Advantages: Great weather can be combined with an icy experience on a glacier
Disadvantages: i live so far away!!

...The magnificent Franz Josef Glacier is widely regarded as the gem of New Zealand's West Coast Glaciers. Franz Josef Glacier has many tour groups that are able to give you the opportunity to experience the most spectacular glacier environment available to the general public anywhere in the world, offering a range of glacier hiking tours to suit all levels of fitness and ability. Franz Josef Glacier is located on the West cost of New Zealand's south island and is one of the most spectacular sights there is. This was the 1st glacier I have ever seen and what a sight it was. In order to get to it you have to take a 10minute walk to get a good view and another 20 minutes to get to the base! The public however cannot go onto the glacier without a guide. That is where the guide companies come in. I spent 2days in the little town... Read review

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Advantages: Challenging, amazing views, doing something you will never forget!
Disadvantages: Cold!

...Franz Josef glacier is on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Nowhere else in the world, at this latitude, have glaciers advanced so close to the sea. High snow fall on the tops of the mountains becomes compact and turns to ice, this ice is then forced down the mountain and is what causes the glacier to move. The glacier moves at least 1 metre a day, sometimes up to 5 metres a day! ***Franz Josef town*** Franz Josef is a small town and very 'touristy' - it wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the thousands of people coming to hike on the glaciers each week. It is a bit more expensive here than in the bigger towns so fill up the car with fuel and change any foreign money before you get here if possible. There are plenty of cafes, restaurants, pubs, hotels and backpackers to cater for the tourists. I stayed... Read review

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Advantages: freshen you up
Disadvantages: can cause choking

...Fox’s Glacier Mints I adore all things minty and I especially like to smell nice minty fresh breath. This is one thing in particular I take pride in and I can always be trusted to have a bag or a packet of mints in my handbag at all times. There was a special offer on in Tesco’s within the last couple of weeks for these Fox’s Glacier mints on a buy one get one free type option. Of course at only £1.25pence for these two fairly large bags of mints I snapped them up and was well pleased with such a great purchase. They were intended for the car’s glove compartment but I ended up having them mostly at the bottom of my handbag. They have the usual packaging for the famous Fox’ s Glacier mints and that consists of a large blue bag which houses around 70 mints individually wrapped inside blue paper wrappers. These mints can... Read review

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Advantages: Lovely to push, all terrain, padded, large, stylish
Disadvantages: Heavy and big when folded

...I've owned my Urban Detour Glacier for over a year now and apart from a couple of down sides, I've got to say I love it to bits. It is really nicely padded and so is extra comfortable for my daughter, it has the 5 point safety harness and reclines as much as you need it to, even flat so is suitable for a newborn if necessary. The handle is nice and high, I am quite tall and suffer from a bad back so this has really helped me lots. The shopping basket itself is not huge however there is a lot of space between the bottom of the seat and the basket and so you can get lots in it. The three wheels are big and are easily pumped up every few months with the pump that comes with it. The wheels make it easy to go up and down pumps, kerbs etc The raincover completely covers everything, and the hood is nice and big to give lots... Read review

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Advantages: Brilliant experience
Disadvantages: Sore if you fall

...Fox Glacier Guiding While in New Zealand on the tour I took with Connections (See my New Zealand review), I got the option of taking a tour on the Fox Glacier with Fox Glacier Guiding. **WHAT IS IT** Fox Glacier Guiding is a company, which will take you onto Fox Glacier in New Zealand and show you around a bit. You can experience some fantastic sights and see things you have never seen before. This company is privately owned and they are passionate about offering the best glacier experience. They guide fewer people on the glacier to give you a better experience. It is the only West Coast Glacier with views of Aoraki (Mt Cook) and Mt Tasman (from the heli-hike). Personally I didn't see these mountains as it was snowing while I was on the glacier so visibility wasn't great. The glacier is up to 350m in depth and has 35-45 metres... Read review

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Advantages: A Unique Experience
Disadvantages: None

