Diane’s Blog and Blurbs: #40 - Helicopter Ride Over the Glaciers

After our amazing wildlife encounters on the Banks Peninsula we headed to Queenstown, one of the most visited towns in New Zealand. It’s no wonder all the tourists flock here. The scenery is absolutely stunning. Lakes and mountains galore. But it was just a bit too “touristy” and busy for our liking, so we found a great place to stay about 20 minutes outside town. It was managed by a really nice couple and our 5 nights there gave us a little respit from being on the go so much.

That being said, the first thing we did was book a helicopter ride over the area. Ya just can’t keep us down.

Shortly after take off the woman next to me grabbed me and pulled me toward her. I thought she was scared and so tried to reassure her. But her only response was to pull me in even closer. I soon discovered that she didn’t speak a word of English and my Chinese is... ah not so good. But then she took out her phone attached to her “selfie stick” and proceeded to snap three photos of herself and me. I’m still trying to figure out what that was all about.

As strange as this sounds the same thing happened to Jeff when we were on a boat. A young Chinese woman came over to him and led him by the arm to the railing where she proceeded to take selfies with him. I’m not sure if it is a cultural thing, or what explanation to put on this.

Oh well, maybe when these women get back home they’ll be talking about their wonderful new BFFs. Glad to oblige.

Anyhow, back to the helicopter experience. We took off from Queenstown and headed through the valleys and up to the glaciers. A highlight of the trip was actually landing on a glacier and playing in real snow and ice.

The pictures speak for themselves. So do our smiles!