Your tour starts in the stunning city of Queenstown. As we drive out of the city your guide will not only set the scene for your adventurous day but also point out and guide you past some of the area’s top highlights.
Departing Queenstown we then make our way through the Kawarau Gorge, passing stunning views, the Kawarau Suspension Bridge and the famous Roaring Meg Lookout. Time and light permitting we will stop for that first great shot of the tour.
Exiting the Kawarau Gorge we enter the fruit and wine growing region of Cromwell. Passing huge fields of vines, we cross Lake Dunstan and follow this beautiful lake towards Lindis Pass.
Climbing in altitude, Lindis Pass has amazing views down through the valleys. Being one of only three alpine roads through the otherwise impassable Southern Alps, we stop at the famous lookout at the top of the pass for an essential photo.
While driving through the endless plains of the Mackenzie district we will spot several of the famous Merino breed of sheep before stopping at the quaint township of Omarama. While in Omarama we have time for a break or even to try the best creamy chicken pie in NZ (in our opinion)!
Turning west we begin to enter the Aoraki National Park and Lake Pukaki begins to emerge in front of us. Lake Pukaki is one of the bluest lakes you will ever see and is stunningly framed by the backdrop of Aoraki/Mt Cook and the Southern Alps. We stop for some amazing photos and to marvel at the sight that we are beholding. It’s not hard to see why many Lord of the Rings scene were filmed nearby and we will point them out for you.
Helihike - check-in and get ready for an adventure of a lifetime with a Tasman Glacier Heli Hike. Your trip with Inflight includes return Scenic flight to & from the Aoraki/Mt. Cook base.
As part of your Helihike you will land on and explore the Tasman Glacier. Combine the excitement of walking on New Zealand’s biggest glacier with the stunning scenic helicopter fly-bys of New Zealand’s largest mountain, Aoraki/Mt Cook. You will fly to your drop off point on a remote part of the glacier before beginning a guided exploration of the amazing ice formations. Follow your guide as they cut steps in the glacier, using skills handed down from NZ’s mountain pioneers.
Farewelling Aoraki/Mt Cook and making our way back to Queenstown we stop in at High Country Salmon, a local salmon farm, where you can feed the fish and taste some of the freshest salmon in New Zealand.
During summer months when the sun is still up and as we get close to Queenstown, we often stop at Jacksons Orchard to try or buy her delicious local fruit or real fruit ice cream.
Sadly the tour must come to an end as we re-enter Queenstown and say our goodbyes.
This was an amazing one day excursion. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and the heli portion was canceled. However the Hooker trail was an awesome alternative. Andy, our guide was very knowledgeable and informative. You could tell he cared about our experience.
Long day of amazing scenery. Followed by a 3-hour hike around mt. cook. The views are incredible and the end of the hike is rewarding.
My first time hiking on the snow mountain, which is really cool! The guide suggested the best time to explore is summer. The tour guide is very friendly and she told us a lot of fun stories on the way.
Sure and Cerry is so talented guide. I have a good time thank you. Beautiful snow view, delicious salmon are hightkight.
An awesome tour with so many cool experiences! The highlight was definitely the heli hike on tasman glacier of Mt Cook. Our guide Lynette was a superstar! So friendly, knowledgeable, lovely and great stories. Would absolutely recommend this tour to anyone who wants to do a bit of everything
Such a wonderful experience. Xavier was our driver and was beyond knowledgeable. It was crazy how much information he provided. Plus he was a very nice guy. We really enjoyed our time both during the transfer and in the glacier. The company that handled the glacier hike was wonderful too. Very professional and nice.
Xavier was an awesome tour guide. The ride and whole experience was very smooth, and the heli hike at Mt Cook was the highlight of our trip. Definitely recommend!
What an experience, the weather was not in our favour in the morning, but the team kept saying let’s be optimistic! Glad we didn’t cancel one of the best things we have ever done! The hiking team were brilliant!!!
It’s a long day trip, but we literally spent most of time in the small Van all day. We originally booked the Combo Heli Hike, unfortunately our helicopter fly had been cancelled due to the weather condition. It’s very disappointing, but we are not complaining about it. The company has refunded the flight, which is good. So we were ending with the Mt Cook tour. However, it only has few short stops on the way to Mt Cook and the tour guider was a bit of unprofessional. Arriving at Mt Cook we didn’t even have enough time to walk the track and had to rush walk back to the Van. This tour starts early and rush to Mt Cook then rush back. It’s not worth it spend a whole day in the Van and the price is the way too high for just taking you to Mt Cook and take you back.
