The weather has been on our side – knock on wood. As we ended our hike in Abel Tasman, it began to pour and continued to drench the tent campers all night. We hid in Squeak all warm and cozy till the morning – as we planned to even without the rain.

Now, in Franz Josef village, the sun chased any clouds away and we headed up the glacier that was named after the Austrian emperor whose white beard it imitated.

It’s a strange feeling hiking up a glacier. Ice stairs have been carved for your crampon wrapped boots. Climbing ropes act as make-shift and loose railings. You are part of a line of 7 folks venturing up these stairs together, some right behind the other, others leaving a few steps leeway. Four ladder bridges cross crevasses that seem too far down to look.

The sun is warm, so no one wears their jackets, but there is a light wind coming across the glacier that is ice cool and refreshing just enough that you forget the sunburn developing on your face.

Apparently, the glacier is advancing, unlike most in the world. We heard 2.5 months ago it was 30 meters shorter than it is now. The guides are constantly maintaining, with a large ice axe, the stairs and walkways and ropes. One guide mentioned that each stairway up the face lasts between 3 and 30 days, and then they carve out a new one. We could see the remnants of melting staircases across a crevasse on the left and then another on the right – a little spooky. When will the staircase we’re standing on now be deemed unusable?

 We went with Franz Josef Glacier Guides, which we found very professional and fun.