 1859. The glacier was later named after Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria by the German explorer, Julius von Haast in 1865.

The glacier was still advancing until 2008, but since then it has entered a very rapid phase of retreat. As is the case for most other New Zealand glaciers on the eastern side of the southern alps, the shrinking process is attributed to global warming.

In my opinion, everyone who visits the South Island of New Zealand should put these 2 Glaciers on their must visit list! Having said that, there are many other fantastic attractions in NZ that keep us coming back each year!