Today's activity is all about the Glacier, I've never done one and neither has Ais. Our choices include a half day or full day trek from the terminus of the glacier up a few hundred metres, then again there is a perfectly functional helicopter that can do all the walking for us for a few dollars more, so...
Our flight is a respectable 10am and so we should be done and on our way to Queenstown by Noon-ish.
After waiting for the pilots latte we meet our helicopter and head off up into the glacier, it's very difficult to comprehend the sheer size of the ice mass until the pilot points out that you could lose the Eiffel Tower in one of the crevasses that look insignificant from the air, even though we hovering just above the ice, apparently it reaches 800m deep in places.
We ascend up past the blue ice and bright blue water pools to over 2500 metres in altitude to where the snow is thick and the glacier begins its life, here we land for some photo opportunities and a chance to take in the view back down the valley.
Our flight back is a quick 5 minutes and we are on our way South to Queenstown, and another 320 odd kilometres, by noon.
The road down follows the coast then cuts inside and skirts Lake Wanaka, we stop off at a number of photo spots and a couple of waterfalls, as we approach Queenstown there are two roads to take, one is 60km longer than the other and the other cuts through the mountains and is marked on the map as 'unpaved', now we are only driving an old Nissan Sunny...but them Japanese make tough cars!
The road less travelled in this case is the better option and if the Sunny can make it you will too, it climbs up to a beautiful vantage point of the glacial lakes and mountains and then winds its way down into the Queenstown valley through a series of hairpin turns, reminiscent of a Tour de France stage.
As we round the last valley a 737 crosses our path and heads right through a pass, flying in between two mountains and below their summits before landing in the valley, a spectacular arrival to Queenstown and one which will hopefully be as spectacular when we depart in a few days.
We bagged a cheap room at The Copthorne just outside of town, so we unload and head in.
Queenstown is alot smaller than imagined, it's like a Colorado ski town and still has an air of nostalgia about the place from when it was a gold mining town, only 150 years ago.
There us a cable car and a myriad of insane activities with which to nullify your insurance policy including, paragliding, white water rafting, bungee jumping, bungee swinging, helibiking, river luge, jet boating, canyoning and macrame.
We find a fish restaurant serving White bait and local green lipped mussels, so two down, three to go.They speak funny down here, that explains the title or "Tuttle" as they would probably say.
Organise day tomorrow, Suss the place out, book activities, update the Last Will and Testimony.
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