Franz Josef Glacier

On our third attempt at the Franz Josef heli-hike we had bright clear blue sky, the perfect day for a flight. We got into town and were surrounded for the first time with the sound of helicopters taking off and landing on the landing pads located about 100m from the main street. We headed to the main office to check in, where we were given boots, waterproof jackets, trousers and crampons for the ice. We were then taken through a short safety demonstration of how not to be chopped up by the helicopters propellers before being taken to the landing pads. Stuart and I were given wristbands, which we happily learnt were given to those who were going to be sitting in the front seat, up next to the pilot. The helicopters were on a tight schedule so as soon as the helicopter landed on the landing pad we were lead straight to it to get in and belt up. It was a tight squeeze but before long we were up and flying up the Franz Josef valley towards the glacier.
 
On the way our pilot gave us a tour of the valley, flying past huge waterfalls and over the top of the cascading glacier. He showed us the corrie where the glacier originated and a large melt-water river, which ran through the glacier. You could see for miles for the seat of the helicopter, all the way to the tasman sea and the coast to the tops of the highest peaks of the western alps. The pilot took us in to land and we stepped out onto the ice to meet our glacier guides.
 
Our guide was Pete, from Nottingham who had been guiding on the glacier for over 3 years. He took us on a route around ice caves, through small crevasses and over the ice flows and melt-water streams. It was a fantastic experience and we even tried some of the glaciers water, some of the freshest water in the world. The Franz Josef glacier was a much brighter blue and had limited rock debris compared to many of the glaciers in the European Alps. The reason being that the glacier moves so quickly, at a rate of 50cm a day.
 

We then got back into the helicopter and flew back to the town were we finished our day bathing in some hot springs.