The forecast was for strong westerlies and 25 millimetres of rain PER HOUR. It wasn’t enough to stop us from exploring Franz Josef glacier. It was wet, wet, wet but we were still awed by walking on ice, slipping through crevices and magic of hiking in such a different element. Both Franz Josef and Fox glaciers defy current climate change patterns: they have grown in the past year. Franz Josef moves at a rate of 5 metres per day in the middle section, 30 centimetres at the base. These New Ziwi glaciers are two of the world’s most unique glaciers in that ice intermingles with forest at the base. The only other glacier to exist in such a landscape is in Argentina.

If Drew and I were professional photographers, our photos would have turned out like this.