Sunday 22nd January 2022
Today we had an early start as we needed to be at Glacier Country Helicopters for our 8.15am helicopter flight. We allowed way more time than we needed, so ended up hanging around for about 40 minutes but it’s better than being late!
We were driven from the centre to the helicopter takeoff pad in a minibus.
There were six of us in the helicopter, 2 in the front with the pilot and 4 in the back. Pete and I took it in turns to have a window seat, with Pete by the window on the way to the glacier, and me by it on the way back.
I’ve never been in a helicopter before, and it was a truly incredible experience to fly over the glaciers. The scenery was just breathtaking.
After a short flight, we landed on the glacier and had about 10-15 minutes to walk around and take photos. The ground was much more compact and slippery than regular snow. I’m so glad we went for the slightly more expensive trip which involved the glacier landing, as it was an amazing experience.
As we flew back, the cloud started descending and the pilot said they may have to cancel the flights after the next one. We were extremely lucky with our timing, as the visibility on the way back was definitely deteriorating.
After our helicopter flight, we drove to Hokitika, passing by beautiful scenery on the way. The weather had also brightened up on the way, which made it look all the more lovely.
In Hokikita, we visited the National Kiwi Centre. I thought this was a way better experience than the Otorohanga Kiwi House on the North Island, where you could barely make out the kiwis. Here you could see them so much more clearly, even though they were in a darkened environment.
The National Kiwi Centre also has some aquatic life including turtles with ridiculously long necks, crayfish (which you can have a go at fishing), and giant eels. You can feed the giant eels, which was particularly fun!
We then had a 30 minutes drive to Hokitika Gorge, which has an hour long circular walking track. It was well worth doing, as the water is a gorgeous shade of turquoise.
The walking route also has a couple of long swing bridges across the gorge, which were fun to cross.
We drove back through Hokitika and soon had to fill up with petrol. There was a small food truck, PON’s Thai Food Takeaway, next to the petrol station and we were feeling peckish so got a portion of dumplings to share. They were very good dumplings!
We then continued the drive to Tophouse Historical Inn, where we were staying overnight. As the name suggests, it’s quite a historic building with an interesting history (including a 19th century double murder suicide!)
We’d preordered dinner at the hotel and just about had enough time to check in, drop our bags in our room and buy a drink before dinner was served. The drinks were from the very small onsite bar (apparently the smallest in New Zealand) and it was lovely sitting outside overlooking the fields.
Dinner was from a set menu of smoked salmon, pork belly, and apple and ginger crumble and was served on one long communal table. The food was excellent, and it was quite nice chatting to the other guests.
After dinner, we went for a walk around the grounds to get a closer look at the ducks and llamas. It was a very relaxing end to a quite long day.
Emma and Pete’s Asian Adventure 