One of the more interesting New Zealand tour packages out there is the glacier helicopter trip. Few things in the world are as impressive or breathtaking as the massive glaciers on New Zealand’s west coast. Moving in tiny fractions over the years, these tremendous formations of ice are still carving their way through the landscape beneath, reshaping the earth in ways that won’t entirely be understood for many, many years. For the adventurous, a helicopter tour offers the opportunity to experience these behemoths from a captivating, top-down view that is hard to match.
Unlike a fixed-wing airplane, a helicopter is perfect for touring and visiting unique and forbidding geography. Helicopters can travel in any direction with ease, unlike a plane that requires long runways and extensive airspace.
Therefore, a helicopter tour of the glaciers offers a wide variety of exciting opportunities. The aircraft can easily fly high above the formations, showing the many hills and valleys of the ice, giving a perspective of just how vast and grand the glaciers are. Then, just as easily, it can drop down and skim along near the surface, allowing an up close and personal look at the massive ice and snow. To top it all off, pilots can land on some of the sturdier parts of the ice, letting their passengers out to examine and walk on the ancient structures.
A glacier tour has a lot to offer the adventurous vacationer. Many people have an idea that the world has been entirely explored, and that civilization extends everywhere. However, the vast reaches of the glaciers in New Zealand offer a glimpse of how close at hand nature really is — and how powerful it remains despite all our advances. It’s a thrilling experience, basking in the extraordinary beauty and reminding us that there’s always something more waiting to be discovered.
