doddling around: Franz Josef

Kiwi Morning

We were up and ready to see kiwi before the kiwis were ready for us, so we went to breakfast.

Everything in Franz Josef is very walkable; we looked at a few menus as we walked past and chose Full of Beans, cafe and restaurant. The breakfast portions were generous and their cappuccinos were fantastic.

We got to the Wildlife Centre after breakfast around 10 and went straight to the nocturnal room. After a minute to let my eyes adjust, I spotted one! He came right up close and I waved Mike over to look. I wandered off to find more but Mike says that when he bent down to look, this guy pecked at him through the glass. Did you know kiwis are the only bird with nostrils at the end of their beak?

I found the other guy. He was more actively foraging for food and pecking around in the dirt. They look like fluffy blobs with a long, skinny stick poking out. I could draw you a picture, since I couldn't take photos, but here's a monument instead:

A docent came through and I asked how many were in there. Two. So I found em both! Done.

Heli-hike Disappointment

We got changed and headed to Glacier Guides to check in for our 11:25 helicopter tour but were immediately told that the weather, though lovely and warm, was incompatible with flights because of a huge, low cloud that was shrouding the glacier and making it impossible for choppers to fly into, see, or land. All their morning helicopter tours were cancelled. The guys behind us in line were checking in early for their noon tour and were told that they might be cancelled, too. At the desk, we discussed options and booked into the 9:30 am for tomorrow. One nice thing about this service is that they will give you a full refund if the tour is cancelled. If tomorrow morning doesn't work out, we get our money back and can hit the road to Queenstown early.

Valley Walk

We got changed again, drove a short distance, and did the Glacier Valley Walk.

Parked at the P on the far right and did the Valley Walk (labeled as A)

It was an easy walk, but my knee is not 100% yet, so we went slowly. The landscape is fascinating; it's neat going through lush rainforest, a river, and mounds of rocks and gravel in the same hike. The reward is fine, not necessarily worth the 1.5 hr commitment, round-trip, unless you have nothing else to do. We walked approximately 5 km to look at the front of a glacier from a distance. If I wasn't so convinced that tomorrow's heli-hike would be cancelled, we probably wouldn't have done it. I was determined to get in some sort of glacier time!

Along the Waiho River bed

Named after the Emperor of Austria-Hungary by a Julius von Haast, geologist, explorer, suck-up

We got to 750 m from the glacier. A ranger checks conditions every morning to see if they should move the day's location.

After the hike, we drove home and munched on some snacks we have in the grab bag that has accumulated in the car, rather than going for another meal.

Glacier Hot Pools

The Glacier Hot Pools share an office with Glacier Guides, so we were back there to get into the pools. It was the same desk agent who had rescheduled us for tomorrow's heli-hike. Mike had the bright idea to ask if there would be any benefit to us showing up extra early tomorrow and the girls behind the desk said they could put us in the waiting list for the earlier hikes and they'd call us if anyone cancelled.

If you're planning to do the heli-hike, since conditions are often adverse, I'd say you should try to schedule a few days in town so you have more opportunities to catch a tour. And try to schedule as early in the day as possible so you can get on standby for the rest of the day's tours, if necessary.

We headed into the pools which are in the building behind the office. We got a discount because of the Glacier Guides booking, so that's nice. We opted to upgrade to a private pool and are pretty glad we did. The main/common pools are gorgeous and serene, but with the private pool you also get your own changing room, bathroom, shower facilities, and you don't have to pay $5 for a towel or $2 for a locker. (Actually, since we didn't know the towels would be included, we brought towels from the motel, and that's what I'd advise anyone else do because $5 to rent a towel is absurd.)

This facility is fantastic and I would definitely recommend it to anyone coming out here who can get the discount with their tour company. It was so nice to have relaxation with absolutely zero pressure or rush. It's so peaceful and really well designed. Our private pool was partially covered, and hidden from other pools in its own fenced-in grove of rainforest.

Private pool upgrade gets you 45 minutes in a private pool and then unlimited access to the main pools.

If you do anything with Glacier Guides, definitely utilize the free access to the hot pools main area and consider upgrading to a private pool for $41 (for two people); but if you aren't getting the discount, I don't think the private pool is worth $95 (for two people), and Mike doesn't think the common pools are worth $28 (per person).

Dinner

Back to the motel again to change and wash the swimsuits. When we got to our room, Mike saw an e-mail from Glacier Guides; two people canceled for tomorrow morning's 8:30 heli-hike, so we can get our day going earlier (and on the road to Queenstown)!

After a little rest and fighting with the terrible wi-fi, we got out again for dinner - Snakebite, a fusion place and the most highly rated restaurant in town.