Franz Josef Glacier
From Queenstown.net.nz
The Franz Josef is a glacier located in Westland National Park on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Together with the Fox Glacier 20 km to the south, it is unique in the fact that it descends from the Southern Alps to just 200 metres above sea level amidst the greenery and lushness of a temperate rainforest.
The area surrounding the two glaciers is designated a World Heritage Site. The river emerging from the glacier terminal of Franz Josef is known as the Waiho.
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[edit] Naming
It was named after emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria by the German explorer, Julius von Haast in 1865. The Māori name for the glacier is Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere — the tears of Hinehukatere — arising from a legend: Hinehukatere loved climbing in the mountains and persuaded her lover, Tawe, to climb with her. An avalanche swept Tawe from the peaks to his death. Hinehukatere was broken hearted and her many, many tears froze to form the glacier.
[edit] Growth and retreat
The glacier is currently 12 km long and terminates 19 km from the Tasman Sea. It exhibits a cyclic pattern of advance and retreat, driven by differences between the volume of meltwater at the foot of the glacier and volume of snowfall feeding the névé.
Having retreated several kilometres between the 1940s and 1980s, the glacier entered an advancing phase in 1984 and at times has advanced at the phenomenal (by glacial standards) rate of 70 cm a day. The flow rate is about 10 times that of typical glaciers. Over the longer term, the glacier has retreated since the last ice age, and it is believed that it extended into the sea some 10,000 to 15,000 years ago.
This cyclic behaviour is well illustrated by a postage stamp issued in 1946, depicting the view from St James Anglican Church. The church was built in 1931, with a panoramic altar window to take advantage of its location. By 1954, the glacier had disappeared from view from the church, but it reappeared in 1997.
[edit] Tourism
The glacier area is one of the main tourist attractions of the West Coast. Guided and unguided walks up to and onto the glacier are possible. The latter require some specialised equipment, namely ice axes and crampons to latch onto a sturdy boot.
As the walking part of any tour up to the glacier takes a long time, and ends at the first icefall (a sort of frozen waterfall, showing a natural dip of the land underneath), numerous tourist book helicopter tours from one of the several local airlines, which usually drop their guests between the first and second icefall, for a guided 1-2 hour walk through the broken ground atop the glacier. Though the glacial landscape changes almost daily with the glaciers unusually fast flow, and some walks include passages through ice tunnels, they are still considered quite safe and only somewhat strenous.
[edit] Gallery
 Photo from the mountainside. |
 Tour group hiking on the glacier. |
 Crevasses from above the glacier. |
 Cracks & seracs on the glacier. |
 Aerial photo of the extents. |
 Glacier Neve and icefall. |
[edit] Visiting Franz Josef
Franz Josef is a tourist destination. Its prime reason for being is to serve tourists visiting the Franz Josef Glacier. Located in Westland it lies at the foot of the western slopes of Mount Cook and is in the middle of the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
[edit] Get in
[edit] By car
[edit] By bus
Tour buses generally make Franz Josef one of their stops, either for the night or at least a lunch break.
[edit] By air
Frans Josef Airport is really only suitable for light aircraft. Mind you, Mount Cook Airport is just on the other of the mountains, and a scenic flightseeing trip can often be arranged at short notice.
[edit] Get around
While you can take your car to the car park at the foot of the glacier, you will need to get out and walk to the terminal face, as the Glacier is receding at present. There are a number of walking tracks in the glacier valley. Please take heed of the warning signs as you get close to the glacier terminal face.
If you prefer to do things the easy way, try flightseeing, either in a plane or helicopter.
[edit] See
- Franz Josef Glacier
[edit] Do
[edit] Visit the Glacier
- Take an unguided trip.
- Take a guided trip.
- Take a helicopter flight.
[edit] Whitewater Rafting
- Whataroa & Perth Rivers. 20 minutes north of Franz Josef are two of the best one-day whitewater rafting runs anywhere on the planet. Total wilderness experience, awesome Class IV & V rapids, and stunning scenery. Accessible by helicopter only. Rivers Wild [1] 0800-GO-WILD (in NZ) or +64-21-748-371 (overseas)
[edit] Buy
[edit] Eat
[edit] Drink
[edit] Sleep
Sleep at the high quality Franz Josef YHA Youth Hostel. Cheap, good, looks great, great views. See info at the NZ YHA site: http://www.yha.org.nz/ Recommended.
[edit] Get out
Just down the road is Fox Glacier. The Fox Glacier is the biggest of the West Coast glaciers and more accessible of the two.The Fox Glacier is also currently advancing.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- West Coast Glaciers (from New Zealand Tourism)
- Glaciers of New Zealand (from the United States Geological Survey)
[edit] References
This article uses material from Wikipedia, "Franz Josef Glacier" and Wikitravel, "Franz Josef"
Any material derived from Wikitravel articles is released under the Creative Commons Attribution share alike licence
Glenorchy Air provides scenic flights to Franz Josef Glacier from Queenstown.
