Ian and Ming vs. The World: Helicopter

We began our day by changing our schedule, which we had already changed the day before. We were having a hard time deciding which helicopter package to book. Some of them were combined with jet boats and luges (wheeled not iced). Some landed on snowy peaks, others on actual glaciers.

Our first attempt had us doing a Fox glacier landing. We called the booking agent last night and asked where to meet the helicopter. "It's about a five hour drive from Queenstown," he said. Whoops, too far. They were, however, willing to do a special flight that left directly from Queenstown for the low, low price of 3,000USD. We considered this for 3 or 4 milliseconds before canceling our Fox glacier plans.

This morning our new plan had us doing the jet boat and helicopter package, but we were somewhat dismayed that the "snow" landing wasn't technically a glacier landing. To be honest, though, we weren't 100% sure we would be able to tell the difference. The kicker, though, was that the combined package gave us less time in the helicopter. Eventually we settled on a helicopter-only glacier landing package. Since this one departed at 2:00pm, we had some time to kill before take-off. We decided to make a quick detour to Arrowtown and take some scenic shots on the way.

Somehow we ended up at a winery for a tasting. The vineyard, Amisfield, actually exports to the US, but the wines we tasted were just so-so. Or so we thought. After tasting the 2007 and 2008 Pinot Noir the sommelier asked me if I could taste a big difference. I realized that my nose was stuffed up, but that it wouldn't have mattered anyway because I wasn't paying very close attention. I said "I dunno," and admitted that I probably wasn't giving these wines a fair shake. Later we read a New York Times article that rated that 2008 the best Pinot Noir in New Zealand. Wine connoisseur, I am not. I like Zinfandels better anyway.

Lunch in Arrowtown, however, was delicious. Saffron opened at noon, and the weather was gorgeous so we ate outside. The pork/squid/slaw salad we had was scrumptious, as were the mussels and lamb main dishes. Here the appetizers are called entrees, confusing the ordering process a little, but this time we got just the right amount.

Here we are enjoying the salad in the sun.

The late helicopter departure gave us plenty of time to digest as we moseyed back to Queenstown. We arrived a few minutes early and met our pilot, Mr. White, in the lobby. He seemed like a nice enough guy, if a little reserved. Three other passengers joined us, making it a six-person flight.

Ming and I got the front two seats for the ride out.

A minute after getting strapped in, we were taking off.

Ok, that last picture was of a different helicopter, but I'm pretty sure that is what we looked like as well. We rose quickly over the airport and pivoted to face the mountains beyond.

It was a short ride to some stunning scenery.

The weather was perfect for a sky tour of the surrounding peaks, whose names I've entirely forgotten.

The ride was remarkably smooth.

When some glaciers came into view, we swung down for a closer look.

Closer...

Too close!

With some expert heli-hovering skills, our pilot kept us safely away from the craggily blue ice, and a few minutes later we were searching for a flat spot to land.

Found a spot.

The view was staggering.

Made me wish I'd brought my skis. The pilot actually ran heli-ski trips as well, but to convince Ming to do that I probably would have had to pay off the pilot to sneak the skis onboard, dump us on the peak, and fly off. The trip was already pretty pricey, so I settled for some photos.

The pilot left the helicopter running for the duration of the 10 minutes we were on the ice. We ducked back under spinning the blades (okay so they were well out of reach), and climbed back aboard.

We snapped one last shot as we left.

The pilot, sensing that we were sad to see our heli-experience end so soon, tried to make conversation over our headsets. He pointed to his controls and explained what the various gauges were for.

I wish I had noticed at the time the bright blue control at the bottom right, and asked him what it's primary function was. Then he might have asked whether we should test it out, and we might have gotten to listen to some U2 on the way back. And maybe, just maybe, he would have loosened up a little upon hearing the music, taken a look at his passengers, realized we were all the adventurous sort, and suggested we "have a little fun."

Hypothetically, he could have double checked that there was no other air traffic in the vicinity and if it was all clear, he might then have asked us all to turn our cameras off for the next five minutes. As the passenger in this situation, I would probably have been confused, but excited that we might get to experience something out of the ordinary.

Over the next few minutes we would make swooping passes over a number of peaks and ridges. At times it would feel as if the helicopter were headed straight for the mountain-side and at the last minute we would pull up and see blue sky in front as the mountain-side fell away along with our stomachs. Whatever queasiness we felt, however, would be largely psychological, since our pilot could deftly diminish the g-force effects of each mountain-side swoop.

At the end of these escapades, Mr. White (whose name I might now realize had been changed to protect his identity), would probably turn to us and say "that never happened," the suggestion being, of course, that he might get into a considerable amount of trouble for galavanting among the peaks with tourists in tow. As we flew back to Queenstown, I am sure I would thought to myself, "that's the coolest thing that's never happened to me, but I wish I had the photos to disprove it didn't."

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After the breathtaking helicopter ride, Ian was a little spent, but the day was so beautiful that I couldn't just let it go to waste! So I talked him into driving us to Lake Wanaka, roughly 50 minutes away.

I didn't realize that the road was essentially miles and miles of twists and turns... oops. Great scenery though! Too bad there weren't any turnoff points to stop for pictures.

Wanaka is essentially a luxury vacationing spot - apparently lots of expensive lakefront property to be had - but for most of the world, it's a day trip from Queenstown. Some fellow tourists from China told us that the town essentially shuts down after 7pm. The view, however, did not disappoint.

Ian put me on camera duty while he went in search of a good napping spot under the trees. I walked along the shore for a bit, snapping more shots of the famous lake. Okay, not sure if it's really that famous - but Wikipedia tells me that it was given prominent mention during Mission Impossible 3. Apparently Tom Cruise and his movie wife really loved it here.

Wanaka is known as the gateway to Mt. Aspiring National Park - that was another hours drive along the lake though. We didn't quite make it that far, but we did manage to hit Glendhu Bay.