The heli-hike on Tasman Glacier was excellent beyond imagination. Our highlight was going down into a temporary ice cave
We were so lucky with this tour given the weather it meant we had outstanding views both from the helicopter and the glacier itself. If you can afford the heli-hike and get lucky with the weather it truly is a unique experience. We had a wonderful driver Dan who made sure we got plenty of breaks and stops along the long drive and got us on time to all our experiences! Our helicopter pilot Sam was very attentive and reassuring to nervous flyers and Tori our guide on the glacier was so knowledgeable and friendly. We had a great experience and it was truly worth the money
Amazing experience of this day tour to Mount Cook with a funny and knowledgeable guide (Michel). The guide of the Mount Cook hike (Flavia) was able to offer a high-quality tour of the glacier.
I would not recommend continuing on this tour is the weather is bad. Unfortunately the helihike portion was cancelled due to rain/wind which was understandable. The only options was to do a hike in the cold rain or wait in the hotel/visitor center for three hours I continued on with the mt cook day your portion assuming I would only have to pay for that tours’ price. However the refund I received was resulted in me overpaying for the mt cook portion and I was told that I could not get full refund for my original trip and recharged with the new current day pricing. Had I known that I was paying extra $20 pp for that day trip I would’ve cancelled.
Well run tour with great driver/guide who made sure we stayed on schedule while covering sites. Helicopter and glacier hike were wonderful experiences and worth the trip.
We had the best experience with Cheeky and so glad that ther weather was in favour too. Tedd was our tour guide and he was amazing and I would give 5 stars to Tedd and Cheeky. It was very informative and it appeared he had extensive local knowledge. Tedd came inside to speak to reception @ Heli Hike and ensured that we are with the right group. Communication was prompt and there were no delays. It went really smooth. Hunter was our guide at Heli Hike and his energy and passion is remarkable. We had some best photos too. Thank you Cheeky and the Heli hike tours for making our trip so memorable.
Well coordinated tour with wonderful, caring driver guide Colin. Highlights were the helicopter to and from the glacier and glacier hike with informative and friendly team leader. Had opportunities to taste very good locally created foods and take beautiful photos.
Dayton was an amazing driver and informative guide for all things in the South Island. The heli hike we booked (Mt Cook) was cancelled due to inclement weather but we were offered a smaller heli hike which was amazing. We landed on Mt Hutton which looks towards Mt Cook. It was an amazing experience and I recommend it highly. Thankyou so much for making our NZ trip amazing!!
Although the weather was not suitable for the flight, I could see snow on Mt Cook! It’s really cool! Our guide was so nice and helpful!
The heli hike tour is definitely once in a life time experience for me. The helicopter ride and a hike on Mt Cook was like a dream. The guide Lynatte is one of the sweetest person I have met in NZ. She is so knowledgeable and shared so many fun facts and history with us. She has a lovely cheerful personality. Love her!
My wife and I had an unforgettable experience with our helicopter flight and glacier hike at Tasman Glacier. The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful and awe-inspiring. Our guide, Sonia, was incredibly dedicated, enthusiastic, and responsible, which made the trip even more enjoyable. We highly recommend this adventure and are grateful for Sonia’s excellent guidance.
Most amazing experience. Weather was spectacular, walking on the glacier was amazing. Everyone very helpful. Drive there in the mini bus was great with plenty of stops for great pics once the sun came up.
We signed up for the heli tour and glacier hike - the reason for the four star rating is because we were unable to fly that day because of the weather, which was not our tour guide's fault. Our tour guide was absolutely awesome, knowledgeable, polite, funny, a real eco warrior and super interesting guide. His name was Cameron, and we met two of the other guides as well just crossing paths and they were also excellent helping us navigate what to do without the flight and hike (we did another bike that was outstanding). Totally dug Cameron and hope you connects when he comes to the States (Cam the email is cpetersen1115@gmail.com when you make it to New Orleans. The area is absolutely beautiful and totally worth the trip down from Queenstown. Again I cannot say enough good things about our guide he was really cool and made a bad trip good.
The glacier ice cave tour and actually all the activities that “Hunter” lead us to is great… we fully enjoy the trip!!
I think the trip was very meaningful, met a lot of new friends, the guides were very professional and humorous, everything was good
Unfortunately, we were unable to fly to the summit of Mt Cook because of poor flying conditions. The Cheeky Kiwi team made the most of it by guiding us to Hooker Valley and the scenic route prior to Mt Cook area. Our tour guide, Cameron, was outstanding! He really made the experience exponentially more enjoyable despite us not being able to fly up that day. We really wished we could've heli-ed & hiked. Will have to rebook the heli-hike only in the future!
