Hi all,

as Pen said in her post, I was off y'day on a heli-hike! What's that? I hear you cry? Well, it basically entailed getting a helicopter flight (my first ever - FANTASTIC) up into the middle of the Franz Josef Glacier, a place that otherwise only experienced mountaineers would get to, and slip sliding around on a hike for a couple of hours wearing something like crampons on rented boots.

It was an amazing experience. The helicopter ride took us for a scenic flight over the glacier, swooping, turning and generally giving us an unforgettable view of pinnacles, crevasses, different ice formations etc and at times making it look as though we were about to crash into the mountain side before swiftly turning! I couldn't get over how instant take-off is, and how swiftly we were able to move and manoeuvre. I've wanted to ride in a helicopter for as long as I can remember, and I've finally got there.....and not only that, but I also got to experience the glacier.

It was awesome to walk through the ice fields led by our experienced guide, slide into caves and scrabble out the other side (my knees have the cuts and bruises to prove it!) and generally walk on a landscape that's constantly on the move, altho' you're not actually physically aware that it is. The weather could not have been better (after a torrential horrid day the day before) so I was treated to a crystal clear blue sky, blazing sunshine, 100% visibility and warm enough to wear shorts.... it doesn't get better than! Another major highlight to add into the bag... and still 10 weeks to go!

Although it's early winter here in NZ, our weather here on S Island has been incredible. We've had a couple of cloudy-ish days and a bit of rain, but generally the conditions have been amazing. Our journey from Franz Josef today to Queenstown was breathtaking, as we passed aqua blue rivers reflecting the snow capped mountains in perfect stillness, a beautiful green gorge (of LOTR fame) gushing and roaring down the rocks, vineyards and rolling barren hills and all sorts in between. The landscape and scenery of the west coast into the southern area is so varied and changeable, hard to describe the diversity and beauty....and we've not even hit the fjord land of Milton & Doubtful Sounds yet.

As you might have gathered, I'm absolutely loving being in the south island, and sooo thankful that we have our motor home for flexibility and independence.... and now I have my purple hot water bottle I'm a very happy camper!

As we arrived in Queenstown as it was getting dark, we're looking forward to seeing how it looks tomorrow - impressions so far are that it's a great place. We had a fish and chip supper at a cafe run by an English Peter Kay look-alike (with the same comedic timing) so we're feeling very British and "at home". We'll let you know more soon. Being back in the land of internet cafes and phones we should manage to get some more photos and blog entries on fairly soon - we really have been staying in some quite remote places this last week.

Anyway, that's it for this entry, more to follow soon.

Linda xx