Cecil Peak your interest by helicopter

Cecil Peak your interest by helicopter

Picnic spots don’t come much higher than the one on NZ’s Cecil Peak. Brian Crisp was on cloud nine.An_Over_The_Top_picnic_with_Choppy_F12F7FB0-BDF2-C78F-68BB8B006868BD55

I AM surrounded by ghosts. Although standing on solid ground, everything around me is moving.
Some things move faster than others. Shapes form. Become recognisable. And then disappear as the cool July wind changes direction.
I’ve lain on my back and stared at clouds before. But this is the first time I’ve stood above them. I know the clouds won’t support me but the urge to step out and explore is strong. They seem so real.


Cecil Peak ledge, 4000m above Lake Wakatipu, is not an easy place to get to but it is one of the most amazing picnic spots in the world.
The Over The Top Helicopter company, based at Queenstown, New Zealand, flies people there for $580 per person.
On a clear day you look down over Queenstown. Today, however, the clouds have rolled in and the view is very different.
As we sip champagne (it gets colder the longer you leave it in the glass) the clouds fire our imaginations. We each pick out the shapes of animals: zebras, lions and elephants. Perhaps they are there.


Perhaps it’s just the combination of altitude and champagne.
new-zeeland_2_1734778712Queenstown is the adventure capital of New Zealand. On this snowless four-day trip I also found it to be a fantastic place to explore by helicopter.We were supposed to be skiing. But snow, and bathroom scales, are two things in life that you just can’t depend on. The season had started well enough with big dumps. Heavy rains changed all that and resulted in this ski trip becoming a food, wine and helicopter expedition.

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Five helicopter services operate from Queenstown airport. Our carrier of choice, Over The Top, specialises in personalised trips and boasts that the “itinerary is limited only by your imagination”.
Helicopter travel not only changes your perspective but the speed and directness of it allow you to fit so much more into a day.
Take the third day of the trip as an example.

We left the Sofitel, in central Queenstown, at 8.30am in a Nomad Safaris 4WD Land Rover to explore Skippers Canyon. The canyon road, blasted from rock in 1862 to hasten the gold rush, is one of six tours operated by Nomad.
The road to Skippers is bumpy. We make several stops — at Hell’s Gate and Lighthouse Rock — to take in the beauty of the Shotover River. Even today this is not an easy road to pass.
Helicopters can get you places that fixed wing aircraft — and even 4WDs — simply can’t.

Don’t be afraid to go over the top

So instead of taking the same windy, bumpy road back from Skippers looking at exactly the same countryside, we arranged for Over The Top to pick us up and show us the area from the sky before dropping us off for lunch.
From the ground the cliffs had looked imposing. Flying over them, in the six-seater helicopter, they looked awesome. Up close you get a completely different appreciation of their size, ruggedness and the remoteness of the area.

sofitel-queenstown_3
When we landed at Cecil Peak ledge, it was if we were standing on the edge of the world — and we were. It was ours. No one could spoil that moment. That is a memory only the six of us will share.
Champagne consumed, we were whisked off to lunch at the Winehouse & Kitchen — a 100-year-old restored farmhouse about a 20-minute drive from Queenstown, in Gibbston. 

Enjoy the view from the top

It doesn’t take all that long in a helicopter.
Bungy jump legend Henry van Asch saved the derelict Glenroy Homestead building and relocated it next to his Kawarau Bungy Bridge. The cellar door offers three wines — the ironically named Freefall, rockferry and Henry’s own van Asch label. There is no pretence about the Winehouse & Kitchen. The wine-tasting experience is relaxed.


The dining area is modelled on a 1950s kitchen and the service is as friendly as it was back in the good old days. While the entire menu looks good, I suggest you try the tasting platters. They not only present well but the food combinations taste great.
After a long lunch, it was back to the Sofitel to indulge in a little “bathology”.

By the time I entered my room, the bath had been run (infused with essential oils), a pot of tea had been brewed and fluffy robes were laid out on the bed for me.


All I had to do was sit back, relax, watch the TV above the bath and prepare for tomorrow’s adventure: Milford Sound by helicopter. Can’t wait.

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Queenstown, New Zealand

Stay: Sofitel Queenstown, Novotel Gardens. www.queenstownaccom.com
Eat: Joe’s Garage, The Cow, Fergburger, Amisfield Winery And Bistro, Vie (at Sofitel Queenstown), Bezu.
Nightlife: Bardeaux, Bar Up

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