Fox Glacier & Franz Josef

Enjoyed a 4 hour hike with ice spikes or "clamps" attached to the hiking boots trekking over the ice glacier at Fox Glacier. The guides stayed well ahead with axes to chip away at man made steps out of ice. The blue colours through the ice were gorgeous and found hearing about the formation of the glacier so interesting..it gains 1 metre a day! The following day was spent in Franz Josef another glacier town, where it was time to splurge and take a half hour helicopter ride to the top of a snow covered mountain, for a helicopter landing and an opportunity to get out and walk around on the snow, it was a chance to sing out 'the hills are alive with the sound of music' but I resisted! Starting to love riding in a helicopter!! Where we landed was directly across from Mt Cook, the tallest mountain in Australiasia, rising above them all at 3755m.

Half way up Fox Glacier

After landing on top of mountain by helicopter

Glacier from the helicopter