Franz Josef is a small town on the south island of New Zealand. It’s situated in the Westland National park. Surrounded by mountains and glaciers it’s a beautiful part of the country.

So using here as a base there’s plenty to see and do. So many rainforests, waterfalls and lakes to explore. Plenty of hikes for all abilities.

We left Kaikoura on the East coast and caught the cross country train. (This was supposed to be one of the best train journeys ever, but the weather wasn’t on our side) We arrived by hire car to our accommodation for the night. The place was surrounded in fog and it wasn’t until the morning that we woke to an amazing sight of mountains behind us.

We chose to hike up to see the Franz Josef Glacier. The hike takes about an hour and a half to walk up to it and follows the Waiho river. The views along the way were spectacular even though we still had a fare bit of fog hanging around.

If you want to get close to the glacier you have to get a guided walk, as they can be dangerous. But still seeing the glacier from a distance is definitely worth it.

The next day we decided to do a hike through the rainforest to a lake called Lake Wombat. This short hike was so much fun walking through the lush overgrowth. We saw so many types of plants along the way, even some bright blue mushrooms. The hike ends at the small enclosed lake before heading back the same way.

We left the national park and drove north along the coast to Punakaiki, our next destination.