Helicopter up to Fox Hike on the Glacier

Trip Start Sep 09, 2005
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Trip End Dec 23, 2005


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Flag of New Zealand  ,
Monday, December 12, 2005

I am in the land of extreme sports, starting easy. Woke up to a crisp morning, a little overcast with mountains looming in all directions around me. By 8am I was boarding a helicopter with 4 other people and flown up to the top of the fastest moving glacier, Fox. (3 to 4 meters per DAY!) The helicopter made an ice landing on a small flat area available on the glacier. I suited up in layers of clothes, strapped cramp-on's onto my hiking boots, grabbed a spiked walking stick and followed the guide with her ice pick (ax) up the side of the glacier. We jumped over crevices, whirling black holes and explored inside ice caves. The colors changed from white, clear and grey to glowing blues. It was absolutely amazing. The glacier was moving between two mountains that continued to tower above us, while looking out into the distance you could see the ocean and temperate rainforest down below. Fantastic. Headed back by helicopter after a few hours of hiking and boarded the bus for our 7 hour journey to Queenstown.
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