We moved to Franz Josef in the early 90s to follow a career in conservation. Jonathans job as a field worker for environmental monitoring for DOC in Hokitika had taken him across the length and breadth of the West Coast and Julie would accompany him on his missions when ever she could. We were always drawn to the beauty of the glacier region so we puchased our land at greens road and built the house. The land was just a bare paddock with some old pine trees and a lot of rushes but we slowly tamed it and planted the trees that now grace the property. Having a large house enabled us to take casual guests during the busy summer season, when there weren't enough beds in the village to accommodate all the visitors.
After some soul searching we decided to embrace B&B wholeheartedly and in 2006 we built the cottage to augment the rooms in the house. Jonathan resigned from his job as manager of the biodiversity team at the department of conservation and took up full time hotel management. Julie was made redundant at the school due to reducing numbers of children but managed to find work as an international supply teacher.
This suited us as we had an unresolved passion for travel and the seasonal nature of West Coast accommodation at Franz Josef enabled us to spend our winters overseas. Most memorable were our travels in the Middle East, Egypt and Jordan, diving in the Red Sea at Dahab. Julies' first assignment was in Japan, teaching at Fujisawa fifty kilometres from Tokyo. We could hop on the train and be in downtown Shinjuku in 40 mins, a bit of a change from here! Her latest assignment was in Pisa, Italy. At the end of the B&B season (April) Jo would hop on a plane and join Julie until the end of her contract, then we would travel slowly back to New Zealand for the new season.
After some soul searching we decided to embrace B&B wholeheartedly and in 2006 we built the cottage to augment the rooms in the house. Jonathan resigned from his job as manager of the biodiversity team at the department of conservation and took up full time hotel management. Julie was made redundant at the school due to reducing numbers of children but managed to find work as an international supply teacher.
This suited us as we had an unresolved passion for travel and the seasonal nature of West Coast accommodation at Franz Josef enabled us to spend our winters overseas. Most memorable were our travels in the Middle East, Egypt and Jordan, diving in the Red Sea at Dahab. Julies' first assignment was in Japan, teaching at Fujisawa fifty kilometres from Tokyo. We could hop on the train and be in downtown Shinjuku in 40 mins, a bit of a change from here! Her latest assignment was in Pisa, Italy. At the end of the B&B season (April) Jo would hop on a plane and join Julie until the end of her contract, then we would travel slowly back to New Zealand for the new season.