I was absolutely devistated today. We headed down to the glacier center, got kitted out with all our waterproof gear and boots and gloves, cramed onto the bus, journeyed to the bottom of the glacier, and then we were told that a group that had went ahead of us had deemed it unsafe and the trip was cancelled. It had been raining all through the night and even as I type it hasn't stopped. The glacier has loads of streams and stuff around it that need to be crossed so obviously this isnt possible in heavy rain. The now unhappy and very wet busload cramed back onto the bus and were taken back to the center.
Thankfully we were fully refunded. I would be tempted to stay in Franz Josef a little bit longer to try and do the hike another day but apparently the weather is set to be heavy rain for the next few days, so I'm not going to be able to do it. Im really gutted; I had been looking forward to doing this since I came to New Zealand. Looking on the brightside, I did get to walk through some really cool rainforest and see some impressive waterfalls at the bottom of the glacier. I also now have even more of a reason to come back to New Zealand.
Instead of hiking, me and my Irish pals headed over to the Glacier Hot Pools, right across the road from my hostel. I walked across in my swimming shorts and a tshirt, with no shoes. It killed my feet so much and I got absolutley drenched. The pools were basically outdoor heated swimming pools. There were 36, 38 and 40 degrees pools, with canopies over the top so that the rain didnt get in and flood it. The next 3 hours more or less we just spent chilling out in the pools. They were very very relaxing and nice after the freezing rain. Every so often I would have to get out and stand in the rain to cool down though, but it made getting back into the warm water so much better.
After killing most of the afternoon in the pools, we walked back across the road to our hostel and decided to jump in the free outdoor hot tub there. It was pretty nice, it had jets and stuff.
Tonight we've just been sitting in the bar thats next to the hostel. It's still chucking it down with rain, I cant wait to get out of this dreary place! I decided that since I had such a relaxing day so far I couldnt be bothered to make tea, so I ordered a nice burger from the bar.
Tomorrow our bus leaves at half 7 for Wanaka. It's my last stop before Queenstown (and before my bungy jump and canyon swing). Im almost as far south as I'll be traveling, its crazy how much of the country I've seen already.
