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'Fly With A Local' With Heli Tours Farm Tours

Wednesday 28 October 2015, 4:24PM

By Beckie Wright

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Heli Tours is owned and operated by Paul and Katherine Mitchell and is the only privately locally owned Helicopter Company in Queenstown.  They are New Zealanders who grew up in the region and have the passion, the knowledge of and a relationship with this land. All year round Heli Tours specialise in Helicopter flights around Queenstown, Fiordland and Canterbury. They have five different and fabulous Farm Tours in association with Real Journeys which can be booked by going to http://www.helitours.co.nz .

First up is New Zealand's No 1 Heli Farm Tour, with guests landing at a select site in the remote High Country before continuing the flight through the meandering glacier cut valley, over Walter Peak where they’ll join Real Journey’s Walter Peak Station Farm Tour, including morning or afternoon tea at the Colonel’s homestead. At the conclusion of their farm tour, they’ll board the iconic vintage steamship, the famous “lady of the lake”, TSS Earnslaw, for their scenic voyage across Lake Wakatipu back to Queenstown.

Heli Tour’s Queenstown Farm Tour takes guests by helicopter from Queenstown airport to a private High Country farm in the Queenstown area, where they will meet the owners/farmers who have lived here for generations and interact about current farming events, issues and history from the early settlers. The pilot, (and current high country farmer) who has extensive knowledge of this environment, will provide a very unique ‘Kiwi’ experience as he  knows these farmers personally and gives guests inside knowledge of the farming techniques and secrets to running these extensive, isolated properties.

The Central Otago High Country Farm Tour takes guests to a private High Country farm in the famous Central Otago area where they will meet the owners/farmers who have lived here for generations. There they can interact with current farming events, issues and history from the early settlers, muster  or feed some sheep or maybe just relax by taking in the views, enjoying rural New Zealand as not seen before with large mobs of sheep and herds of cattle

Glenfalloch Farm Tour takes guests to the rugged splendour of the snow-capped Southern Alps and the mighty headwaters of the Rakaia River. Perched above the braided Rakaia and Mathias rivers and offering jaw-dropping views of the majestic Southern Alps, Glenfalloch Station is sufficiently off-the-beaten track to offer its visitors an air of seclusion and unspoilt natural beauty yet it is still easily accessible. Guests can roam the 10,000ha station on foot, pedal their way over the rugged terrain, traverse the station’s extensive 4WD tracks, go hunting, or fish in the distinctive snow-fed rivers that so define Glenfalloch’s landscape. They can try their hand at clay-pigeon shooting, experience the adrenalin rush of jet-boating down the Rakaia River, take a scenic flight over the Southern Alps, or simply lie back in one of the Station’s spa pools and revel in the crystal-clear night sky over Glenfalloch.

Last, but not least is the Canterbury/Mackenzie High Country Farm Tour over Central Otago where guests can meet the owners of the farm and enjoy their hospitality and join in some farm activities, enjoying a wholesome farmer’s lunch with local farm produce – experiencing the ‘real’ New Zealand.