Another free day! Yeah! There is so much to do in this tiny township. We had the choices of heli hiking, scenic helicopter flights, horse trekking, quad biking, skydiving, glacier valley walk, lake kayaking or a hot pools visit. We opted to just have a relaxing day and did some hiking and exploring of the area. There are 110 kms of walking tracks which pass through the forest and are dominated by the lofty peaks of Cook, Tasman, and La Perouse.  
The glacier is 5 km from Franz Joseph village . There is a barrier that prevents people from being caught in ice falls and river surges from the glacier so you can't get too close to it unless you tak the hell tour. In fact, in February 2007, 2 tourists were injured after being hit by falling ice when they ventured too close. We were told that people have been killed here, as well. We didn't want to spend the $400+ each to take the helicopter (the only way you can get onto the glacier). We figured we've seen enough ice in our time in Canada and Vic and I have seen glaciers in our travels in Europe). 

 We decided to take the shuttle (5 km drive) to the glacier and then do the Franz Josef Glacier Valley Walk, 1 1/2 hours, to view the glacier terminal face to say we at least saw the glacier. Again AMAZING SCENERY!  

 Fun facts about glaciers: