Flightseeing Southern Alps, New Zealand

Fortunately, the next morning we learn our tour for the Milford Sound Glacier Flight and Scenic Boat Cruise is a GO!  We are thrilled to hear the weather is predicted to be gorgeous. Anne Cooper, one of the owners of Southern Alps Air personally greets us and gives us map of our flight today. She also apologizes for the delays; however, both my Dad and Peter/Jill's Dad were pilots, we tell her about our fathers and  agree it's better to be safe than sorry. She is relieved as some customers are not so understanding about the need for safety.

Arriving for our flight at the Wanaka Airport

Ah yes - departures

Jill and Mark are excited to be going

and it's a thumb's up from us.

After a short safety drill by our pilot Johann, we are soon up in the air.

Wanaka below us

Flying over rivers

and streams.

That looks like the road you guys took to Queenstown yesterday

over farmlands and

over long glacial lakes into the mountains

On this leg of the tour, we are mostly flying over Mount Aspiring National Park.

Up into the mountain tops

by Mount Aspiring

and glaciers

Glacial ice fall

There's the Tasman Sea beyond the mountains.

We see deep uninhabited valleys

with lakes deep in valleys

and at high altitudes.

Not many people down there

Tasman Sea

Following the coastline south

There's some great beaches down there, but no visible roads for access

When we reach the opening of Milford Sound, we turn inland up the sound flying by the steep sides of this famous fjord.

High waterfall

Water streaming through a glacial valley and cascading down a big waterfall

Kayakers are out in bright yellow boats

Johhann expertly lands us at Milford Airport

Wow - what a great day

Thank you Southern Alps Air for bringing us here

This has got to be one of the world's most scenic airports

For the next few hours we are board a boat that cruises down the sound to the ocean and then back again (For this cruise check the next posting).

All set for take off

Last view of Milford Sound

Instead of flying back the way we entered the sound, Johann heads directly into the face of the mountains gaining altitude by flying in a tight corkscrew up and up until we are again over the mountain tops. Now we can see why the winds here are so critical in flying out of Milford Sound.  It's a tricky maneuver even without any wind to contend with.

Around and up we go in a corkscrew

and around and up

until we reach the top.

Now the sound and sea are behind us as we head inland

over sharp edged ridges

and more deep uninhabited valleys.

On the return route, we are flying on a more southerly course where we notice more lakes.

Half melted lake

This one's still mostly still frozen over.

while this one is ice free.

As we've been flying, Johann has been pointing out various locations used in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit series.  To tell you the truth, I've lost track of the exact locations; however, Gandalf is mentioned in many of these scenes shot in the Southern Alps. It's easy to see why wizards would roam here.

As we near civilization, the mountains are lower with less snow

And so we return back to Middle Earth,

back to farmlands

and Wanaka

Taxing at the Wanaka Airport

Skydivers

After landing in Wanaka, we ask the Johann about his corkscrew maneuver.  He grins and says, it's not flying into Milford that's a problem, it's getting out. Since Milford Airport operates without a air traffic controller, all pilots approach landings up the sound and after taking off corkscrew up the face of the mountains to gain altitude. We can certainly see how these flight patterns help increase air traffic safety.

Our ride back to our Holiday Park is running a little late, so we have some time to watch a group of skydivers falling from their plane and floating back down to earth.  A nice ending to a truly memorable day.