Today has been a most excellent day. The day for a slightly scary but mostly exciting journey by helicopter up to the glacier (there isn't really another way to get onto the ice as it's pretty dangerous near the bottom end). After getting kitted out in matching waterproofs, our group of 12 was taken up in two helicopter loads. We were lucky as earlier flights had been cancelled due to wind, but it had died down enough for us. It was a most spectaucular way to approach the glacier! Then we had three hours of wandering around following our guide, who shared lots of interesting bits of information about all the types of ice formation we saw, and facts about the glacier. It was surprisingly lumpy and bumpy up there, with really deep creavasses and features all round. Realły put the ice sculptures I saw in queenstown to shame!
By antidote to all the excitement, I went on a more sedate little tour of the kiwi sanctuary, where they are incubating eggs which are hatched in the wild, but which are taken into care in order to increase their survival rate, which is only 5% in the wild. This species of kiwi has increased from (if I remember right) about 100 in the wild, to 400, so it was dangerously on the edge of extinction, but has much better prospects now :-)
Tonight I shall go to the hot pools for a swim!
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