Blue sky day

Day 17 Queenstown 

We checked in to our flight on time, and found we were flying with a family of four in an 8 seater plane. The plane was designed so that everyone had a window seat and the windows were large enough to allow a great view. The pilot warned us that there were strong winds in places so we were going to experience a bumpy ride.

It took an hour to reach Mt Cook village, flying over Franz Joseph, Fox and Tasman glaciers on the way. There was still snow in many areas which made the flight extremely picturesque. Flying through the valley and descending rapidly to the airport was bumpy and rough but the pilot skilfully guided the plane for a smooth landing.

The family were transferring to a helicopter to go glacier hiking, as we have done this in a few other countries we had decided to give that part a skip, instead we were driven to Mt Cook village and dropped off at the hotel / cafe building. The view and closeness of Mt Cook combined with a beautiful day and clear blue sky meant a pleasant three hour wait for the return flight. 

M went for a hike on one of the trails to Kea Point, while K enjoyed the scenery from the balcony. The pilots told us that we weren't unlucky with the weather in Franz Josef, and in fact not being able to fly is pretty standard, and having weather being good enough to fly is the exception.

The return flight to Queenstown over Lake Pukaki was as beautiful as the outward flight. From the air you could see the strikingly different shades of blue as rivers with turquoise glacier flour slowly blended in with blue water. It was a lovely day with perfect weather and a wonderful way to start winding down our New Zealand trip.