One of the best experiences of my life. Our bus driver was great she was an excellent driver and gave us a lot of info during the tour. Plenty of stops for photos and breaks. The heli hike was amazing and something I would recommend if you are able to. I would book this trip again. Cheeky kiwi did a great job.
We hiked on the Tasman glacier. Absolutely beautiful but you need to be in shape. The guide Pavel was outstanding. The bus driver Sarah was informative and delightful.
Great trip….very flexible on pick up/drop off, the guides are so friendly, and what a great experience to be able to hike on a glacier!!
Thank you Collen from cheeky kiwi for giving us the best day and d guide from d hike too, you guys are great!😊
This was the highlight of our trip to NZ. We were fortunate to have such perfect weather to be able to make the flight. We recognize that sometimes due to weather the heli ride up needs to be canceled so feel very fortunate to have such an amazing day. This was such a remarkable experience I would highly recommend it. This books up fast and needs to be booked advanced. Although it was a bit pricey on aviator perhaps check with other local tour groups to optimize your price. Our tour guide Jeff was super knowledgeable and really a lovely person. Appreciate his patients with the crew and helping to shepherd everyone along!
The most important thing I wanna to do is Heli hike on glacier, I booked in very advanced. But just before few days, they told me the heli hike fully booked and need swap to other activities ( but not due to the weather problems). I’m shocked and disappointed for that. The tour keep going, just cancel the heli hike. FYI, then I swap to helicopter and landing ( without hike). They tried very hard to reorganise, I felt very thankful about that. And, The tour was good, the guide super nice and very informative and knowledgeable, really learnt a lot. But, the tour ultimately didn’t go to the Mt cook village & in the fruit Orchard, little disappointed. However, all the staff and the plan is very smooth. For what happened during the tour time was very good. I would said super worth for it. Just something different with what the tour page said.
Our flight was cancelled due to poor weather but we were immediately refunded and had the choice to skip the tour or modify it to hike around the base of mount cook. We chose to do the hike. Overall a great trip! Our Tour guide, Tammy, did a fantastic job of telling us about the local area and keeping us comfortable and entertained as we drove to/from our destination.
Helihike was fantastic, guide (Ryan) was excellent. One of the stand out experiences of my trip here.
The heli hike was spectacular, our bus driver made the kilometres pass by with his fun commentary and light hearted humour
An absolutely incredible experience. Every moment was so serene and breathtaking, from soaking in the sights in a helicopter (I mean, c’mon!!!) to walking through an ice cave and drinking the purest water I could imagine tasting. Our guide, Jakey, provided such an enjoyable experience while teaching us quite a bit about the glaciers we were standing on and mountains all around us.
Our tour guide for the day was Colin. He was friendly, helpful and very knowledgeable. He went above and beyond to make sure we got to do our heli hike part of the tour. Due to the weather changing there was some doubt as to whether or not the hike would go ahead. It did luckily and the views afforded and overall experience were nothing short of spectacular. Add it to your list of things to do, you won’t be disappointed!
This experience was undoubtedly the crown gem of my time in New Zealand. I cannot overstate how much I recommend the operators to anyone interested in exploring Aoraki Mt. Cook and/or the Tasman Glacier. My positive experiences began well before I even set foot on the bus in Queenstown, with Matlida doing a fantastic job explaining what to expect, where I should be, and other guidance for the experience. The day before departure, she notified me that there was a good chance that weather would scrub helo activities near the glacier and spelled out the options for alternative itineraries and ways to refund the flight portion of the trip. I did -- and still do -- appreciate her sincerity and professionalism. However, it turns out that weather forecasts on the South Island are something of an art more than a science. The weather on the day of the flight was perfect. Collin, the charming bus driver who shuttled our crew up from Queenstown, communicated to me and one other helihike participant updates on the weather while en route, in between explaining the history and trivia of the stunning scenic vistas we were traversing. I don't know if I expected a bus ride to be a huge plus to a day spent hiking on a glacier, but it certainly was! Likewise, the staff conducting Aoraki Mount Cook helihikes were very professional, and their dedication to safety was evident from the moment I arrived. We received briefings on navigating the glacier itself and how to behave around the helicopters that would ferry us to and from the Tasman Glacier. There were ample amounts of gear for us, as well. Windproof layers, down jackets, good boots, thick wool socks, waterproof bags, crampons, and more were ready for us to use. The operations at the airport were smooth, professional, and speedy. Now, the hike itself. I find myself struggling to describe what a unique, incredible, astounding experience it was. The magnitude and scale of the living mountains are hard to encapsulate. The sounds of the glacier, the waterfalls, the icefalls, and the rock slides punctuated the air between the whispered "wows" from the participants. Ryan, our guide that day, deftly led us across the glacier to a series of caves and undulations in the ice that we could explore. It was stunning, and I still find myself flipping through the photos I took that day. I wholeheartedly recommend this trip to anyone up for a great adventure in New Zealand. Just remember, the mountain and weather heed no plans from man. Be ready to be flexible and be gracious if the mountain allows you to traverse its wilds. A canceled flight or hike does not mean your experience was ruined; it means someone genuinely cares about your well-being and respects the raw power of this untamed yet beautiful, corner of the world.
