[lettie]

At just after 4pm on Easter Sunday we arrived in the tiny village of Franz Josef. This part of the West Coast of New Zealand is unique in that the area is dominated by massive glaciers which terminate at only about 260m above sea level slap bang in the middle of tropical looking rainforest. It's a wonderful breathtaking sight which I will never forget.

Prior to our trip Sparky had mentioned seeing the glaciers by helicopter. I had smiled and nodded pleased at his enthusiasm for the trip but I had no intention of getting in a helicopter and hoped that he would forget about it. I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to heights and the thought of being in a tiny flying tin can was more than I could stand.

On our arrival at the motel in Franz Josef Sparky immediately asked for the weather outlook for Easter Monday and we were told that it would be cloudy with some drizzle. "Oh, what a shame," said I. "Maybe we'll have to do a walk instead." The sun was out and a beautiful clear afternoon when we arrived. Not to be deterred Sparks asked where the nearest helicopter flight station was, and finding that it was just around the corner........off we went.

The friendly fella at the heli station said "Ya wanna ride? Sweet mate! 5pm ok for ya?"
We had time for a quick coffee and we were off. With no time to panic I found myself in a small but surprisingly comfy helicopter flying over the summits of Mounts Cook and Tasman. The views were amazing and the glaciers superb. We landed high on the Franz Josef glacier and got out for photos. It was one of the best experiences of my life and I can't wait to do it again. My whole opinion of helicopter flying has completely changed (although I still wouldn't jump out of one).

There are lots of glaciers in this area but the most well known ones are the Franz Josef 10km long and the Fox at 13km long. The largest glacier is the Tasman at 27km long and a good view of this can be had from a helicopter window. We flew over the summits of Mt Cook (Aoraki) 3,754m and Mt Tasman 3,497m and could see as far away as Mt Aspiring in Southland.

Aoraki or Mt Cook (as we know it) gets its name from Maori legend. A boy named Aoraki and his 3 brothers came down from the heavens to visit the Earth Mother. The canoe in which they were travelling capsized and as the brothers moved to the back of the boat they were turned to stone and formed the mountain Aoraki. Lots of New Zealand's natural landmarks are reverting back to their original Maori names.

On easter Monday we had a drive over the very twisty mountain roads to Fox Glacier village. We had a lovely walk around Lake Matheson. Known for its reflective properties wonderful inverted views of the mountains can be seen in Lake Matheson on a clear day. Unfortunately it was cloudy with a bit of drizzle, but it was still a lovely walk..... Hey! We're northerners, we can put up with a bit of rain. We retired to bed early in preparation for our drive to Queenstown the following day.

You guessed it...... here are some pics and I apologise for the slight reflection on some of them but I don't know how to get rid of it. They were taken from the helicopter window.

Here is a view of the FJ glacier, the summit of Mt Cook, the summit of Mt Tasman, a close up of part of the Fox glacier taken from the Chancellor hut, pretty glacial patterns at the top of the glacier, me and Sparky and our helicopter high on the glacier and Lake Matheson on rather a grey day.