Fox and Franz West Coast trip

Middle of the day the bus rolled up and surprisingly the bus driver was a real happy and a chilled out guy. We were all happy that he got on with all the students and let us eat on his little bus. The bus was a small single axel mini-bus which was good as a big bus is slow and clumsy. There was a 5-6 hour trip so a big bus would have added an extra 30-60 minutes. We visited and viewed many beautiful sights on our way to the Glaciers such as the little town of Wanaka, famous for Lake Wanaka and two man ski fields Treble Cone and Cardrona. We made our way up the West Coast passing Lake Hawea. We went to a little café diner in the region of Matarora where we had a warm welcome by the owners who prepared a homemade soup and a good dose of mash, pie and yams. While we waited for our meal we looked around the place and noticed that they owned a very substantial collection of old number plates from many different countries all over the world. After our meal we made our way towards our final stop, the very small town of Franz Josef and its Glacier.

The next morning we had our helicopter ride, the groups were split into four people per group. The groups were staggered at different times and we had one of the later times at 10am. We were taken out to the Fox and Franz Helicopter services base in a little van and given instructions on how to safely enter and exit the vehicle. The pilot was friendly and easy to talk to, he dipped and chased the shammys around and gave people who have never been heli shooting before a good experience into what it is like. The pilot set down the helicopter on a nice snowy mound that over looked the Glacier and the neighbouring mountains. The snow was fresh powder and some places were knee deep.  The pilot took photos of us and we had a snow fight, on the way back the pilot showed us big holes in the Glacier and all the cracks that have been formed over a couple of years.

After we had lunch we got ready for our Glacier walk up the breath taking Franz Josef Glacier and the guides gave us our crampons and other equipment before they took us up to the bottom of the Glacier. On the Glacier walk we had two very well knowledgeable guides Dan and Roger, who took ups up to the where the ice starts then showed us how to attach the crampons to our shoes. We all got given poles to stab into the ice and help stabilise us. They took us to some crazy looking crevasses and gaps where we could walk between.  When we got back to Franz we got something to eat then got on the bus and headed to Fox.

When we got to Fox we went to our night’s stay named Ivory Towers, it was actually a well set out backpackers that was in good condition. They had a good hot pot of soup waiting for our arrival which was very thoughtful of them. That night’s dinner we went to the Speight’s Ale House, we had a choice of a very delicious range of food. The food far exceeded our expectations. We were able to go to the supermarket after dinner and buy some food for the next day.

We had the Kayak the next day at Mapourika with Glacier Country Kayaks. The day was clear and the water was perfectly glass flat, the two guides split our class into two groups, our group guide was Ben who had a wide range or knowledge, he is an acting Department of Conservation (DOC) ranger which has helped him know more of the environment. Ben was very easy to get along with and had a really cool personality.

When we finished the Kayak everyone got on the bus and wanted to get on the road and get home so we got comfortable and prepared for the 6 hour road trip home. Overall the trip was awesome and would recommend any of these activities to whoever is interested. If in the price budget the helicopter ride was the most enjoyable and is highly recommended.

For more information on this trip and these activities visit:
http://trevaskisadventures.blogspot.co.nz/p/west-coast-trip.html