What a fabulous day we've had today!!

We'd booked in for our helicopter flight at 1pm, so left around 10am to leave enough time to get petrol and cash before doing the 2-hour drive south to Franz Josef. The roads were as empty as we've become used to - where IS everyone? - but the weather was pretty overcast and, as we neared the mountains surrounding the Glacier, the cloud seemed to be getting heavier and lower. We'd convinced ourselves that the flight would be cancelled and were making alternative plans by the time we arrived in Franz Josef. So, we were pleasantly surprised when the man in the office said that the weather conditions were perfect for the flight and it would be leaving on time!

We grabbed a quick lunch before heading back to pay our dues and wait for the flight. The helcopters take six passengers and, as there were four people booked on the package which took in Franz Josef Glacier, Fox Glacier, Fox Mount and Mount Cook, we were upgraded from our more basic package to theirs! We had only booked on the flight to land on Franz Josef Glacier. Very cool.

The pilot looked worryingly young, but seemed very calm and confident, so we put our entire trust in him (well, we had to, didn't we!). Iain had a window seat and I was next in, but could see brilliantly. We had headphones on so that the pilot could point out the various places of interest. The views were just fantastic, although at times the distance to the ground was a bit daunting. Iain's not too fond of heights and I wondered how he'd cope, but he didn't seem to have a problem. I, on the other hand, was pretty apprehensive at times, especially when the helicopter was juddering with turbulence. There didn't seem to be much keeping us so far up in the air and there was a disconcerting whiff of petrol! Poor Iain's leg must have been bruised with me gripping it so tightly at times! He said later that his stomach was in his throat at times - he even had a bit of a roller-coaster effect at times, which I didn't get, thank goodness.

I couldn't see where the helicopter could make a landing on the mountain; everywhere seemed either covered with crevassed snow or was too steep. When we saw another helicopter land in the side of the mountain it seemed to me that it would just slide down the side of the mountain! But when we landed quite near by, it was actually quite level; strange perspectives, obviously.

We had our obligatory photograph-beside-the helicopter taken - and even had a souvenir photo taken by the pilot, which he then put in a little card with information about the Glaciers and surrounding area for us to buy, if we wanted it (we did). Very cool.

It was such an exhilarating experience and we're so chuffed that we did it; it was absolutely fabulous. The drive back was certainly tame in comparison!

Our Landlords had told us about a quaint little place on the way back, which Linda described as 'a real sleepy little hollow', called Okarito. And that's exactly what it was; sleepy to the point of comatose! I think it's mostly holiday homes there now, but they're very cute. There's a lagoon there where white herons nest and you can take a boat trip down the lagoon to see their nesting areas (although not when we were there!). Apparently, the town was built in 1865 when the gold rush began and was a bit of a hub for about a year! By 1866 the gold was gone and the town had to find other ways of surviving. They transported logs up and down the lagoon to other towns, digging out the harbour entrance by hand when it got silted up! This is a problem even today, causing flooding for the properties there, although they use diggers these days. Cracker little place. You can still buy the odd building plot there - or 'section' - although they're at a bit of a premium, despite the flooding problem. Apparently, though, the plots are a set size of about 10 metres wide by 40 metres deep, which causes a few headaches for the architect designing the property to go on the plot!!

We're leaving fairly early in the morning to head up the coast and then over to Blenheim, where we'll stay another couple of nights. Flushed with the excitement of our first helicopter flight, we're thinking of doing a whale-spotting flight at Kaikoura, but we haven't decided on that, yet.