Fly Like An Eagle

March 30

What a beautiful day to take a scenic helicopter flight over six NZ glaciers. It’s also a great day to take video of Mitch going up in the helicopter for his flight while I wait safely with my feet on the ground.

The pilot was clucking at me because I didn’t go. Wow, so 7th grade! He was smiling and kidding of course.

I debated whether I should eat the entire apple turnover we just bought at the bakery or save the other half for Mitch if/when he got back from his flight. Feeling optimistic about his return, I only ate half. Good thing, because 45 minutes later he safely landed.

Here’s Mitch to share his heli adventure:

I spoke to Matt, the chief pilot at Precision Helicopters Hokitika NZ yesterday afternoon and he offered to fly us up right then. However, after explaining that Victoria wasn’t interested in the trip, he said he could pair me up with a few others instead for a 9:45a start. That sounded good to me, so we said we’d meet him at the heliport at 9:45a, about 30 minutes away.

After meeting Matt when we arrived, he took us through the safety briefing, being sure to point out where the important survival kit was on the chopper. Hmm, I wondered. Is this going to turn into another sort of “Into the Wild” story?

He had me do some quick paperwork, and a few minutes later we loaded on the helicopter. Just before takeoff, his daughter radioed, “Do you have enough gas?” I thought to myself, isn’t that a question he should have already figured out?

He radioed back, “Nope, let’s add some” and he got out of the chopper to fill up the tank with a gas pump from the nearby fuel truck.

Back on board with a loaded fuel tank, he started the engines, and we took off into the Whitcombe Valley with Victoria looking on from the safety of the gate outside the helipad.

There were three passengers in the back and one up front with the pilot. I sat in the back left on the way up and Matt moved me to the front for the trip down.

Matt shared the history of the area with us as he flew and that of the glaciers as well. He used to be a rescue helicopter pilot for 30 years in NZ and Australia. A Hokitika native, he grew up near the town. Incidentally, he was also Tom Cruise’s personal pilot for a while. There’s more to that story, but we didn’t have time to hear about it during our 45 minute journey.

As you’ll see in the ride up, it was pretty spectacular as we rose above the valley over the Southern Alps and the Arnold River to explore the Ivory Lake and six different glaciers in the region, including the Wilkinson and Ramsay Glaciers.

Along the flight we saw remote locations of where Pounamu (greenstone) and gold were found. And Matt pointed out historic deer stalker huts and wild alpine animals like the Himalayan Tahr.

The snow melt from the glaciers creates unbelievable unspoiled crystal clear lakes and rivers amongst the vast native bush and beautiful alpine terrain.

On our flight home, we landed at the top of a glacier for a magical glacier landing giving us 360 degree views of the snow covered alpine mountains that touch the West Coast sea as well as views into snow caves atop the glacier.

The vistas were mind blowing. It is a surreal feeling immersing yourself in this kind of environment — one you can only get from a helicopter journey — a true one-of-a-kind New Zealand experience. 

Here’s a full recap of the journey.

Our afternoon activity was a visit to Hokitika Gorge.

This beautiful spot with turquoise water, granite cliffs and lush rainforest set against the backdrop of a clear blue sky was a sight to behold.

It was an easy walk through the forest and over the suspension bridge, stopping at several viewing spots along the way.

Our friends the sandflies were there to welcome us, so we didn’t stick around too long at the boulders.

Mitch befriended a Dutch couple on his heli flight, who we ran into at the Gorge. We ended up grabbing dinner with them and had a great time. It’s so nice to meet so many cool people on our travels!

Our evening entertainment was a visit to the Glow Worm Dell, thousands of glow worms twinkling like stars in their natural environment.

These bioluminescent glow worms aren’t actually worms. They are the larvae of fungus gnats that glow in the dark. We’ll be visiting glow worm caves on the North Island later in the trip. This is the second time we’ve seen them on the South Island, and it’s pretty cool. NZ and Australia are the only two places in the world to see them.

We walked back to our Airbnb across the street and admired the night sky again.

Inside the Airbnb, the smell was a bit better. Mitch left the window open all day with the fan going so that helped reduce the stench.