To say that the village of Franz Josef attracts tourists purely on the basis of visiting it’s namesake, the Franz Josef glacier, would be no overstatement. A scattering of restaurants and a single supermarket make up the totality of the local amenities, leaving little in the way of activities or entertainment. Still, one of New Zealand’s most famous natural phenomena, a day spent hiking the glacier is a must-do by any backpackers standards. For this reason we went to great lengths to arrange a visit, forking out an additional $80 for transport and taking a 6 and a half hour detour from our otherwise logical route.
Unfortunately, visiting New Zealand’s notoriously tempestuous West Coast in the depths of winter is the definition of a gamble. As we journeyed across country towards the rainforest region it seemed every mile accelerated the sky’s transition from blue to grey. Not a good sign. By the time we reached the village of Franz Josef any suggestion of sunshine had completely faded, and so had our hopes of hiking the glacier. Within an hour of our arrival the rain had begun and, as I’m sure you’ve gathered by now, it refused to abate for the entire duration of our stay. Due to rapid ice-melt the glacier is now only accessible by helicopter, meaning optimal visibility, wind and weather conditions are essential. So despite our best efforts, we were unable to hike the glacier, and were faced instead with the prospect of two very long and uneventful days in Franz Josef.
Our timing may have been less than ideal weather wise, but it appeared that in terms of our hostel at least, it was pretty much perfect. Not only were we informed that we would be the first to test out the brand new mattresses that had just been delivered, we also had the dorm totally to ourselves for two of our three nights stay. With fast and free unlimited wifi, at least we could catch up on Netflix and spend a few days relaxing in peace. As well as the extra time on our hands, not doing the hike left us $325 better off, so we decided to treat ourselves to a rare meal out (and we definitely did NOT order pasta!)
As you can deduce from this decidedly short summary of our time in Franz Josef, I wasn’t exaggerating when I said that there is nothing to do in the town besides visit the glacier. Of course, taking into account the extra money and time we had invested in travelling to Franz Josef, the outcome was deeply disappointing, but not totally unexpected. After all, they don’t call it a rainforest for nothing! Tails between our legs we headed back to Wanaka, hoping we would have better luck with the remaining activities we had planned.
This Earth We Call Home 