After the train ride across the South Island, I headed south to Fox Glacier via the New Zealand Intercity bus. It's basically like a BoltBus or MegaBus you'd find in the US. It was more comfortable that I thought it'd be and I lucked out with a row all to myself. The drivers also narrate the scenery and the towns you're passing through which as a tourist I thought was nice.
The next day was my helicopter ride with a landing on top of Fox Glacier. I'd never been in a helicopter before so wasn't sure what to expect. Well for one thing, they really don't waste a lot of time. They give you a 5 minute safety spiel, load you up and you're off. We'd been told that the past three days all the helicopter flights had been cancelled because of rain and clouds. They were concerned we might not make it up, but luckily things stayed clear enough for us to make the trip. I joined two Kiwi couples in the chopper, so there were 5 of us plus the pilot. It was unbelievably bright, I should have brought my sunglasses, or as they call them here, my sunnies! Here I am just before takeoff. Also, mom, and other concerned parties, they told me not to wear a jacket as it gets hot in the chopper and it really wasn't that cold on the glacier that day. They were right, it was quite comfortable, so no cause for alarm!
As we got away from the town the first few minutes of the ride were pretty green and quite cloudy.
Though that quickly changed as we approached the glacier. This is a view over the lower part of the glacier. Yes its a little blue!
Checking in again! Roger, that.
We spotted a little waterfall on our climb:
Then we got a little higher. It was pretty amazing how close we got at times to the glacier.
We rose above the clouds for a little bit.
Here's a short video from the chopper nearing the top of the glacier.
Then we landed! We were able to walk around and take pictures for about 10 minutes. When we first got there, it was only the 6 of us up there which was pretty amazing.
Pardon my squinting, gosh no wonder I have so many eye wrinkles.
While we were up there a few more choppers landed.
Then after some chatting with the Kiwi couples and the pilot, it was time to make our way back down.
There is that waterfall again from a different angle.
I really didn't know what to expect going into it but I'm so glad I decided to take the ride. Quite a unique experience. With the rest of my day in Fox Glacier I took a little bike ride to a nearby lake, that is up next!
nice
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