Up and at em early this morning ready for our heli hike on Fox glacier. The total trip including the walk on the glacier took 4hrs, it was Steve's first time in a helicopter and what better place than here! From the launch pad you could just about see the glacier rising up in between the mountain peaks.

We were so lucky with the weather too (I know I mention the weather a lot but it makes a hell of a difference seen as almost everything that you do in New Zealand is outside)the sky was brilliant blue and not a cloud to be seen. We were given the safety talk before getting into the heli, Steve gave me a huge grin as he put his big ear phones on which allowed us to hear the pilot and not lose the power to hear altogether!

The journey up was amazing to experience the pilot took us up to the top so we could then see the whole glacier below us that looked like it was melting away into the sea (which coincidentally it is, moving at 5m per day)the pilot also liked to make us lose our stomachs with really tight and steep turns some which felt not far short of going completely upside down. Once on the glacier we were given our cramp-ons which are spikes you attach to your boots to give more grip, it takes a few minutes to get used to them but once adjusted you're ready to go. We also were given walking sticks with spikes on the end which were definitely needed and were good guides as to how sturdy the ice was around us.

Once Split into 2 groups we had 2 guides between 8 of us which was a good size and we had plenty of opportunity to ask them questions and get a lot of info about the glacier etc.As the glacier is moving constantly the paths that the guides create change everyday, one day there will be huge ice caves that have melted and crashed the next, the same applies to the paths and steps that they create each day so they never use the paths twice. It does take a while for them to chisel out the steps and choose a safe way as sometimes you can be on top of a cave and not know it so it's always safety first people!

There places in the glacier where there are deep crevices that actually go straight to the floor these can be as deep as ??? and people who are trained ice climbers have been known to abseil down and climb back out.

What really amazed me was the amount of water around you can constantly hear rushing water and see loads of waterfalls carving meanders in the ice, this was something that I wasn't expecting to see or hear. There were certain places where the ice is completely see through and has frozen over a big puddle and once standing on it you appear to have stolen the powers of Christ and can walk on water, great!

The formations of the ice were unbelievable and only something that can be seen by the heli hike trip as it's less disturbed and the temperature is better for preserving them although they can be created and melt in a few days.

Our guides found a safe ice cave that we could go into, it radiated bright blues and the ice was so smooth, a few people did have a fall in the cave as it was quite difficult to get a grip even with the cramp ons.All the pictures should be on here if I've actually managed to put them all on and I'm sure they will probably say a lot more then my words can.

It was a once in a lifetime experience as is much of our travels so far, here's hoping we don't get complacent about what we're doing as some people never get the opportunity to in fly in a helicopter let alone in New Zealand, on a glacier walking through ice caves!!!