New Zealand - South Island Part 3

I woke this morning with a knock on my door.  It was Trish, asking me what time I booked my helicopter ride.  "9am..."  and what time is it?  "8:40... oh shit!"  I quickly got dressed, and flew out the door.  On my way out, Trish said she'd save some breakfast for me when I get back.  As with most things in New Zealand, nothing is too far away, and the helicopter meeting area was only a 2 minute drive.  At this point, I had just enough cash to cover the helicopter and B&B room, since my credit card was out of service, and the nearest ATM was a 30 minute drive to the next town.   I was extremely low on gas, so I was in a tight spot, but Trish offered to take Australian dollars, if necessary.

The helicopter took me up to the top of Fox Glacier, but it could've taken me to the middle of Antarctica.  Snow and mountains all around, the land looked completely barren.  But there was a certain beauty to its simplicity and purity.  Still, I preferred being at the base more, where you can see the effects the glacier has on the land.  The helicopter took us back to solid ground, and I returned to Ropatini's for a quick breakfast with Trish.  I guess I've never stayed at B&Bs before, but I really like the personal touches that their proprietors offer.  Again, I wish I could've stayed longer, but I had to head out to Queenstown before it got too late.  As many motel receptions shut down after 8pm, I definitely needed make sure I had enough time.

At the top of Fox Glacier

Felt like I was on the moon

Base of Fox Glacier

I set off towards Queenstown.  Before getting too far, I stopped for gas.  I figured if I ran out of cash, I could take Trish up on her offer of exchanging some Australian dollars.  My credit card was down for the count, and the gas station didn't take debit cards, but on a whim, I just tried using my debit card as a credit card.  I'm not quite how it worked, but it did.  I checked my bank statement later, and those transactions showed up as credit purchases, but then a few days later, it was deducted from my balance... so not sure what goes on in the background, but it probably costs some crazy fees...

So many pictures from the drive to Queenstown, but since I took them as I was driving, most are blurry, and all are crooked.  I'll just include one picture of New Zealand's most abundant citizens...