fox or franz josef glacier?
 

I only have budget to walk on one glacier. which one shld i choose? i don't wish to spend too much so i am deciding between half day or full day hike.how strenuous is a full day hike? i am keen to see more of the glacier but is not willing to pay for heli-hike. My concern is whether my body can take 5-6 hrs of hiking on glacier. I come from a topical country which does not have 4 seasons. Do you really see much more on the full day hike? If i go with franz josef glacier, which company shld i hike with - the guiding company or franz josef glacier co.? I noticed franz josef co. charge more for the same hike.<BR>

We hiked with Fox Glacier Guides on the half-day walk. I think that should be sufficient for most folks. I also don't think that there is going to be much difference between what you will see on either glacier. We visited both, but it was raining on the days we were at Franz Josef, hence the choice of hiking on Fox. You won't be on the glacier for that many hours, much of the hiking is in the ascent to, and descent from, the glacier. I would look to see the quality of the equipment supplied. Fox Glacier Guides provided old hobnailed boots, small instep crampons, and homemade alpenstocks. I wished that we would have had better boots and crampons, although the ones supplied worked OK. One tip I wish I had received - wear heavy clothing, even if the temperatures are high. Some of us wore shorts and t-shirts, then received skin abrasions when we slipped and fell on the rough ice.

I agree that it probably doesn't really matter which glacier you go to. The folks at Franz Josef told us that it was better than Fox because it was steeper and had more ice formations. But they're probably more than a little biased.<BR><BR>I also agree that the half day is enough. I got pretty bored up there; part of the problem was that my tour company, Franz Josef Glacier (I think that's the name), provided essentially none of the interesting information/funny banter you'd expect on a tour (e.g., what makes the glaciers unique, how they work, how they've affected the terrain and wildlife, whether walking around on them is good for the environment). We basically spent about 3-4 hours walking around the glacier, which was pretty much like walking around on a lot of snow for 3-4 hours. (To their credit, their equipment was excellent.)<BR><BR>I actually got a much more informative and scenic tour the next morning from Wayne at Ferg's Kayaks, which took us paddling at a leisurely pace on a nearby lake, which offered a perfect reflection of the nearby, panoramic mountain- and glacierscape. He even took digital photos of me and my wife on the kayaks and gave us a CD of the photos at no extra cost. I learned a lot; my wife and I both think it was one of the highlights of our trip to NZ.

Thanks for the advice! Appreciate it much. Where can i find Ferg's Kayaks? Are they based at Franz Josef glacier?

Ferg's Kayaks is located on Lake Mapourika, about 10km north of Franz Josef.