Mt. Cook National Park, part 2 - The Helicopter

We arrived back to the hotel - tired, hungry, and sunburned from our morning hike. Before we had set out for the hike, we had asked about taking a helicopter flight up to the glaciers but were told the weather conditions weren't ideal but to check back later. So, as luck had it, the clouds had cleared and instead of resting, we immediately hopped in our car to drive to the helicopter pad for our scheduled flight!

I have to admit, I was a bit nervous about this whole thing. I had never been in a helicopter and the only thing I could think to compare it to were those little puddle jumper planes that I loathe. However, this was nothing like I thought it would be. It was surprisingly smooth and felt very controlled.

We had an hour to fly around the range and eventually over to the west side to the Franz Josef Glacier where we landed right on the glacier and got out to walk around. It was so peaceful up there and not nearly as cold as I had imagined it would be.


On the way back we flew a little further west and were able to see the Pacific Ocean: This glacier is one of only 3 in the world that comes this close to a coastline (where there is a rainforest, no less!).

The rest of the ride was just as stunning. We flew between mountain peaks to see glacial lakes and snow capped tops. All in all, an activity I would certainly recommend to anyone that makes a trip to the area!