When a helicopter passes overhead, taking another group on a scenic flight further up the valley, everyone stops to stare. That noise would have been constant this time last year, as thousands of mainly overseas visitors were ferried from base to ice and back again.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/Stuff
The ice in the deep crevasses shines blue, but it looks white on the surface. The whole town would have been booked out with visitors, the car park down in the valley straining with bright rented camper vans and tour buses. On New Year’s Day in 2020, a record 7137 people visited the valley, according to Department of Conservation track counter data.