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Day 156- We made a quick breakfast before leaving and arrived at the check-in desk at quarter to, only to be told to come back at 9:30. The weather, as we already knew, wasn't great and there was thick cloud above us meaning the chopper couldn't fly. So we plodded back and made a coffee as we passed by the hour. Then at 9:30 we were again told the standards weren't safe enough for the chopper so we were now given a much more delayed time of 12:30. We stood around with the rest of the people from our group and asked the guides what the likelihood of us getting up were. They said we had a bout a 80% chance if getting up, however 30 mins passed as we stood and talked and them chances were reduced to a slim 40%. So with lower expectations than before we walked back to the hostel and worked on the blog. Once we stepped outside a third time we knew it was now or never as the last flight up was at 2pm and there were too many groups to postpone us again. So off we went and looking up we couldn't be more spurred on, clear skies! As we nervously approached the check in counter we noticed a large queue in front, which either means, a lot of complaints OR a lot of check ins, we hoped for the latter. We heard through mutters of excitement that we were good to go and so checked in and sat to wait for our guide. She was Czech and seemed to know her stuff and got us all kitted out in Waterproofs, boots and crampons (attachable blades for your boots). We were than taken down to the helipad and as we waited for the helicopter to come in we were given our safety brief. It came soaring down and landed we then jumped aboard and strapped ourselves in, Eve was lucky enough to get a front seat and it was a great feeling when we took off and swirled round to zoom in the direction of the mountains. We flew higher and higher until we were pretty much above the glacier itself we were shocked by its sheer size and you could see where it tore its path through the mountain, creating the valley we were now travelled up. The landing pad was simply a flat bit of glacier they managed to find with carved steps to a meeting area. We all jumped out and huddled at the side and then were told to strap on our crampons and told how to use them effectively. Then we hiked upwards, the view was spectacular and we were in absolute awe of this terrific natural wonder. Our first stop was a small chute where water had started to gather and make a pathway downwards through the ice, here we could climb in until we were pretty much stuck and then peer downwards into the abyss. We continued up and looked at one or two more of these until we came to a little archway which we could pass under- a taster of a big one to come we were told and so a chance for the claustrophobic's to get accustomed to it. We travelled further up until we came to the ice fall which is where the ice forms large troughs and peaks as it travels over undulating terrain on the river bed. Then we came to the big one- a 10 metre tunnel that water had managed to carve through the ice. Me and Eve went through together and she has a slight thing about not seeing the end in small tunnels but she was okay once we got going and we managed to take some amazing photos of us inside. It weaved through the ice and there were many branches of tunnel to choose from but we were pointed in the right direction to the end. Once out Eve breathed a sigh of relief and we were both beamed at each other as we acknowledged one another's amazement at where we actually were and what we were doing. After everybody had made it through we then started to work our way across the glacier slowly working downwards once more. We came across a couple more formations, one being a very tight squeeze and the other a balancing act. After three hours we were were back at the helipad and I had no shame in asking for the front seat this time as we piled in the chopper again. The views are simply breathtaking and we cruised back down to reality. We bought some cheese and crackers as we felt we deserved them after all the hard work and retreated back to the hostel. After our little snack we went over to the thermal pools as admission was included in the price of the glacier hike. There was three of them in a very small space and considering what we were treated to in Hamner Springs (aside from the fact they weren't naturally heated) they were nothing in comparison. So it wasn't long before we left after a quick relaxing soak. We looked at our photos over tea and had an early night after another exhausting day.
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mam another amazing day xxx