...5 am in the morning. A morning that began around 10 pm the previous night. We arrived at the Glaciar Perito Moreno much later than anticipated, due to atrocious weather and an extremely luckily avoided certainly fateful car crash due to my ex-partner's excellent driving reflexes, when our car very nearly skidded off a turning and into a rather pronounced ditch (we were not even driving at 50 mph). Upon our arrival the place was deserted, there was no soul to be found. No guides, no guards, no humans, no other forms of animal life…. But an overwhelming and breathing ice presence! Although it was almost totally dark, we could perceive the distinct and noisy breath of the glacier and just about make out the shape of the face it presented before us. Our son was safely and warmly asleep in the car and it was not long... Read review

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Advantages: Unspoiled wilderness, fascinating sights and sites
Disadvantages: Persistent rainfall, persistent sandflies

...Ross down to Franz Joseph Glacier, a distance of about a hundred miles, one sees only about half-a-dozen hamlets, and the occasional sheep station. Moving south, the hilly pastures increasingly give way to forests, and the peaks loom ever higher up ahead. Somewhere along this road we enter the South West New Zealand World Heritage Area, which encompasses thousands of square miles of wilderness, stretching all the way down beyond Westland into Fiordland with its dramatic deep-water sounds. They will be covered in a separate review. Long before we reach them, there is still plenty to be seen in Westland, starting with the glaciers. ****************************************************** The Westland National Park, encompassing the Franz Joseph and Fox glaciers, lies in the shadow of Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain... Read review

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Advantages: Great opportunity!
Disadvantages: Tired!

...When I decided to go on my trip I never imagined that one of the best experiences I would have would entail hiking up an Ice Glacier! In the South Island of New Zealand you can find two Ice Glaciers Franz Joseph and Fox Glacier, these are both a site to be seen. These Glaciers are the most accessible in the world so when visiting you would be crazy to miss the chance to get up close and personal. On the way to the Glaciers stop off and see Lake Matheson often called the 'Mirror Lake' it really is amazing to see the snow capped mountains reflected in the shiny waters. Glacier Hikes: One of the best ways to explore the Glaciers is to go on a hike, I know this is not the most exciting prospect for some but if I can do then so can you, different options are available and you can chose between a half day or full day experience... Read review

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Advantages: Beautiful, Breathtaking,Beer... Middle Earth is truly awesome
Disadvantages: None really, if you aren't a mountaineer, take the chopper!

..., however very good facilities, lights, electric, hot showers and flush toilets, but you have to get the generator going which is in a hut out the back, and the boiler needs stoking to ensure hot water. We made a rota to keep the fires burning to keep the boiler a light all the time. It got really chilly at night. A trampers paradise, tramping is just the NZ's word for trekking, or if you require something a little more tough, then the West Makutukituki valley is the place for summer and winter mountaineering. I did everything, tramping, climbing and winter skills mountaineering on New Zealands largest Glacier, the Bonar, as well as sampling some of the best New Zealand beers and nightlife0 in Wanaka and Queenstown. TREKKING/TRAMPING You have to carry your own food, we took stuff you can just heat up with boiling water over... Read review

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Advantages: Nice mint, very refreshing
Disadvantages: -

...Having written ops recently on both Trebor Extra Strong mints and Tic-Tacs, I thought I'd now do one on Fox's Glacier Mints, another of my favourite mints. Fox's are quite a well-known name. They make everything from biscuits and cakes to sweets and mints. The Fox family first started producing sweets back in 1897, but they only started making Glacier Mints in 1918. The 'Fox' name is still going strong today, with other varieties of sweets now available, including 'Strawberry and Blackcurrant' and 'Liquorice and Aniseed'. For those of you who have never tried Glacier Mints, let me tell you a bit about them first. They are mint flavoured boiled sweets and are made with natural mint oils. Unlike a lot of peppermints, they do not contain artificial colours or artificial flavours. Glacier Mints come in an attractive, shiny blue... Read review

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