A helicopter flight offers a birds-eye view of Franz Josef Glacier and several of the helicopter operators are licensed to land on the glacier.
Scenic helicopter flights range from a quick buzz over Franz Josef Glacier to flights over both Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers and flights that include a glacier landing.
If you are thinking about a scenic helicopter flight you should consider the heli hiking tours run by Franz Josef Glacier Guides as these also include the helicopter flight to and from the glacier.
The following video and bookings are for scenic helicopter flights operated by Glacier Helicopters.
Guided walks on Franz Josef Glacier are the most popular activity at Franz Josef, however since 2012 all glacier walks require a helicopter flight past the unstable terminal face. Franz Josef Glacier Guides run two tours on the glacier: a glacier heli hike and the more advanced heli ice climb.
The half-day glacier heli hike involves a helicopter flight that lands on the glacier followed by a three hour guided hike that lets you see ice formations including blue ice. The tours include gear such as crampons, boots and ice picks and gives you plenty of photo opportunities.
The heli ice climb is a more advanced alternative to the heli hike, which introduces you to the techniques involved in ice climbing. This is a five-hour excursion that gives you four hours on the ice.
Both trips also include entry to the Franz Josef Glacier Hot Pools to relax after your hike.
Hokitika Airport (HKK) is the only airport on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island to have scheduled Air New Zealand flights. This small airport has daily flights to Christchurch with up to five flights on a Friday.
The airport is only 2km from the town centre, so it is only a half hour walk to most places in town.
Wild West Adventures operate cave tubing/black water rafting tours in the Taniwha Caves. You get the choice of abseiling 40m into the cave, riding a zipline or walking down a track to the entrance, and then it’s into the inner tubes for a float through the caves.
The Shantytown open-air museum, 10km south of Greymouth, is a recreation of a 1860s gold mining settlement. It features over 30 buildings including a sawmill, pub and general store and there is also a steam train and horse and cart rides for the kiddies.
The West Coast’s biggest brewery produces some of the country’s best beer, which is now sold around the world. The Monteith’s Brewery tour involves a 25-minute tour where you can see beer being brewed and after the tour you get to sample your choice of three beers at the Brewery bar.
