Day 315 (Fri 18 May) - Fox Glacier

Had a light breakfast and headed to the outdoor centre.

Waited around for a bit and soon we and another couple and an elderly lady were ushered into a waiting car. The elderly lady had a bit of difficulty entering the car but the driver with a hefty shove soon had her on board.

Drove the short distance to the heli pad where the driver gave us some basic info about the heli ride ie. don't walk round the back of the chopper to have a closer look at the tail rotor, don't open the doors when in flight etc.

Soon enough we heard an insect like buzz and a ridiculously small chopper appeared. The old lady got in the front with the pilot whilst the four of us got in the back. Surprisgly we had a good view.

Soon the chopper gracefully lifted off and we glided across the plains and up into the sky over the Franz Joseph glacier. Suffice to saw it was breathtaking ( [1], [2], [3] ).

After flying over Franz we headed over to Fox. Amazing to see down the valley, to the plains and out further to the sea.

The pilot put us down at the top of the glacier where we all disembarked and ran around for a bit on the rock hard ice ( [1], [2] ). The surroundings were amazing ([1], [2], [3] ).We had a photo taken by the pilot as a little memento.

The pilot soon called us back to board the chopper and it was at this precise moment that the old lady, standing next to Sarb, took a tumble and ended up flat on her back. We tried to help her up but she waved Jo off saying that she would be too heavy, to be fair she probably needed to stop having a cow for breakfast. Leaving Sarb with the perplexing problem of lifting 200 kilos of Aussie dead weight the pilot came to the rescue. After asking jovially what the woman thought she was doing having a lie down, Sarb and he managed to get her onto her feet. The pilot decided to put her in the back of the chopper as it was easier to get into so Jo and I sat at the front.

Set off and flew across Fox Glacier. At one point the pilot decided to view a waterfall a little closer so as he approached it basically pointed the nose of the craft downwards. Exhilirating!

Soon it was all over and we were flying down the glacier back over the fields to our heli pad. Got off and walked back to our nearby campsite gibbering with delight. Immediately went through our photos and videos.

After a bit of lunch we decided to drive over to Gillespies Beach about 15kms distant. Soon after turning off the sealed main road the road became unsealed and very twisty. Motored on this for about 40 mins before reaching a small car park. Dumped the car and went for a walk. The views of the distant mountains framed by gorse bushes, laden with yellow flowers was spectacular.

The beach was littered with dead wood and the waves were really pounding in. Decided to walk on and soon reached some shallow pools of water stained a deep red. A walk was signposted, two hours each way, to the seal colony so decided to go for it.

Walked on a small path through a dense forest. Soon the path turned very muddy and we were forced to hop from stone to stone to make it over deep mud pools. We crossed a small stream by the same method and finally made it to the end. Unfortunately Sarb had a look at the very last bit of the path that led us to the beach and said that we should turn back. The path basically became a foot or so wide with a sheer drop on one side. Since we did not have mobile phones or any other safety equipment it seemed foolish to risk it so we turned back.

The way back seemed even muddier; Sarb more than once ended up in mud up to the top of his boots.

Finally made it back to the beach and to the van.

Met a friendly American lone traveller who just seemed desperate for company. We all had some squash dished out by Jo and chatted for a while before heading off back to the campsite.

Had a well deserved dinner and remarked that we seem to have been very, very lucky with the weather.