New Zealand: Wanaka and Mt. Aspiring Helicopter Tour

When we decided to go to New Zealand we debated on whether or not to take a helicopter tour to see some of the glaciers.  We did a helicopter in Kuaui, HI which was one of my favorite things I've ever done on a trip so I really wanted to try a helicopter again.  The week before we left we finally decided to book it and we were not disappointed!

There were heli-hike options to a few of the popular glaciers but we opted for the Mt. Aspiring and Glaciers tour.  This provided us with an alpine landing and a glacier landing in our 60 minute flight.  It was 60 minutes of some of the most spectacular scenery we have ever seen!  Hopefully my pictures will back up this statement.

Lifting off from the north end of Lake Wanaka

On our way to the alpine landing area

Derek video taped almost the entire ride.  We haven't gone through the video yet so nothing to share right now. 

Enjoying the beautiful views from the alpine landing area

Where the plane landed.  It snowed a few days ago so there was still a bit where we landed.

Can you spot the glacial lake in the valley between the mountains? 

Back in the air and headed to the glacier 

Flying past one of the glaciers in Mt Aspiring National Park

Waterfall from the glacier

Up close with the edge of one of the glaciers

Stream running through the valley

Cracking on the glacier

Made it to the top of the glacier

Pretty excited! 

The clouds wanted to block views of Mt. Aspiring but we did get a picture with it peaking out above the cloud.

Mt. Aspiring National park

Heading back to Wanaka

After the helicopter tour we headed into the town of Wanaka to check into our B&B for the night.  It was our first authentic B&B experience and we really enjoyed it.  We stayed in a private apartment off the side of this retired couple's home and in the morning they cooked us breakfast, complete with fresh squeezed orange juice.

View from outside our room at the B&B 

The picture below captures something interesting we watched as we sat on the shore of Lake Wanaka and ate take out for dinner.  These people hooked a hose to the water jet of a jet ski.  They had made some contraption so that the water provided propulsion to push this lady out of the water like a rocketman.  Genius.

Rocketman?

In the end, it was a perfect day!

New Zealand: Milford Sound and Key Summit

Our journey continued with a visit to Milford Sound.  Milford Sound is actually a fjord and was formed by glaciers cutting through the rock.  The rock faces surrounding the sound rise up to 6,700 feet and the   water goes as deep as 1,600 feet.  Everything was unbelievably large and beautiful.

The best way to see Milford Sound is by boat so we took a two hour tour around the sound and took in all the beauty.  We went nice and early before the coach buses from Queenstown arrived and the boats filled up.

This waterfall is three times the size of Niagara Falls but it is hard to tell because everything else is so large.

Seals sunning on the rocks.

One the other side of the sound was another group of seals

They took us up close to this waterfall 

Very small waterfalls and beautiful turquoise water 

That boat looks so small compared to the tall cliffs

Loving Milford Sound!

 
With the rest of the afternoon free we headed to Key Summit to hike.  The trail was steep but not too long.  When we reached the Summit we were rewarded with views of the valley below and Lake Marion.  Derek heard about an unmarked trail that would take us along the ridge of the mountain to views of a few more lakes so we gave it a try.  There was almost no one else on this path so it was like we had the whole mountain to ourselves.

Derek is ready to hike!

Have you ever seen a port-o-potty with a better view?

"The hills are alive...."  Sorry, wrong country. 

We had this view all to ourselves.  I could have sat there all day.

Lake Fergus and Lake Gunn

Lake Mckellar

Derek with Lake Marion

Headed back down the mountain. Hiking is easy when you can enjoy this scenery the whole time.

With every day we thought the scenery couldn't be any prettier but time and time again we were proved wrong.  It was was an exhausting day but completely worth it!

New Zealand: Horseback Riding, Glenorchy, and Te Anau

Our second day in New Zealand we planned to go horseback riding in Glenorchy.  We headed up to Dart stables for a two hour ride with river crossings and views of the Misty Mountains and Lake Wakatipu.  The morning was dreary and rain clouds loomed so of course as we got ready to mount the horses the rain started coming down.  For the first hour and a half of the ride it poured and we were unable to see much of anything.  As we crossed the last river and headed back to the stable the sun came out to reveal all the amazing scenery we had been missing due to the fog and rain.  We took a camera and snapped a few pictures which I accidentally deleted but they weren't very good with the weather anyways.  Luckily I snapped one picture at the end with my phone so that is all I have to share for horseback riding.

Looks like it had never rained

If we ever make it back to New Zealand I would love to try horseback riding again on a clearer day.

From Glenorchy we headed on down the road to Te Anau where we would be staying for the next couple nights.  We were blown away by the views driving along the highway.

Sheep grazing on the edge of Lake Wakatipu

Unbelievable views.  Hard to believe it was so gloomy and rainy two hours earlier. 

We were able to make our way down to the edge of the lake. 

We drove through a fair amount of farmland before reaching Te Anau.  We saw more sheep than people.

Made it to the shores of Lake Te Anau

We settled into our cottage and enjoyed a nice steak on the grill and a bottle of New Zealand wine.  Despite the rain it was another wonderful day!

New Zealand: Skippers Canyon and Wine Tasting

Last week Derek and I got took advantage of living only eleven hours from New Zealand and made the trip down there.  It has always been a place on our bucket list of trips and it certainly did not disappoint!  We were only there for seven full days so we really packed in the activities to enjoy as much of the south island as we could.

Our trip started in Queenstown where we stayed right on Lake Wakatipu.  Our first morning we met with Adin to go on a 4x4 tour of Skippers Canyon.  The canyon is a gorge through which the Shotover River runs and has some breathtaking views.

Beautiful Queenstown

Entrance to Skippers Canyon 

Rocky peaks and the Land Rover we were in 

We are just a tiny speck compared to the size of these mountains 

"Hey over there!"

Our first glimpse of the Shotover River

I loved how turquoise the river was.  It comes from the glaciers so it is cold too!

The rocky cliff we drove the canyon on.  I can't imagine the difficulty in building the road. 

One thing you might notice in the pictures is that there are some dead pine trees.  They are purposely killing off the trees because they are not indigenous to the island.  It is said that the forest in the picture below was started with just four pine trees planted by family living at the homestead next to the school. The pine trees are taking over and killing the local vegetation so they are trying to return everything to its original state.

We would soon drive over the bridge in the picture to go to the red roofed school house in the forest.

Single lane bridge crossing over the canyon

Bridge, waterfall, river, AMAZING

For the LOTR fans, the Ford of Bruinen scene was filmed here

Skippers school where we stopped for tea and pikelets (pancakes)

The Skippers Canyon graveyard

The plaques gave details of the tombstones.  My favorite is John Tripp who was "killed with Cornelius Nolan while thawing dynamite on a shovel".

About to skip a couple rocks on the Shotover River

Castle Rock and the winding road we road  along the canyon

Rocky alpine

Sad to leave the Canyon but ready to go wine tasting

After the Skippers Canyon we headed out to a few wineries for lunch and some wine tasting.

We were told about a winery that smoked meat in old wine barrels so we had to try.  It was right on the edge of
this river. 

We ate lunch at this table overlooking the river and enjoyed a delicious lunch and wine.

A little further down the river. More dead pine trees that they are trying to get rid of.

To the left is another vineyard on the river that we visited

Across the road was a pedestrian bridge mainly used for bungee jumping.

After four wineries and watching a few bungee jumpers we called it quits for the day and headed back to Queenstown.  We kept our mexican eating streak alive and had our least appetizing mexican meal yet.  We had to make sure we got a good nights sleep so we could be ready for another exciting day.  New Zealand trip was off to a great start!