Monday 3rd December – Helihike, Hokitika & Monteith’s Brewery

In case none of my photos were any good I took a snap off the front of the brochure

We tentatively snuck a look outside the camper. So far so good, but after yesterday’s last-minute cancellation we weren’t going to take it for granted that the Heli hike would go ahead.  Knowing the dressing procedure now, we turned up in flip-flops and shorts at the tour company and got dressed up in all their fine clothing for the second time.  Then we got allocated into groups depending on weight and were all carefully loaded into our helicopter in specific positions.  This was actually happening!

Becks in her front row seat

We watched a few other groups take off before it was our turn to board. Becks found there are sometimes benefits to being a short-arse after all – she got to ride up front while I was in the rear of the copter with an obscured view:

I was happy enough with my seat

Aproaching the glacier.... where exactly are we landing?!

It was a really short flight up to the glacier, only five minutes or so.  It was really hard to judge the scale as we approached.

I couldn’t tell where the pilot was going to touch down at all, it all looked the same. But, as we neared the glacier, some people that had looked the size of ants suddenly turned into a group of blue ‘Smurfs’ dressed as stylishly as ourselves and we headed towards them.  We were helped down from the helicopter and advised to tread carefully on the ice without our crampons on. 

My first tentative steps on the ice...

Snugly fitted crampons

Then we all hunkered down as the helicopter took off, blasting us with air, before we were left in silence on the ice.  We were shown how to fit our crampons snuggly to our boots and taught how to walk on the ice. The main difference being that you need to stamp your foot with each step to get purchase on the ice rather than just strolling along and dry to dig in either a toe or a heel depending on whether you’re going up or downhill.

With our guide

Our guide cutting some steps into the ice for us

We were placed in a group of eight with a guide whose job it was to choose a suitable route and assist us by cutting temporary steps into the ice with a massive ice axe on the steeper sections. 














The pace was quite slow so that everyone could watch their step and we could stop regularly for scenic photographs:

 

This is  good photograph to help with the huge scale of the glacier

Our guide was happy that our group was capable enough to take on some more challenging sections where we needed to utilise ropes: 

There was a lot of variation in the colour of the ice. I found the brighter blue sections the most beautiful:  

A couple of unexpected things to note – it was a lot warmer on the glacier than we expected and everyone chose to shed a layer of clothing under our waterproofs.  There were some really unnerving loud ‘bangs’ when sections of ice sheered off as gravity took over.  As I mentioned before, it was hard to judge distance on the glacier, so our guide reassured us that these ‘ice falls’ were far away from our location but it didn’t stop the noise causing a shock and some nervous looks on peoples’ faces at times!  I tried several times to predict when one of these falls was about to happen and capture it on video:

In total we were on the ice for about two hours. The time went very quickly and it was an entirely unique and enjoyable experience for us.  The glaciers are constantly receding so they predict that these tours will get cancelled, maybe even within our lifetime. I had a view of the opposite side of the valley on the return trip and saw the walk that Simon and I had done at the beginning of the year to get as close as we could to the glacier I had just been walking on:

The view down the valley as we flew back

I won’t mind doing this experience again as I think this is the one thing that Becks and I are doing that Simon is most upset about missing out on, and understandably so!

A handy sign made of driftwood - the chair is also a permanent fixture for photos

The Heli hike may have been a highlight of our trip but there was lots still to do today! Next stop was Hokitika where we were booked in for the tree-top walk that Becks had been looking forward to since she was in the UK.  We hardly saw another person as we took our time wandering around the structure and discussing how high up we were! The structure swayed in the breeze just as the trees did. More adrenalin for us today!  There were some impressive trees, pretty flowers and friendly Weka birds that we don’t get on the North Island.  

 

A cheeky weka

On to Greymouth where we chose our least scenic camping spot of the holiday – a concrete car park – but with good reason. It was across the road from Monteith’s brewery and we were in time for the last tour of the day. No more driving for us tonight! I can’t ever claim to learn much from these tours. I have been on so many beer, whisky and bourbon tours now that they all merge into one.  But I always enjoy myself and the free taster drinks at the end so it’s time well spent as far as I’m concerned!