 |
| The helipad up the glacier. |
My father looked like a tiny dot on the wide icy
landscape as I watched him from atop the Franz Josef Glacier. Having walked
briefly, he had opted out of our two hour hike to these breathtaking ice capped
mountains on the West Coast of Southern New Zealand, after a warning from his
knees. However, for him, the adventure lay in keeping himself warm during those
two hours apart from the thriller of a helicopter ride, which had landed us to
a safe ‘guided’ spot on the glacier before we began the trek.
Franz Josef is a sleepy little town at the base of a
12km long glacier by the same name, situated in New Zealand’s South Island.
With a handful of motels and restaurants, this lesser known tourist destination
offers some exciting glacier adventure, mainly a 15 minute helicopter ride
which drops one amidst the lofty peaks of the glacier followed by a short
hiking tour up the mountains.
 |
| Our hiking group. |
“Here’s my bottle of water. Keep sipping on it and
keep moving. Don’t stand still,” instructed Sam – our guide from Darjeeling –
to my father after learning about his decision to stay back. His words ran
through my head as I tried to magnify the little black dot on the white canvas
through my camera lens. “Can you see him?” one of my six fellow hikers asked,
waving out hard to the lone adventurer. I waved out too while casting a glance
at the surreal beauty of the glacier. It was one of the many picture-perfect
frames that New Zealand is made up of. A cover of glittering blue on a colony
of small ice boxes, the misty ice laden mountain tips, the marvellous
formations of rock like ice by the architect above... and moreover, the exhilarating
feeling of the sky appearing to be just at an arm’s distance.
As my German friend and I gazed at the scenery, Sam
called out to turn and look on the other side. It was an avalanche! A mini one
though, for viewing purposes rather than a catastrophe. Nevertheless, it was a
sign to return.
“You guys are a quiet lot. No questions at all,” our
guide cum axeman complained. He had paved the way for our last leg of the trek.
We climbed down, carefully placing our pair of crampons in the spaces dug up by
Sam. Not relying on us to ask for any information, he shared how these glaciers
have retreated rapidly in the last five years and if they continue to at a
similar rate, there would be no glaciers in the next 50 years.
 |
| The lone adventurer amidst the icy landscape. |
I could see dad waving at us frantically now. A drop
of sweat trickled down my forehead. The rigorous walk up the glacier had indeed
overpowered the freezing weather and made us warmer. “Are you cold? What did you
do all this while?” I enquired as soon as we approached dad. “I prayed. It feels
so close to God here,” he answered with a serene smile.
Coming closest to nature is coming closest to the
maker, I fancied as we hopped on to the chopper to take us back to civilisation.
Comments