Last night, I dreamt that when the helicopter dropped me off on the glacier, instead of going for a walk, there was a bouncy castle to play on instead.

Strangely enough, it wasn’t quite like that – but it was amazing.

We had to check-in for the heli-hike about an hour before take-off – it took that long to get all the gear on – special boots etc – and to go through the safety checks. Also on the hike were Alison (who I first met in Dunedin) and Ira, Shoham and Noah (who I first met in Te Anau) – so lots of familiar faces.

Once kitted out, we were taken by helicopter for a 10 minute flight over the glacier’s surface and then down and round to a special landing spot (just below the ‘dramatic’ ice-fall). My first experience of helicopter flight- fantastic, I’m definitely going to do that again.

Once out on the ice, we had to attach our ice-talonz – these are supposed to make it easier. They made your feet feel very heavy – but relatively secure – if you trust them.

… We set off up the centre of the glacier in search of ice caves. As usual, I was a bit of a slow coach – a combination of uncertainty over where to put my feet and my usual ‘un-fit-ness’. We reached the first ice cave – to get down to it was quite a big step over a small water flow…

So guess who fell in the small stream and got wet… that’s right, it was me, although I was more worried about my camera and Green Bear – who was attached to my fleece pocket – than injury or dignity!

Once back on my feet, I was able to admire the ice cave – and it was amazing. It was about 10 metres long, and just about wide enough and tall enough to walk through. After my fall, I was a little bit more unsure of my footing and ended up having to walk at the front (behind the guide) so the group didn’t get spread out or me get left behind.

It didn’t seem to make much difference to the pace of the group – we were all too busy ‘wowing’ at the scenery to walk fast – Kevin the Guide called us a dawdling group!

… Our route back down to the heli-pad took us out to the side of the ice flow – a very different terrain – it felt much easier to walk (or perhaps I was getting used to it by then). We walked in and out of the ice flows then along a couple of ice cliffs – Kevin had to use his ice axe to cut steps into the ice a few times.

The ice in this part in particular had a blue tint to it. When the sun shone, the blue tints were even more apparent.

I think I kept up a lot better on the way back – the only difficult parts were where a long step across a stream or hole in the ice were needed – it was a stretch to get my little legs to reach that far. Before we knew it, we were back where we started and it was time to take off our Ice -Talonz and get ready for the helicopter flight back down.

Franz Joseph Glacier, South Island, New Zealand, 23rd April 2004

Green Bear had been with my me on my travels since 2000, usually attached to my backpack.

Excerpt from New Zealand Adventures, 2004