It was only after we had turned the lights and the TV off, that the low level hum nit our ears. We had not noticed it before, but our room had a machine like, low level hum to it. John looked everywhere, both in and out of the room, but could not find where the hum was coming from. After half an hour he gave up and we tried our best to get off to sleep.
At 7am we woke up, opened the curtains and, Wow, it was a sparkling day for our helicopter glacier hiking adventure.
After breakfast we headed to the Fox Glacier Adventure office where we paid our money and soon after jumped onto the bus for a ten minute journey to the helicopter pads. Once there, we changed into woolen socks and proper leather hiking boots and had a quick safety presentation.
If your interested in this event, see: http://www.foxguides.co.nz/helihike.asp
We were in the third group to fly up to the glacier. The helicopters were very well organised and soon it was our turn to jump into the six man machines. Fiona, being a wee girlie was allotted the front seat with another wee girlie. John was in the back but managed to bag a window seat. Within two minutes of shutting the door we were off the ground and flying a roller coaster of a ride up to the glacier, via the mountain pass. What a buzz! The weather was perfect, with no wind, so we wafted around the glacier head, flying from waterfall to waterfall, reaching the top of the glacier, turning a 180 degree spin on a pin head and then back down the big glacier water fall, “Victoria Falls” and then onto the lading point, on the glacier itself.
Once out of the helicopter, we were rushed into a small groove in the ice and told to crouch down. When the helicopter took off we could see why, the wind caused by the machine whipped up the ice and snow. John had been trying to video the thing taking off and received a face full in the bargain. He also forgot to secure his hat, so that flew off, landing behind a section of glacier.
We were given small crampons and a wooden hiking pole and then we were off, retrieving Johns hat on the way! We soon met a couple from the UK who had been working in Australia for six months and were now doing some travelling. He was an accountant, she a teacher and both in their mid twenties. We also had an elderly German lady with us who found the going tough. She had not tightened her crampons up enough. Once that was fixed she was not so bad.
We made our way to “Victoria Falls”, with our guide at the head of the chain, axing steps into the ice where the walking was tricky. Progress was slow as the ice was slippery in places and you have to watch out for dangerous crevasse and ice pools. The weather was great, quite warm and very, very sunny.
The glacier moves at different speeds at different places. At the crest it moves as much as five meters a day, lower down it can be two meters a day. The ice can be up to 250 meters thick. The ice is a mixture of white and deep blues, with rivers of water cascading over the surface.
After taking a few photo’s of the falls, we moved to a higher section of the glacier where we reached what were supposed to be some wonderful ice caves. However, the NZ weather had been up to it’s tricks again. The massive falls of rain in the previous days had not only washed the car park away in the Fax valley but had also trashed the ice caves. They had collapsed in dramatic fashion. They looked dramatic, but caves, they were not.
Our guide took us to another section where we found some caves, so everyone was happy. The caves are magical places, changing all the time, dripping with melt water and showing off the amazing blues you get in this type of ice, especially when the sun shines.
After two and a half hours of hiking on the glacier we were ready to fly back to base. Our helicopter took us on another roller coaster ride back to the helicopter pad and the adventure was over. We had made a good decision to go on the early flight as, when we reached base, the clouds had rolled back into the valley. We said goodbye to our English buddies, who are also staying in Wanaka tonight, so we said we would look out for them.
An unforgettable experience!
We were soon back in the car driving to our next destination, Wanaka, that that far from Queenstown. We took the National Route 6 road all the way from Fox, via Haast, where we stopped for petrol. What a magnificent drive. The southern alps are very impressive, on the scale of the rockies in places. We also passed some great waterfalls and stunning lakes, especially lake Hawea, post card perfect with deep blue, calm waters, surrounded by lush green forest. When the sun shines here, you see a different side to NZ altogether. It is truly stunning with a unique vista, a cross between the European Alps and the Rockies. We had to keep stopping the car to take more photo’s and video.
We checked into our new Motel and what a place. It is the most modern pad so far. Wonderfully fitted, very new and only $139 a night. If your intested in see what a great place this is, see: http://www.wanakaedge.co.nz/ .
We quickly unpacked and then headed down to the lake front for a glass of wine. Today we fell back in love with New Zealand. It’s taken some good weather to odo it, but today has been wonderful and Wanaka is just the most picturesque place we have been so far.
The bar we sat in over looked the lake where a local sailing race was underway. The whole lake is fringed with mountains, capped with snow and the lake is crystal clear.
We liked it so much, we stayed for dinner and then went to the lake edge to watch the sun go down. Fifi posed for a photo in the tree and John had a paddle in the lake.
