4-Wheeling In the Cook Islands

The bananas in front of the radiator were green when we started........ found out later that this was the box lunch that was included with the tour hahahahhaha

My tour guide is keeping his eyes on what they call roads lol

Today I'm in Rarotonga (which is the largest of the 15 Cook Islands in the South Pacific....look it up on the map, it is in the middle of nowhere lol  4500 kms south of Hawaii ) Its your typical paradise in this part of the world.... surrounded by a lagoon, snow white beaches, great reefs for snorkeling etc. But i wanted to explore the 26 square miles by truck and take on its forbidding terrain and because of the lack of infrastructure and dense jungle, it was great for 4-Wheeling. So i get it set up through my hotel and my driver was great. Besides seeing  parts of this island i would have never seen, learned lots about the history of the Polynesian culture and its people

B

Scaling Franz Joseph Glacier

The road into Tai Poutini and as you can see besides having glaciers it is part of a dense rainforest

Taking my time (lol) through this crevasse

As i roll into the Tai Poutini National Park on the South Island of New Zealand, i am glad the took the advice (KeyTip) of the fine folks in Auckland who said to book ahead a room and tour pass to
scale Franz Joseph Glacier. 

(who was the Emperor of Austria and named by German Julius Von Haast who explored these areas). The town swells from the 330 inhabitants to over 2,700 tourists per day, who like me are looking to take on this unique challenge. So the next day i go for my 30min lesson plus get fitted for crampons, ice axes, outer wear etc, but had noticed that some of the other approx. 50 adventurists were dressed like it was an amusement ride lol (dress shoes, shirt/tie, some with baby strollers hahaha) So as I'm sitting

You need to respect the elements

there shaking my head in disbelieve, one of the guides came over and assured me, mate!!....the walk to the glacier tells us who is going to the top. So it must of been a 30-40 min trek through ravines, dried up river beds, rock and so on ( because of Global warming the glacier has receded 5km and by year 2100 will lose 35% of its mass) then we finally get to the edge and my quest begins with about a core group of ten, who as my guide did say reached the beginning of the ice mass without incident and looked fit enough to go vertical. At first your cautious, but because Franz Joseph sits amidst a rainforest and the ice is considered soft....after awhile your thinking your Spiderman and scaling with confidence lol. I would say it took us collectively  5-6 hours to go as high and return as safety regulations would allow, but well worth the experience for anyone who is in this part of the world with its amazing geography and the challenges it presents.

Saluting Franz Joseph Glacier in presenting me with this great challenge

Returned to the basecamp and always safety first for any adventure