Heliworks - Queenstown

Rates: from NZ$560 per person >> View Tour Map

Heliworks operates a fleet of modern helicopters from Queenstown airport and provide a full range of tour and charter trips to Milford and Fiordland, heli-fishing, heli-hiking and heli-skiing. Heliworks was contracted exclusively by Peter Jackson for aerial filming and transportation of cast to film locations in Lord of the Rings. Their helicopter pilots have an intimate knowledge of the area and can transport you into Middle Earth.

Fiordland’s Finest, including Milford Sound

Fiordland is spectacular and this 135-minute trip will show you the best of it, from the highest peak, Mt Tutoko, to the coastal fiords, from glaciers to waterfalls. You will be able to stand on the mountain tops, touch the ancient ice of a glacier and chase the waves on an isolated West Coast beach. You will also visit the world-famous Milford Sound, and see the sights of the Milford area, including the second highest waterfall in the Southern Hemisphere, the Sutherland Falls, and the Mackinnon Pass.

Milford Sound Highlights

No trip to New Zealand is complete without visiting Milford Sound and going by helicopter means you can see so much more of the hidden valleys, such as the Tutoko or Harrison, with their slopes covered in rainforest, along the way. This 90-minute experience will take you past the head of Lake Wakatipu to the glacial beauty of Milford Sound, including a spectacular view of Mitre Peak, before heading back through the mountains and valleys of the Milford area.

Grand Glacier

You will see the hidden beauty of the headwaters of Lake Wakatipu and the golden history of mining on this one-hour experience, which then follows the meandering waters and forested valleys to two not-often visited glaciers, the Earnslaw Burn and the Jura. Both offer breathtaking photo opportunities of blue ice and cascading waterfalls. From the Jura Glacier, you look out to Mount Aspiring and the highest peak in Fiordland, Mount Tutoko. For an extra $120 , you can land on the shore of the beautiful Lake Lochnagar and have lunch, with wine included.

Best of the Lord of the Rings Locations

Lord of the Rings fans – a flight through J.R.R. Tolkien’s imagination and Peter Jackson’s movie-making awaits you. This 3.5-hour trip goes into Isengard, across the Misty Mountains and to the Ford of Bruinen. The sights of the Wakatipu and Fiordland areas which so enthralled millions of movie-goers unfold in front of you, and the flight also includes the beauty of the 680m-high Sutherland Falls and the majesty of Milford Sound. This experience includes several landings depending on weather conditions.

Flight plan: Queenstown - Remarkables - Closeburn - 12 Mile Delta - Mavora Lakes - Te Anau Downs - Sutherland Falls - West Coast beach - Milford Sound - Jura Glacier - Pluto Peak - Mt Alfred - Ford of Bruinen - Queenstown

Time Away: 3.5 hours (minimum of 2 persons)