A Long Way To Go

I stopped over in Franz Josef on my Wee West Coast adventure for two nights.

I decided to do the half-day trek on the Franz Josef Glacier. According to the guides it would take the best part of a week plus serious climbing skills to make it to the top of the glacier. Deceptive isn't it!

The Maori name for the glacier is Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere ('The tears of Hinehukatere'), which orginiates from a local legend:

A local Maori girl called Hinehukatere loved climbing in the mountains and persuaded her young lover, Wawe, to climb with her. Wawe was a less experienced climber than Hinehukatere but followed her to the mountains because he loved her. Suddenly an avalanche swept Wawe from the peaks to fall to his death. Hinehukatere was broken hearted and her many, many tears flowed down the mountain and froze to form the glacier.