Franz Josef Glacier...
John decided to take a 1/2 day hike onto the glacier itself though one of the local companies. My knee was still swollen, so Thomas and I decided to drive to the Franz Josef park and just hike up to the glacier, not onto it. Check out John's journal to get info on his glacier trek.
Thomas and I had a good walk up to the glacier. It was a sunny day and good for photos. We may have seen John's group further up on the glacier. I'll be posting some photos of the people on glacier hikes that I took from below the glacier. The Franz Josef is supposedly one of two glaciers in the world where the glacier actually comes down to the treeline. It never ceases to amaze me that in New Zealand you can be swimming with seals one day and climbing on a glacier the next.
After John returned from his glacier hike, we had lunch and headed for the place where we could get a $90 scenic helicopter flight. The three of us took the flight in a Hughes 500C helicopter. It was quite clear, but also quite windy. The helicopter hugged the trees to avoid the extreme winds that were present higher up. It was an great flight and the first helicopter flight for both John and Thomas. The view from the front seat of a helicopter is quite spectacular. You even have visibility below your feet through the plexiglas bubble! I was next to the full length plexiglas door and more visibility than one needs. Wish we could have gone higher and stayed up longer, but it was still awesome experience.
That evening we made dinner and watched some American TV shows that are shown in New Zealand, Desperate Housewives and Invasion.
John decided to take a 1/2 day hike onto the glacier itself though one of the local companies. My knee was still swollen, so Thomas and I decided to drive to the Franz Josef park and just hike up to the glacier, not onto it. Check out John's journal to get info on his glacier trek.
Thomas and I had a good walk up to the glacier. It was a sunny day and good for photos. We may have seen John's group further up on the glacier. I'll be posting some photos of the people on glacier hikes that I took from below the glacier. The Franz Josef is supposedly one of two glaciers in the world where the glacier actually comes down to the treeline. It never ceases to amaze me that in New Zealand you can be swimming with seals one day and climbing on a glacier the next.
After John returned from his glacier hike, we had lunch and headed for the place where we could get a $90 scenic helicopter flight. The three of us took the flight in a Hughes 500C helicopter. It was quite clear, but also quite windy. The helicopter hugged the trees to avoid the extreme winds that were present higher up. It was an great flight and the first helicopter flight for both John and Thomas. The view from the front seat of a helicopter is quite spectacular. You even have visibility below your feet through the plexiglas bubble! I was next to the full length plexiglas door and more visibility than one needs. Wish we could have gone higher and stayed up longer, but it was still awesome experience.
That evening we made dinner and watched some American TV shows that are shown in New Zealand, Desperate Housewives and Invasion.
posted by Chris at 11:00 PM
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