There were three of us in the helicopter, three alpine guides and the pilot.

We circled the valleys before landing.

We're gonna hike this! Believe it

Spectacular sight to behold! As the helicopter flew out or flew in with other group of hikers, we had to squad down like surrendering ourselves, and the wind would gush sweeping ice chips onto our face and body. It's painful.

We added instep crampons onto our boots to prevent us from slipping while walking on the ice.

Instep Crampons

Some crevasses were so deep and I imagined falling into them and never get back alive. Mum fell onto her knees but two caucasians from Perth were kind enough to grab hold of her.

Crevasses, it's real deep

Quench your thirst

It's getting difficult

Crawling through the hole

All in single file

I liked this photo particularly

I'm on top of the world

Waterfalls

It's graduation and each has been given a certificate

Massive clouds came our way and rain started to pour heavily while we were on the helicopter. Sis' skydive trip was cancelled as such. But never mind, at least she'll have something to look forward to on her next trip.

In the late afternoon, we took a shuttle van to Lake Matheson - NZ's most photographed lake, about 5 minutes' drive from our hotel. Initially we wanted to cycle there instead, but the wet weather does not permit. We trekked for 1.5 hours around the lake. Maybe the rain has caused the lake water choppy and green, such that the otherwise known "Reflection Lake" looked like Macritchie Reservoir to me.

Fern leaf - NZ's tourism trademark and now in my room, withered

A duckling waddling in solitude

For dinner, we bought rice packs from the convenience store and heated them up using its oven.

Back to Glacier Country Hotel, with our groceries

View from room

While sis attended to work after sunset, mum and I went into the forest which was dark and wet, and we caught sight of many glow worms! They were not flying around though, but we could see the glows from the trees. It was quiet, and only the two of us were present. Thanks to the shuttle van driver for his recommendation.