Part 1 of 2

Today was a full day, and we actually took over 600 photos and video clips!  To make it easier to sort through the photos and prepare the daily report, we’re splitting the report for today into two entries.

The weather forecast for today was not good, but when I stepped out of the room this morning, the photo below is what I saw!

It wasn’t a completely clear day, but I was encouraged that we might still get up on the glacier by helicopter.  We checked out of the motel, and headed off to the helicopter operator to see if things were a go for this morning.

Clouds were starting to roll in, but reports were coming back from the pilots that even though there were some visible clouds from the ground, they were thin clouds, and that it was bright and sunny at the top of the mountains.  Therefore, at the end of our time on the west coast, we were finally going up in the helicopter!  This was definitely worth delaying our drive to Christchurch.

We walked across the street and through a little tunnel of trees, and we were at the heliport.

Below is a view of the lot we parked the car yesterday and the trek we made out to the base of the glacier.

Out trip today would be nearly an hour in the helicopter, and would take us around the Franz Josef glacier, which is the largest in the area.  We would also see the Tasman glacier, which is the longest glacier in New Zealand.  We would fly around Mount Cook and the surrounding area, the highest peak in New Zealand.  We would also land on the top of the Fox glacier to take a look around before returning to Franz Josef.

The first group of photos is of the Franz Josef glacier.

The following photos are of the Mount Cook and Tasman glacier area.

You can see the Tasman glacier in the photos below.

Here we are about to land on the Fox glacier.

The following photos are taken while walking around on the Fox glacier.

Here’s our transportation.

This is Nadine attempting to build a snowman at the top of the glacier.  However, the surface is mainly ice and not soft snow, so the build is not going well!

And here we are on the glacier before getting back in the helicopter for the return trip.

Climbing back in the helicopter for the flight back down…

Here we are flying down the Fox glacier.

Below is a HD video of part of our return flight.

And now we’re back at the heliport.