Day 3 on South Island - on Top of Franz Joseph!

Although we had been a bit uncertain about the weather last night since it was quite rainy, today was pretty nice, with just some clouds, so luckily we were able to do the helicpoter ride to the glacier. What an amazing day! The short flight up was very cool - getting to see the around the glacier from the helicopter. -Video Clip- Then it landed on it's square, flat little ice landing pad, and we all hopped out. We had been given special boots and socks (Amy had to wear 3 pairs in order for the smallest boots to fit her!) and were told to just keep walking away from the helicopter once we disembarked so as not to hang around it and lose a limb or anything. Our hunky, I mean helpful, guide, Tim, met us up there, and after getting us all sorted with these little ice-grip things that attached to the bottom of our boots, we were off! The truth is that we didn't go on a massive hike, but rather went around and through the area nearby where we were left off. Despite the fact that we didn't go far, each corner that we turned we saw new ice formations that were just breathtakingly beautiful. Tim told us all sorts of facts about glaciers, and what makes Franz Joseph and Fox glaciers different from most other glaciers in the world (ask Amy to tell you the synopsis). He then decided to take us through some tight little crevaces - I think in part for Amy's sake as she had stated earlier that she was a bit clostrophobic - I think he wanted her to feel that she had conquered that fear - which, by the way, she did. He used his ice pick to give us a few makeshift steps and then we basically had to shimmy ourselves up and through this little opening. It was very cool (literally and figuratively). The experience was truly awesome.
When we came down from the glacier we got a bit of lunch at Beaches in Franz Joseph centre, and then got into the car to start heading back up the coast to Punakaiki. We decided shortly out of Franz Joseph that Amy should take a turn at driving (to round out her kiwi experience), and about 4 minutes later decided that I should perhaps drive the rest of the way. All joking aside, Amy really did well, I was just a bit afraid that she was going to drive us off of the road whenever a car was coming toward us due to her overcompensating around wanting to make sure we didn't crash into the oncoming car. I appreciated that desire, but also didn't want to end up going into a ditch or off of a cliff, in that attempt. We were both glad that Amy did take a turn at driving though, as it added to our list of exciting adventures!
We got up to Punakaiki (also known as the Pancakes Rock area) and had a quiet night at our hotel, the Rocks, which sat right on the beach. We had a nice little dinner there and later went to sleep to the sound of the waves crashing. Slideshow