The whole trip was wonderful and unforgettable. Stunning views especially frlm the helicopter. I hadn't realised that appropriate clothing, gloves and boots were provided so that was good for those that needed. I dropped one star simply because we had less time actually walking on the glacier that I'd anticipated (about 1.5 hours) We wore crampons which was a first for me! But a fab trip and great tour leader.
The guide was awesome and shared tons of interesting factoids about the various locations. The route also meant that there was many opportunities to snap great pics too. Finally, although the weather meant that certain activities were out of bounds, the guide made great effort to provide us with safe alternatives. The guide was also personable and put in genuine effort to ensure that the entire journey was comfortable and memorable.
Stunning scenery, a landscape that appears untouched, friendly people, an amazing and comedic driver, Pete who made the day memorable, and a knowledgeable and caring guide, Rich that kept us safe. Highly recommend this unique experience. Worth the money!
the tour guide sinchan was amazing, very friendly and punctual. great knowledge about Maori culture and nz. definitely recommend to book with him. drive was smooth and hike was mind blowing. 10/10 experience would book again :)
It s a very good and pleasant experience. They pick me up at pick up point on time and the tour guide-Hannah is very friendly. My heli-hike guide is Marius take a very good care of us. I enjoyed the tour very much even i travel alone. It’s a must to see when you come to New Zealand. If you dont have a car and need to travel from Queenstown, this is a good choice! Thank you very much for the tour and the experience.
Definitely a 5 out of 5 for the whole experience! The Heli Hike is so amazing! During the round trip helicopter flight to the Tasman Glacier, I got chances to view the glacier and fjord very closely. After landed on the glacier, the hike to the ice cave and on the glacier were awesome. Apart from that the CheekyKiwi guide - Sinchan has did a great job in driving the way towards Mount Cook, and he is very knowledgeable in the geography of New Zealand as heard from the commentary during the whole bus tour.
Cheeky kiwi is definitely the world class travel agent. Not only the trip is well planned, the tour guide is well trained, but also their “crisis” management, I must say. For sure that no one want to have something unplanned, unfortunately, there was a serious car accident that day which the road was clocked for investigation and we were stuck and couldn’t head back as planned. That said, cheeky just managed to sort out things quickly and come out with the excellent back up plan. No complaint at all, instead we were much appreciated for that. The owner even called and apologized for what had happened but indeed not his fault at all. He didn’t have to do that but he went for an extra mile. Would highly recommended cheeky kiwi to everyone. Just that u really have to reserve earlier as they managed the small group tour and in a high demand. I indeed would like to join another tour of them to Milford sound, but it was full. You have to reserve your tour at least 2 weeks ahead.
Fantastic experience all round from the moment we left. Ice caves truly unique and guided professionally
Absolutely brilliant tour. Our driver was lovely and friendly. The bus was immaculate and stops were well timed. Our helicopter-hike was truly awesome. They provided all the gear (coats, pants, boots, crampons) and flew us up via a scenic route. Once on the glacier our guide took us to two awesome ice caves. The whole tour was one of the best experiences I have ever had. The only thing was we didn’t get time to eat lunch as we were on the mountain a little longer (no complaints!). As there is no eating on the bus we ate it when we arrived at the salmon farm on the way home.
Had a fantastic day to Mt Cook, unfortunately the Heli Hike was cancelled due to the weather. But we saw icebergs in the lake which were spectacular.
Good trip. Nice Car and tour guide. Follow schedule, no delay. It is a good option if you are traveling alone
We had a terrific guide, Rich, who ensured we had a wonderful experience!! It was a beautiful Blue Bird day!! Cheers!
The driver and the tour guide, "Plate" (the sound of his name) was trying to create a positive atmosphere for this Mt Cook tour on a cold and rainy day (5th April, 2023) He's knowledgeable and introduced related background information about the things we saw along the route to Mt Cook. The cafe in Omarama that we stopped for a break was fantastic and we had a lovely hot chocolate and sandwiches for morning tea there. (much better than another cafe in Omarama which is chosen by InterCity) He also kept us up-to-dated to the weather condition that might affect our helicopter flight to glacier (was cancelled due to the unstable weather conditions on the mountains)
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