November 16, 2023

Our amazing Glacier Helicopter Tour

We had the most life changing experience these holidays and took a chartered Helicopter and landed on a Glacier. Yes, I actually just wrote that, because it actually happened. I still can’t believe it happened, but it did. It was just such a surreal experience and something that we can all tick off that big old bucket list. To do this experience with my family though, really was the icing on the….well glacier…yes, that works and I’m sticking with it (I promise no more ice puns).

We researched a few places that did this sort of mind boggling trip in Queenstown (New Zealand) and came across the lovely peeps at Heli Tours and decided they were our people. They were more than happy to host us, they were super friendly, easy to communicate with and our Pilot Matt was just amazing. We chose the ‘Glacier Direct‘ flight but there are plenty of other flights on offer (including  an exclusive ‘Heli Wine Flight‘ #justsayinladies

I can’t recommend doing this enough. It was honestly such an experience, again, I STILL can’t quite believe it happened. We got to the airport in the morning and got on the scales (eek), filled in a bit of paper work and were whisked outside to our ‘vehicle’ which just happened to be a very flash looking state of the art (million dollar) Helicopter. Matt (our trusty navigator and Heli Chief) gave us our safety brief – “Don’t open the doors” was high up in this list of his ‘don’t do’s’ *noted. We buckled in and before we knew it, we were leaping off the Helipad for our one hour adventure and instantly taking in spectacular views.

We took in views of Queenstown, then were taken through the Richardson and Harris Mountains towards the Glaciers of Mt Aspiring National Park. All the while, we were pinching ourselves – how can this even be a thing! The snow capped mountains are simply stunning and Matt made sure we got waaaaay up close and personal with them – you can check out some footage in my videos below of that!

  

After the craziness of the views – there was more! We landed on top of a Glacier…I’ll just repeat that again, we. landed. on. a. glacier. We were at 7,000ft in a helicopter, landing on one of the most spectacular Glaciers possibly in the world. There was spectacular views over the Tyndall Glacier, Mt Tyndall, MT Tewha and Headlong Peak.

Matty (yep, we’re BFF’s now) turned off the Helicopter rotors and we hopped out onto the ice. It’s really hard to describe the feeling – it didn’t seem real, yet I felt right at home. I was so out of my comfort zone yet I felt so calm. I was 7,000ft in the air but I felt so grounded. The sound of the ice crunching under our feet was a sound I’d never heard before, our feet sunk as we walked into the ‘powder’ and the kids immediately fired up their snow machines. I’m talking snow ball fights, snow angels, snowmen and they started running in every which direction like crazy people….then we quickly followed! We were like kids ourselves, so free, so uninhibited – you can’t help but run and jump and breathe in that beautiful fresh air. I just remember laughing and laughing….you know when you’re on a roller coaster and you lose it? Just like that!  I then asked everyone to stop in their tracks and not move. The sound that followed was almost deafening….total and utter silence. It’s hard to explain just how quiet that quiet is. It almost hurts your ears…I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true. That ‘sound’ alone is something you need to ‘hear’ once in your life (especially if you’re a parent lol).

We got to horse around for at least half an hour and then it was time to leave…which was sad, but also exhilarating…WE GOT TO GET BACK INTO THE HELICOPTER! More spectacular views ensued as we returned back down the Shotover River valley to Queenstown. We flew over Coronet Peak where we’d previously been skiing and got a wonderful insight into the beauty that is Queenstown.

Hand on heart, this was one of the most amazing experiences we’ve ever had and I would do it again in a heartbeat! If you want your very own experience like this, please make sure you do it though the beautiful people at Heli Tours and if you do, tell them Paging Fun Mums send you and tell Matty we said hi!

I’ve put together a few small videos for you also – it really gives you an idea on what to expect….without giving too much away. You can’t buy memories like this!

This was the epitome of fun!

Oh and one last thing, we made sure we had on our Carrie’s Beanies for Brain Cancer Beanies. Another fantastic organisation to support!

Jen x

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