I have already mentioned that I have a secret list of experiences that I would like to try once in my life. Indeed I created this list before setting off to my round the world trip, hoping that I could cross out a couple of positions. Many points on the list at the time seemed rather impossible – say, sky diving – I never thought I’d have the nerve and the opportunity to actually implement them. Others seemed rather trivial – horse riding for example. But there is this special effect in the Universe. When you charge your brain with some task, it starts to look for ways to put it into action, quite subconsciously. And almost by itself out of chaos the way emerges to reach your goal. That’s why it is so important to actually have goals, to write them down clearly for yourself. It is also often very difficult to implement a complex objective without proper preparation, and an ill-prepared attack can easily result in failure. But if you build your way in small steps, gradually increasing your abilities and expectations of yourself, we can reach things that seemed impossible to us before.
One line in my list was to fly on a helicopter. Somehow I’d never done it in my life. A couple of times in South America and in Australia I almost managed to get on a flight, but every time there was a last moment cancellation – usually due to insufficient number of participants.
One of the key stops on the Kiwi Experience route down the South Island is a small town of Franz Josef. It is famous for being next to the Franz Josef glacier and allowing easy access to it. Easy access is a metaphor though, the only way to actually get onto the glacier is to fly there in a copter. The ice walls of the glacier itself are too complicated to climb for those without extensive climbing experience.
We reached Franz Josef late in the evening. The day was unusually sunny for these parts – almost no cloud in the sky. Therefore immediately we signed up for a helicopter excursion to the glacier for the next day. The bus stops in Franz Josef for two days specifically to allow for such an excursion. As instructed, the next morning I got up to be ready for a 8 am start. But as I looked out the window, I saw the sky fully covered with fog and clouds. And indeed in the flight centre we were told that all flights for the day are cancelled. And yet our driver did not give up and told us to register for a flight the next morning. If the flights were to take place, our bus departure would be delayed as needed. And that’s what we did.
In the afternoon I decided at least to take a look at the glacier from the ground, particularly as the sky cleared up. You can reach the glacier valley by bus, it is about 5 km from the town. The start of the walk to the glacier:
Continue reading To the glacier in a helicopter →
