Birthday blast-off!

First of all, thanks to all of you for your birthday wishes, emails and videos. It was good to feel so close to all of you on what could have been a tough day far from home... Thanks again!

My "New Zealand" birthday started off bright and early to the sounds of helicopters buzzing in the sky. A good sign for my own helicopter trip planned for 10AM! But then a glance out the window got me worried, as it was very cloudy and visibility seemed low. And even if some companies take their helicopters out for tours and heli-hikes, it didn't necessarily mean that my company would...

I left for the helicopter place at 9:30, just to be sure I wouldn't be late. The village is so small, it literally takes 5 minutes to get from one end to the other. So I left my hostel at 9:30 and was at the helicopter place at 9:32, only to be told that all flights were cancelled for this morning and I was rescheduled for 2 PM. I wasn't exactly pleased about this, even though only fickle Mother Nature was to blame. This meant I had to be back at the helicopter place at 1:30PM, which also meant I didn't have much time for walking around the glacier as I had planned. The next bus available for the actual glacier area was in 1 hour, and I would only have 2 hours there before I had to get back on the next bus. Oh well. What can you do.

So after killing 1 hour waiting for the bus and honestly feeling a bit sorry for myself, (yeah, poor little me, I know) off I went to the glacier. It was really something special to see and I thoroughly enjoyed the walk through the rain forest to get to the glacier itself. Kind of weird thinking of glaciers and rain forests in the same context, but there you go, that's NZ for you. The glacier itself is impressive, with spots of blue ice visible even from the ground. And for once I wasn't the slowest walker on the planet, as I made it to the glacier and back in plenty of time to do another walk, that brought you to a lake with a reflection of the glacier in the water. Spectacular, but you'll have to take my word for it, since I only had a disposable camera with me. Forget trying to buy a digital camera in Franz Josef, they only sell disposable cameras at the gas station and one tourist shop. Still, the view of the lake and the glacier was excellent.

I then rushed back to the village and kept my fingers crossed that my scenic flight would happen. The day was clearing up, but not that fast and there were still lots of clouds around. I was at the office at 1PM and was told that no flights had left yet, but to come back in 30 minutes. At this point, I'm already resigned to the fact that I won't be going but that at least I got to see the glacier up close and I enjoyed it. So, back to the office at 1:30 after a 30-minute, 90 cent call home, only to be told to wait again. 1:35, 1:40, 1:45, ... and finally, at 2 PM I was told it was a go! Woo hoo! Off I went accompanied by 3 Americans (1 older couple and 1 guy my age) across the street to the helipad. We were briefed on what to do and not do around the helicopter (i.e. don't raise your arms around the back of the helicopter like that Dr. did on ER) and settled into the helicopter. I was sitting up front, right next to the gorgeous helicopter pilot (something about pilots and firemen. It must be in their job descriptions...) and off we went!!! It was amazing, not scary at all. It just kind of floats up, up and away! The clouds were still heavy around the base of the glacier, but we quickly got above them and saw the glacier up close. You could see the crevasses and blue ice really well. The helicopter flew around both the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers, as then brought us close to Mt Cook, NZ highest mountain. The scenery was unbelievable and the 40-minute helicopter ride worth every penny! We even got to land on one of the glaciers and kick around in the snow. I have to admit the snow part was not too impressive coming from a Quebecois who dislikes winter, but the landing on a glacier part was worth it! I took 20 or so pictures with my disposable camera. I have no clue how they'll come out, but I'll sure remember my *gasp* 37th birthday for a long while!

My birthday then got even better since I spoke to all my sisters at once after my flight. I think I was still giddy from the experience, so I doubt I was really coherent... I was told to make sure I checked my email today, so off I went to the Internet cafe, funnily enough located inside an old red bus. My family had had a dinner party the previous weekend since my parents are off to Florida for the winter, and they had all taped little messages for me and posted them on YouTube. They even sang me Happy birthday and had a birthday cake for me as well! It was great, and I didn't shed more than 2 tears, so that was good to.

That's it for today! I am now in Queenstown, a.k.a. Adventure capital of the world. It's a beautiful place, but I was kind of at a loss today as to what to do when you're not into bungy, white-water rafting, sky-diving, jet boating, ... I ended up going shopping in a local shopping area to get myself a better deal on a digital camera than in all the tourist shops in Queenstown. I think I got an excellent deal for NZ. The camera I bought here is exactly the same price as I found on FutureShop, and a girl I met in my hostel dorm has the same one and paid more than 100$ extra in Australia for hers. So not bad.

For those following me on Google Earth, I'm off tomorrow on an overnight cruise to Doubtful Sound. Hasta luego!