Franz Josef Town

A growing township which has developed to serve the interests of tourists visiting the famous Franz Joseph Glacier. There's a variety of accommodation and dining catering to all tastes and pockets, but don't arrive between October and April expecting to find a bed without any trouble.

Geologist and explorer, Julius von Haast, named the glacier after the emperor of Austria. The Maori name is much more poignant: Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere recalls the legend of the Maori woman who was so overcome with grief when her husband slipped to his death on the mountain that she shed a river of tears which froze as they tumbled to the valley. Tourists have been visiting the glacier for more than a hundred years. The Graham family, prominent in mountain guiding history in New Zealand, ran a hotel and organised excursions on the glacier early last century. The town is virtually perched on top of the rampant Waiho river which flows from the mouth of the Glacier and is added to by other tributaries. During a good storm it can threaten the town and has done away with several buildings.
The charming St James Church provides a quiet contemplative place in what is a bustling tourist town full of commercial sightseeing activities.

**Glacier Valley walk
**1.5 - 2 hours return 5 km from Franz Josef.

Drive south from the township and turn left onto the Glacier Access Road after crossing the Waiho River. The access road is unsealed. This walk gives you the exciting experience of viewing the contorted shapes of the ice up close. High up in the Southern Alps, layers of snow built up during winter compress into ice, become heavier and move down the mountain. You'll also see how the glacier has carved its way through rocks leaving impressive walls as the ice has retreated. The glacier which once swept out to sea has advanced and retreated many times. As you walk up the Waiho River bed to the terminal face, you can see on the sides of the valley lines of vegetation with bare rock below showing where the ice used to be. Many of the large rocks have striations created by ice scraping along their sides. Fine rock sediment produced by boulders grinding against one another below the glacier gives the river its milky colour. When you reach the snout of the glacier, you are strongly advised by DOC not to venture onto the ice, unless you are an experienced mountaineer with the proper equipment for ice climbing. Commercial companies offer guided walks.

**Sentinel Rock Walk
**20 minutes return From the glacier carpark you climb up through scrub forest to a lookout with a superb view of the river bed, the glacier and the mountains. Sentinel Rock is a good example of a roche moutonnée, ground into its 'sheep rock' shape by the movement of the glacier when it covered the area.

**Ice climbing
**Experienced mountaineers may make their own way onto the glacier, but the inexperienced should take a guided glacier trip, if you want the thrill of exploring the glacier.

FRANZ JOSEF AND FOX GLACIER THINGS TO DO CLICK HERE

Image Credit:Derek Smith and Maclean Barker Photographers