Soaring above the glaciers at Franz Josef

As the noise levels increased and we gradually rose high above the ground my heart was in my mouth. I’m not sure what I was expecting exactly as I took my seat by the window of the helicopter, but I was praying that the seal of the door I found myself squashed up beside was tightly secure. As we soared up and across the valley the landscape beneath me became way more dramatic.

The valley leading up to Franz Josef that I had previously walked through

I had walked through this valley before, chasing the river along the pathway that had been created to reach a viewing point looking out towards Franz Josef Glazier, but I had never imagined how incredible it could appear from the air. As we approached the glacier wall down below us it became all too apparent how small we and our helicopter actually were. Franz Josef is a towering flow of ice which has dramatically melted in recent years disappearing further down the valley that it has ever done before and yet as you approach from the air it remains a formidable and awe-inspiring sight.

After traversing along the glacier trail our helicopter then lifted upwards over and above the towering wall of ice beneath. As we ventured up towards the clouds our pilot spoke into our headphones pointing out the towering heights off Mount Cook/Aoraki and Mount Tasman straight ahead, New Zealand’s two largest mountains. Our flight took us up and above their signature peaks. I felt small and fragile and admittedly slightly nervous wondering how high we were. Climbing over yet another mountain top we reached the second of New Zealand’s most famous glaciers, Fox.

Soaring above New Zealand’s highest peaks

For those not in the know, Franz Josef and Fox Glacier are two famous mountains to sea glaciers that are found on the South Island’s West Coast. They are relatively close together and are unique in that they reach rainforest level and are therefore much more accessible than other glaciers found across the world. The snow at the top here looked deep and dense packed into a frozen platform several thousand metres above the ground below. We slowly descended down on to a landing patch where our pilot encouraged us to look out over this beautiful yet imposing landscape.

Our helicopter after landing on the snow on top of Fox Glacier

We took pictures of ourselves and our helicopter. The helicopter helping to show the vastness of the glacier and mountains as it sat like a small dot against the panorama that surrounded it.