Yesterday Ed and I took the obligatory tourist helicopter ride from Queenstown to Milford Sound. After helicoptering around New Zealand for 2 weeks, the 2+ hour helicopter-ride above Fiordland National Park didn't seem quite so magical.
Until. Our helicopter landed on a glacier high on an alpine peak! That was crazy-wonderful. Our pilot shut off the plane engine and told us we could wander on the glacier as long as we stayed close to the helicopter, and didn't go near the cracks in the ice, which could be deep.
My husband, who'd been jittery in the small 4-passenger helicopter we'd used for heli-fishing and heli-hiking, found the larger 7-passenger model more stable, less turbulent, less scary. But still, his palms were sweating!
Ed Warren on a glacier high above Milford Sound.