need the low~down on NZ/Fiji

[raddam]

planning my honeymoon
want to go to NZ to heli-ski for 10 days or so, maybe 14 followed up by 2+ weeks in Fiji.

Need a name of a good NZ Heli operation, best place to go?
Total JONG in NZ so any help would be appreciated

any Fiji Vets here?
heard it is getting a little "over-touristy" but is one hell of a place.

This is all happening in Sept 05.

thx in advance

[silentlyrising]

there are plenty of operations down there that you can find without too much trouble, Methven Heliskiing comes to mind right off. Just look around on the web, you'll find stuff. However, you may want to look up a guy named James Paine from the Methven area. I spoke to him a bit over a year ago about his plans to start a Heli-guiding operation of his own. I haven't talked to him for a long time so I don't know if the operation ever got off the ground. He was hoping to be flying by the summer of 04. Though he understands that the usual beginner/intermediate client base is necessary to make a heli operation financially viable, his real passion is big mtn guiding for expert skiers who, as he put it, have generally been dissatisfied w/ their day out in a chopper. I'll won't go into a lot of deal right now but if you can track him down he has a pretty interesting and progressive heli ski philosophy. Instead of "follow Franz down the field in formation" he wants to start working clients into individual lines so they're not skiing next to someone from a heli. Basically he said he feels new zealand heli skiing isn't following the big mtn trends at the pace of the rest of the world. So, if that sounds like you're cup of tea, try to look him up. If I had his number still I'd pass it along but the south island is practically empty so even w/ some elementary detective work, you should find him pretty easy. If I remember correctly he was planning on having offices in Methven and a staging area around Lake Tekapo (concessions in the Arrowsmith range). Good luck and enjoy. (make sure to ski Temple Basin and to get down to Milford sound if you can, both are pretty intense)

[raddam]

very cool, thanks for the info
I would love to get a hold of that guy.
Any leads on the name of his operation?
sounds like just what i am looking for

[silentlyrising]

Your best bet would be to call around the Methven area to find him. I know he was working w/ the race program at Mt. Hutt when we spoke last (that's probably 14 months ago now). Good luck though, if you find him, tell him Justin says hi. When I was down there we were supposed to go on a "terrain research mission" and I was supposed to get a free day in the bird for writing a short article on the budding operation... then he tweaked his knee. ARGGHHH! Oh well, let me know if you find him. He's pretty well known in the ski world down there - it's a tiny scene - so if you talk to one heli company, someone there - probably the pilots - should know him.