Two weeks before I visited New Zealand in 2011, a major tragedy hit the area when an Earthquake devastated the town of Christchurch. Our travel plans had us staying three nights in Christchurch, so we needed to be diverted away from the city in order to have a place to stay (our original hotel was not operational). This unfortunate tragedy brought us to a hotel near the Franz Josef glacier, where we spent two nights in an area with fantastic views of the mountains and glacier.
On our second day in town, we worked up the nerve to take a helicopter ride to the top of the glacier. It was my first time in a helicopter, and it was an amazing experience. The way up to the top of the glacier was definitely my favorite part, flying over massive snow piles with beautiful patterns of fissures. While they seemed small from thousands of feet away, the snow piles were indeed massive.
After ascending to the top of the Glacier, we were able to land the helicopter and take photos of our surroundings, and in front of the helicopter. You’ll just have to wait until a future Friday photo to see those!