Flying Fox

* Sunday. 

Today we woke up to the exciting but slightly scary knowledge of our helicopter treat from mon papa!  Our flight was at 09:30 so we had a 07:30 lie in which was really nice.  We got transported about 100m up the road to the helipad and there was our retro, small, nippy, green little helicopter!  So in we got.  Me and Ame sat in the back and dad sat in the front with the driver and one other bloke.  The flight we bought was a 30 minute flight over the Franz Josef Glacier, then over to the Fox Glacier with a landing on the top of it, and then a trip back to the Fox helipad.

The take off was surreal.  It felt so smooth and before you knew it we were zipping through the air over hills and mountains towards the Franz Josef Glacier.  It was massive!  The sheer size of it was amazing!  The helicopter was flying low and you could see all the detail in the scenery.  It felt very adventurous!  We got some good pictures.  Everywhere you looked was incredible. 

We then coptered on to the Fox Glacier and again the size was overwhelming.  We touched down with extreme ease.  The pilot was obviously very experienced.  It was gorgeous and sunny and felt very strange to be stood on top of a mountain of ice.  We obviously took a few pictures...  I even threw a little snowball (quite a good shot at dad I thought!)

So after a brief stop of 10 minutes or so we climbed back in to the helicopter and set off back to base.  But like I mentioned before, the pilot was very experienced.  Experienced enough to scare the s**t out of me on the way back.  He did a few tricks.  We felt the g's.  We left our stomachs in the air.  It was very fun but I have to admit to feeling a little sick at that point.  After that fun we were back to the helipad.  What an amazing experience so thank you very much father for the treat!

So, after a coffee and a good bun I was back on track.  We then drove to the foot of the Fox Glacier and did the 1 hour return walk.  It was very interesting looking at it from another angle.  There was a river flowing out from underneath it, which was flowing from the continuing ice melting.  But as I said before, it is massive.  You could see huge 10m, maybe 20m spikes forming off it.  It would be very hard to walk on.

Next stop on today's drive was the foot of the Franz Josef Glacier.  This time we thought we'd get yet another perspective, this time from Peter's pool, (a Glacier "calling card" - meaning as the Glacier has retreated over time, it leaves pools of water that remain in the area).  This view had the major advantage of the reflection of the Glacier in the water.  Very nice.

It was time for lunch so just out of Franz, we stopped by a lake and had another picturesque lunch.  A 2 hour drive ensued (and I have to confess to falling asleep in the van) and we stopped for a caffeine power-up in Hokitika.  This was a little seaside village on the West Coast.  We also had a little paddle in the sea.

Then it was another drive to Jackson in Arthur's Pass, yet another mountain side national park.  We are staying here two nights; and tomorrow is Ame's Birthday!  We plan to have a nice lunch out and some good solid walks.  She's very happy about that.  The campsite we're staying in is very remote and we are 1 of 3 vans parked here.  Tonight we have used the kitchen facilities and are watching "The Queen" of all things on the public TV.  We have it all to ourselves.  Yet another brilliant and unbelievable day.