Day 6: Frans Josef Glacier
“Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away.” Today was all about the glaciers, mountains, and 1 very fun helicopter ride. The Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers descend down from the Southern Alps and flow almost to sea level. Seeing ancient rivers of ice descending past emerald green rainforest is a sight worth seeing up close and personal.
The largest glacier in New Zealand, the Tasman Glacier, is 27km long and covers an area of 101 square kilometres, sitting below their highest mountain – Mount Cook. Aoraki-Mount Cook is currently 3754m (12316ft) above sea level. Prior to 1991 the peak was 10 metres higher, but the very top of the summit slid down the mountain creating a massive landslide of ice and rock that was recorded on seismic equipment around the South Island.
Weather can be very unpredictable here on the West Coast so flights are never guaranteed. Waking this morning to perfectly blue skies without a cloud felt like yet another miracle...and the flight was on!! Seeing all 3 glaciers, 2 of the highest peaks of New Zealand, and landing a helicopter on the top of a glacier certainly made for a magical experience and that all happened just this morning.
