Photo: Francesco Ungaro / PexelsFranz Josef, officially Franz Josef / Waiau, is a glacier township in Westland Tai Poutini National Park, the busy little base for trips up to Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere a few kilometres up the valley. That Māori name means the tears of Hine Hukatere, whose grief for a lover swept away in an avalanche was frozen by Rangi the sky father to form the ice. Julius von Haast named the glacier after the Austrian emperor in 1865, and today the village runs on guided ice walks, scenic flights and the steady traffic of the Coast road.
Franz Josef, officially Franz Josef / Waiau, is a glacier township in Westland Tai Poutini National Park, the busy little base for trips up to Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere a few kilometres up the valley. That Māori name means the tears of Hine Hukatere, whose grief for a lover swept away in an avalanche was frozen by Rangi the sky father to form the ice. Julius von Haast named the glacier after the Austrian emperor in 1865, and today the village runs on guided ice walks, scenic flights and the steady traffic of the Coast road.
Franz Josef's te reo Māori name is Waiau.
Franz Josef is in the West Coast region of New Zealand.
Franz Josef has an estimated population of around 330 (Stats NZ estimate).
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