Blue Sky! We rang up the glacier tour companies and managed to squeeze onto a helihike for the morning - brilliant!

We munched down a quick brekkie and made our way up to the glacier via a helicopter! Claire got the front seat next to the pilot and Dave sat behind with the other people in our group. Headsets on and seatbelts fastened and we were off! A little wobbly start but before long we were miles high, flying over the huge mound of rugged ice that we would soon be landing on. We were taken for a quick scenic flight over the 2 million year old Franz Josef glacier before landing half way up from the terminal face. We were given our boots and crampons ( ice things for your feet) and then we were off on our hike. It was amazing! Our guide took us through ice caves where we literally had to crawl on our hands and knees over platforms where you could hear surging water below and up over mounds where the guide had to use his pick axe to steps and passageways. The size of the glacier is hard to describe, but apparently if you placed the eiffel tower in the middle of it you would bareley be able to see it. The ice formations on the top that surround you as you hike round are surreal, creating weird shapes unlike anything seen before. We got about 2 great hours on the ice before we got picked up by the chopper again for our ride down. It was quite expensive for us but we had a really great time.

In the evening we joined Lois and Mark again ( we had met them last night) for some drinks in the tv room.