Finally, the much awaited Franz Josef Glacier hike. This was one thing I was totally psyched about. So here is the verdict. It was a disappointment to it's fullest. Now that I have some bases to compare the hike with (Tongariro Crossing), I can certainly say that I was disappointed at the tour that wasn't all the hype they make it. Tongariro Crossing was by far the best.
It cost me $130 to hike Franz Josef Glacier ($10 discount of YHA card), whereas Tongariro Crossing cost me $100. Franz Josef we hiked upto about 180 meters (roughly 550 ft.) as opposed to Tongariro Crossing (2000 meters, 6600 ft.). It took about 8.5 hours to do Tongariro Crossing which was 18 kilometers long. Franz Josef wasn't even remotely close to it.
Ofcourse, one would say they're totally different kinds of hikes, one is a glacier (Franz Josef) and the other one is a volcanic mountain (Tongariro Crossing). The views at Tongariro Crossing were breathtaking. The views at Franz Josef weren't bad, but they weren't incredible. I guess Franz Josef was just pretty much about glaciers.
The best thing that happened at Franz Josef Glacier hike was meeting Frederico (Fred) Miranda from Brazil. We had a lot of fun making fun of the guide and just cracking jokes at people. Christian and Catherine we also on the same glacier hike. We meet them when we were kayaking in Abel Tasman Natiional Park on Gin's birthday.
After the hike, we decided to meet at a local bar (Blue Ice Cafe). We hungout until 2am. It was a lot of fun talking and just having a few beers. It was also cool meeting new people and making new friends around the world.
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