My Fox Glacier Helihike departed from the chartered helicopter helipad at 0945 & returned at 1300. It was the highlight of my trip to NZ South Island and I will remember it forever.
At several $100/person Yes it is expensive but it was definitely worth the cost unlike the money I wasted on the Tranz scenic TranzAlpine train – New Zealand
Apparently 50% of helihikes are cancelled and there were only 3 days of good weather in the past 60 days so I was very lucky that the weather was perfect with blue skies and no wind during my fox glacier heli hike 🙂
We saw ice of all shades from dirty black to pure white and glowing blue as our guide used his axe to cut a path for us in the constantly shifting glacial ice. There were also deep crevasses, ice caves, snow arches, snow tunnels and much more… I wish I could have stayed the whole day.
I was the only person on the tour with a polarising filter on my camera, and judging by the harsh light bouncing off the ice which forced everyone to wear sunglasses it ensured my photos were much better than without the filter.
Bird watchers will be interested to know that I saw many Kea (NZ alpine parrots) around Fox Glacier Township and I was able to get quite close to take photos
For more details about the various options from the low cost Fox Glacier Terminal Face Walk to the ultimate mountaineering adventure visit the Fox Glacier Guide’s website
Neerav
Some excellent shots there of the glacier.
Your pictures brought memories back from my visit to a glacier in Switzerland when I still lived there. The locals had hewn a tunnel / cave into that glacier for tourists to walk into the glacier and see the glacier from the inside. The light and colours were quite astonishing in some spots.
Cheers
Mark
Wow, awesome pictures! I guess living in the northern hemisphere we always think of the southern half of the world as a warm sunny paradise but, omg, there are glaciers down there too. I have a friend that lives in Alaska and he keeps trying to get me to come up for a visit, says I’ll never want to leave. Don’t know about that because I am kinda fond of the warm weather, but I’m sure it will be beautiful too. Thanks so much for sharing your pics with us!
Thom
Wow, thats some impressive stuff. I live in Colorado, and all we have for a “glacier” more resembles a snow field than anything that impressive. Definitely want to visit new zealand one day.
Wow. I hope someday I can do something like that. The older I get, the more the sense of urgency sets in.
Those are some awesome photos. I would love to be able to hike a glacier. I love the blue hues in the pictures. Thank you for sharing.
All my life I have wanted to go to New Zealand. These are some beautiful pictures Neerav, I almost feel as if I have already been there after seeing them.
Your photos are great. It’s good to see the Glacier again. I did a heli-hike in 2002 and had a magical time walking around the ice world that is Fox Glacier. You can see my film from that trip at http://vimeo.com/5559899