We came back home for 8.30pm and chilled over a bag of sweets and some TV. Great day. Great Place. If you want to see how lovely this place is, see: http://www.lakewanaka.co.nz/ .
At 7am we woke up, opened the curtains and, Wow, it was a sparkling day for our helicopter glacier hiking adventure.
After breakfast we headed to the Fox Glacier Adventure office where we paid our money and soon after jumped onto the bus for a ten minute journey to the helicopter pads. Once there, we changed into woolen socks and proper leather hiking boots and had a quick safety presentation.
If your interested in this event, see: http://www.foxguides.co.nz/helihike.asp
We were in the third group to fly up to the glacier. The helicopters were very well organised and soon it was our turn to jump into the six man machines. Fiona, being a wee girlie was allotted the front seat with another wee girlie. John was in the back but managed to bag a window seat. Within two minutes of shutting the door we were off the ground and flying a roller coaster of a ride up to the glacier, via the mountain pass. What a buzz! The weather was perfect, with no wind, so we wafted around the glacier head, flying from waterfall to waterfall, reaching the top of the glacier, turning a 180 degree spin on a pin head and then back down the big glacier water fall, “Victoria Falls” and then onto the lading point, on the glacier itself.
Once out of the helicopter, we were rushed into a small groove in the ice and told to crouch down. When the helicopter took off we could see why, the wind caused by the machine whipped up the ice and snow. John had been trying to video the thing taking off and received a face full in the bargain. He also forgot to secure his hat, so that flew off, landing behind a section of glacier.
We were given small crampons and a wooden hiking pole and then we were off, retrieving Johns hat on the way! We soon met a couple from the UK who had been working in Australia for six months and were now doing some travelling. He was an accountant, she a teacher and both in their mid twenties. We also had an elderly German lady with us who found the going tough. She had not tightened her crampons up enough. Once that was fixed she was not so bad.
We made our way to “Victoria Falls”, with our guide at the head of the chain, axing steps into the ice where the walking was tricky. Progress was slow as the ice was slippery in places and you have to watch out for dangerous crevasse and ice pools. The weather was great, quite warm and very, very sunny.
The glacier moves at different speeds at different places. At the crest it moves as much as five meters a day, lower down it can be two meters a day. The ice can be up to 250 meters thick. The ice is a mixture of white and deep blues, with rivers of water cascading over the surface.
After taking a few photo’s of the falls, we moved to a higher section of the glacier where we reached what were supposed to be some wonderful ice caves. However, the NZ weather had been up to it’s tricks again. The massive falls of rain in the previous days had not only washed the car park away in the Fax valley but had also trashed the ice caves. They had collapsed in dramatic fashion. They looked dramatic, but caves, they were not.
Our guide took us to another section where we found some caves, so everyone was happy. The caves are magical places, changing all the time, dripping with melt water and showing off the amazing blues you get in this type of ice, especially when the sun shines.
After two and a half hours of hiking on the glacier we were ready to fly back to base. Our helicopter took us on another roller coaster ride back to the helicopter pad and the adventure was over. We had made a good decision to go on the early flight as, when we reached base, the clouds had rolled back into the valley. We said goodbye to our English buddies, who are also staying in Wanaka tonight, so we said we would look out for them.
An unforgettable experience!
We were soon back in the car driving to our next destination, Wanaka, that that far from Queenstown. We took the National Route 6 road all the way from Fox, via Haast, where we stopped for petrol. What a magnificent drive. The southern alps are very impressive, on the scale of the rockies in places. We also passed some great waterfalls and stunning lakes, especially lake Hawea, post card perfect with deep blue, calm waters, surrounded by lush green forest. When the sun shines here, you see a different side to NZ altogether. It is truly stunning with a unique vista, a cross between the European Alps and the Rockies. We had to keep stopping the car to take more photo’s and video.
We checked into our new Motel and what a place. It is the most modern pad so far. Wonderfully fitted, very new and only $139 a night. If your intested in see what a great place this is, see: http://www.wanakaedge.co.nz/ .
We quickly unpacked and then headed down to the lake front for a glass of wine. Today we fell back in love with New Zealand. It’s taken some good weather to odo it, but today has been wonderful and Wanaka is just the most picturesque place we have been so far.
The bar we sat in over looked the lake where a local sailing race was underway. The whole lake is fringed with mountains, capped with snow and the lake is crystal clear.
We liked it so much, we stayed for dinner and then went to the lake edge to watch the sun go down. Fifi posed for a photo in the tree and John had a paddle in the lake.
We came back home for 8.30pm and chilled over a bag of sweets and some TV. Great day. Great Place. If you want to see how lovely this place is, see: http://www.lakewanaka.co.nz/ .
No comments:
Post a Comment