The Whirlybird

Drinking from Glacial River at Campbell's Kingdom

Incroyable!

Rob Two Names and Dunc at Campbell's Kingdom
Claudia and Duncan at Mt. Kidd - see heli in background
Alpine Vegetation seen by few humans!
Doubtful Sound from the air
Glacial Cirque

This helicopter ride differed considerably from our first and was every bit as memorable. Our pilot, Rob Two Names as he is known locally because his surname is Hall-Jones, (a bit of Kiwi irreverence) is the son of a famous local doctor, who gave up his practice at age 60 to document the local history of this area. In fact, as we discovered later, we’d been given his book by Sara at our B & B and had enjoyed reading sections of it. Rob had 44 years of flying experience and was closer to our age than Ben (our pilot in Hawai’i). In fact he worked for 6 years with Jacques Cousteau flying him on some of his many expeditions. The helicopter was a tiny Tonka Toy that seated 4 people though Duncan and I were the only passengers. Duncan graciously granted me the front seat next to the pilot and the role of official photographer as he had taken the pictures over Kaua’i.
Rather than inspiring piped music in our earphones, we had a running commentary from Rob about the geography and history of the area. We flew over Lakes Te Anau and Manapouri, and he pointed out the route we would take the following day across lake by boat, over the Wilmott Pass by bus then up Doubtful Sound by a larger boat. We were taking the current flight because we were doubtful we would see much of the sound the next day, given the weather forecast we had read in the tourist information office.
The sensation in this little helicopter vs. the Hawai’i helicopter was like the difference between driving in a little Volkswagen vs. a sedan like our Honda Accord at home. We were buffeted a bit by the wind though the evening winds were fairly calm. This ride was more how I imagined a helicopter ride would feel. Rob touched down at Campbell’s Kingdom in a secluded valley so that we could get out and drink the crystal clear water from a glacial river. We both felt a sense of awe to be in this place that relatively few people could ever see – only those who could afford or were foolish enough to pay for this extravagant magical hour.
Up we rose to view Doubtful Sound then headed toward the Murchison Range for our second wilderness landing at Mt. Kidd. This was a glacial cirque – the remains of the head of a glacier with a crystal clear pool in the centre. We dutifully waited for him to help us disembark and we steppe into an alpine wonderland. I was taken by the miniature alpine vegetation surviving so high in the world. This was truly one of life’s great moments. My regret was that I couldn’t stay at least an hour rather than 5 minutes to better absorb the experience. We were surrounded by exquisite beauty and feeling rather small and insignificant. To quote the Maori: Toitu he kainga: whatungarongaro he tangata: Long after people have disappeared the land will remain.
As we (reluctantly for us) returned to Lake Te Anau, Rob informed us that he felt very privileged to do his job. The company operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week as pilots are on call for rescue work. I asked if he ever took flights on his day off, just to enjoy the remote locations and he said, “No, too expensive.” Tell me about it! I said if I were younger I would consider learning how to fly one of whirlybirds and he informed me he’s had people flying in 3 ½ weeks if they completed all the book work beforehand. Hmmm - I’ll have to think about this, where doe one go to learn to fly helicopters in Toronto, I wonder...