Franz Josef field trip report from Alice Ridgen

On Tuesday 7th of May 2019, the Year 13 Geography class left Christchurch and headed for the mighty Franz Josef to study the natural hazards for our assessment. We stopped into the big smoke of Hokitika and stopped off at Porkies for dinner. With Mrs Leech's tunes blasting we continued our way to Franz Josef arriving at 10 that night. On Wednesday morning half of the class decided to check out the Franz Josef glacier, so took to the air and grabbed a helicopter ride. It was amazing to get a closer look at the glacier and see how much it has retreated over the years. That afternoon we went on a small walk up Canavans Knob to get a better look at the Waiho River, which is one of the major hazards that the Franz Josef village faces. We also looked on the south side of the Waiho River where there had recently been flooding that damaged a lot of the land and property. This gave us all an insight into how destructive the Waiho River is and what can occur when it floods. Thursday morning we were all dragged out of bed to do the Callery Gorge walk and despite the pouring rain, the walk was very enjoyable and interesting. We got to see the water storage tanks that provide Franz Josef with all of its fresh water and the damage and impact it could cause if they were to break. We also were able to see the Callery River in full flood and it gave the class an understanding of how fast it can flow and the power of it. The class had the opportunity to survey and interview  tourists, locals to Franz and members from the Westland District Council to get different perspectives on the hazards. As we left Franz on the Friday morning, everyone was very tired, but that didn't stop the beats pumping the whole way back, and we could always rely on Mrs Passchier to be out of time and off-key!

Despite the brutal West Coast weather that was thrown upon us, the Geography trip to Franz Josef was one full of laughs, endless card games, and the odd power cut, and it was great to get out and see what we had been learning in class for ourselves.

Alice Ridgen