Franz Josef Glacier

Today's the day ................... for the tears of the Avalanche Girl*

I'm afraid this picture is not of the best quality because it was a day of swirling mists up where it was taken. All I can say is that to be there and see the glacier with your own two eyes was a truly uplifting experience.

If you look at it closely, you can just about make out one of the helicopters that were taking people to land on top of the actual glacier. It just looks like a tiny fly against the mass of ice.

Eighteen thousand years ago, the Franz Josef Glacier extended to the sea. Today the terminal face lies 19km from the shore. A warming climate has caused this retreat. Even within the short time since the first Europeans visited, the glacier has shrunk considerably and it's a process that is likely to continue into the foreseeable future ...............



*Hine Hukatere (Maori meaning the Avalanche Girl ) was an adventurous Maori woman who loved mountaineering above all activities. Her lover Tawe was not as fond of it as his sweetheart but Hine's powers of persuasion were strong and Tawe often climbed with her in the mountains. On one such adventure, Tawe slipped at the head of this valley and plunged to his death. Hine's tears were so many that they flooded the valley and were frozen by the Gods as a memorial to her grief.