Ice and parrots

It wasn't always dignified. It began with a short ride on an ancient, but characterful Bedford bus. Then we had to change into old boots and were weighed (fortunately in small groups) before being squeezed into a helicopter for the short trip up onto the glacier.

Neither of us had been in a helicopter before. It's surprisingly gentle, even when climbing or descending. We flew quite close to waterfalls and rock faces en route up the mountain and did those swoopy manoeuvres much favoured by helicopter pilots in the best Hollywood films. Us pilots (family joke) found it a bit disconcerting and reached for the grab handle that wasn't there.[NB Curly would like it noted that she loved every minute of the flight and grabbed at nothing].

We landed on the glacier and were met by Ruth, our guide. She was strong, friendly and knowlegeable - and had red hair (a good thing of course). She enthusiastically hacked steps in the ice and told us where it was and wasn't safe to stand. She found ice caves for us the slide through and took us on a scenic trek across Fox Glacier. We got wet and muddy, but it didn't matter. We had a great time and were sad when it was time for the flight back to base.

After a tasty lunch we continued on our journey, stopped in a mountain pass to see some Keas - a kind of chunky green flightless parrot with a silly waddling walk and a taste for the rubber trim around car windscreens.

Finally, we found a cosy 'alpine hotel' in Arthur's Pass - the highest township in New Zealand.

And so to sleep - zzzz.