After a hard and chilly day of visiting the Franz Josef Glacier, warm up at the Blue Ice Restaurant in town.  It has it all.  There is a bar with a fast food and pizza menu on the top floor (Wednesday nights are Karaoke nights) and on the bottom floor an a [... The Blue Ice Restaurant – A Review]]]> Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

After a hard and chilly day of visiting the Franz Josef Glacier, warm up at the Blue Ice Restaurant in town.  It has it all.  There is a bar with a fast food and pizza menu on the top floor (Wednesday nights are Karaoke nights) and on the bottom floor an a la carte menu matched to some superb wines. 

I love a restaurant that is friendly and the service is good, but also leaves you alone to enjoy your meal and your company.  Somehow the Blue Ice achieved this even though there are not many eating establishments in the town and they were turning people away.  We were extremely lucky in that we took the last available table downstairs.  The latecomers were relegated to the porch or the bar upstairs.  I would suggest making a reservation, if you know when you will be going through. 

The prices were not cheap, but not too expensive.  If you paired every dish with the appropriate glass of wine, you will be paying for it.  I would say the restaurant was worth every penny.

Te Wahipounamu

New Zealand 1 Out of 3 (It’s a Start!)

UNESCO World Heritage Count

As we drove south on the West Coast, one of the main areas we headed to was Westland National Park where Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers are located.  These two sites are a must-see for many people who have not done [... Drive-through Majesty]]]>

Franz Josef Glacier

Te Wahipounamu

New Zealand 1 Out of 3 (It’s a Start!)

UNESCO World Heritage Count

As we drove south on the West Coast, one of the main areas we headed to was Westland National Park where Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers are located.  These two sites are a must-see for many people who have not done glaciers before. You can ice climb, ride helicopters, go on hikes, etc., but honestly I wasn’t that into it since living in Alaska we were really good at doing the glacier thing. 

A couple of nice things about this World Heritage site is that you don’t have to pay unless

I loved the ferns!

you want to engage in a guided activity; there is plenty to do here for absolutely free.  The other thing is that it is realatively easy to get to.  There are buses from all the major jump-offs, so if you are already as far as New Zealand to begin with, I wouldn’t miss this one.

There are tons of hiking paths and the scenery is absolutely stunning!