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This was definitely ticking something off the bucket list. We were heading in for 3 fantastic days at Aoraki (Mt Cook) and the weather was stunning. Blue skies for miles and not a breath of wind. If there was any day to be heading up to a glacier this was it!! I had heard through Instagram (@nztravelmagazine) that if we visited Mt Cook Ski Planes they would look after us. They sure did that!! We were just two people so not really enough to warrant a trip to the glacier but they made it work for us. We ended up hitching a ride to and from the glaciers with some sightseers and had our own private guide.
The flight was a thrill on its own. I last was in a helicopter as a child but never in such incredible scenic surroundings. Stuck in the middle of the helicopter I still got amazing views and managed some great shots of the surrounding scenery. Maybe not wall worthy shots but good for memories and scale!! You can see why scenic flights are popular but we could not wait to land on that glacier.
Dropping out of the sky onto the ice is such a thrill and I can see why all the briefing before was important to keep our heads down and faces covered as the ice whipped around us. First challenge was getting the crampons on and learning to walk directly up an ice hill without fear of falling backwards. Its the weirdest thing getting use to them but then its just like this was the normal way you do things, stand up right and walk straight up an ice hill. Graza was our personal guide (not usually just 2 people so we were super lucky). He had many years experience in the mountains and on glaciers but was very humble with this. We did learn heaps though about the ice, the glaciers and how this amazing landscape was formed – I wish I have taken more notice of geography at school.
Right away there were crevasses to see, little ice caves (see later in the blog we though the first ones we saw were big but there was better to come). In some places Graza did need to cut us some ice steps to get down as it was a bit dangerous – we were tourists after all. I have to say I felt like a little kid everything we were seeing was so exciting and so different, I love the snow and have grown up around it but had never experienced anything like this.
Usually we are on the ice for about an hour and a half but we knew we had much longer until the return trip was going to collect us. This meant we could take a much more leisurely pace so met up with another group that was doing ice climbing up the middle of a huge chimney pipe I suppose you could say. We watched them for a while, seriously impressed with their strength then went down to explore the cave. I am not known for being brave and for some reason needed a bit of coaxing. I then felt a little silly as it was as they say, a doddle, so cool to be standing in this cave looking up.
We were joined them by a couple who had been doing some work looking at the shift of the ice on the glacier and continued on our way. I was pleased to have the experience of Graza to find his way around and to know what you can or cannot approach. There were so many interesting facts and you could see them all happening in front of you. The place where the two glaciers met and pushed up the ice, the way a rock would slowly melt the ice around it before falling, the way a covering of rock could actually protect the ice. I have probably remembered some of the details incorrectly but it was amazing to hear and see at the same time. But the best was still to come, just when we thought we had seen everything Graza said to prepare to get wet as we headed into another cave. I wondered if I should leave the camera behind and he was pretty insistent it needed to come. WOW is all I can say. Walking in the cave was thrill enough but once you were inside it your mind was blown. We could walk through various layers until we got to a part too dangerous to cross. We could hear pouring water underneath us. Words really can not describe the thrill of being in such an immense space with all that ice around you. There was a huge stream of snow through the middle that had formed with water coming through. The colours and shapes were out of this world. I did not have enough skills to capture it as well as I would have like but you certainly get the idea. Graza and the other guides, one who had guided in Norway, said they had never come across one so big. With the ever changing ice it might last ages or become to dangerous soon but for us the luck was all in our favour.
Huge thanks again to NZ Ski planes and Helicopters for an unforgettable trip. We are not often enough tourists in our own country and if we were overseas we would do something like this in a flash. Graza himself noted how nice it was to have Kiwis to share it with and how rare it is. The helicopter ride back was no less thrilling and the high lasted for a very long time.
A 2min clip from the day
