I’m in a helicopter, flying over Franz Josef Glacier. My pilot, Jason from Glacier Heliventures, points out various landmarks as we swoop low over the milky blue and white ice that’s enveloped the mountains and the valley beneath us.

I’m grinning like a kid in a candy store. I love helicopters and rarely miss an opportunity to fly in one. The first time I took to the air in a helicopter was back in 2008 when my friend Phil and I took an impromptu flight over the city of Wellington, New Zealand. Since then I’ve had a string of flights over some amazing landscapes including Uluru, Sydney Harbour, and The Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Road where my friend Samantha, who flew with me, actually cried after the flight because she was so overcome with delight!

Like that time on the Great Ocean Road, this flight was unplanned. I was actually on the road out of Franz Josef when I saw a small sign for Glacier Heliventures, which turned out to be a small business run from the owners home. As always with chopper flights, it was money well spent. Moments like these, where your heart races and you can’t stop smiling, are what life is about if you ask me.