Dear Dave,

We are still all talking about our fabulous holiday experience with Heliworks and our journey in your fantastic flying machine!

Thank you Dave for treating us all to a truly magical couple of hours flying over some spectacular scenery and having a behind the doors look around your world class operation.Here is a little snap which we have put in our family brag book and posted all over the globe to our friends and family. We think it sums up just how much fun we had and where we went!

Please pass on our sincere thanks to Jason. 

We look forward to our continued relationship with you. Huge thanks again from us all,

With very warm regards Jim, Kate, Nikolas and James Delegat

Delegats Wine Estates NZ ltd.

Country Calendar Director

Just received an invoice. It reminded me to email and thank you - especially your excellent Pilot John. There was a degree of stress for some of us in the filming and I was grateful for the calm and friendly approach of the Pilot. I've been looking at footage this week and we've got some lovely stuff.

The camera man especially was impressed with the smooth platform your Pilot provided, along with the excellent appreciation of what was needed while we were in the air.

I also want to thank you for providing the sat phone. It was above and beyond the boundaries of the booking and appreciate the gesture. It also took the hassle out of contacting you when the days mustering was delayed.

Keep up the good work.

Jerome Cvitanovich Country Calendar Director

Ultimate Hikes / Routeburn Walks Team

Thanks for a great season this year on the track. It has been great working with you all. It has been good to know you can get loads in, or move people in a safe and efficient manner.

Thanks for everything.

Hayden and the Team

You may be aware that Guest New Zealand is an internet Travel Consultancy specializing in exceptional itineries for inbound travellers.

I am writing to express my deep appreciation of the helicopter service you recently provided for our clients.

The professionalism of your company was of great assistance to us and ensured our guests had a truly memorable holiday.

I look forward to our continued association.

Kind Regards, Michael Nees, Managing Director

I write to first say thank you for our Heliworks experience in August of this year (2006).
While now back in Australia I look back on my Heliworks flight as my best NZ experience and we did do a lot!

Enjoyed every aspect of the trip and was very impressed with Heliworks' professionalism and just how personal the trip was.
I wanted to formally thank our pilot John Haora who was a fantastic guide for our trip and made the experience all the more better.

Thanks
regards

Shaun Wilkinson"

On Sunday the 7th May 2006, my wife and I together with Phil and Marilyn Wheaton we were privileged to fly with Heliworks.

Our initial contact with your company was very positive and we were extremely impressed with your willingness to spend as much time as we needed explaining what we would do and where our flight would take us. This discussion included John but as it turned out Richard was our pilot on the day. I would have to say that after speaking with John we were a little disappointed when he was not able to pilot us. However after meeting Richard on Sunday we knew we were in capable hands and genuinely enjoyed Richard’s friendly and competent manner.

Heliworks service and professionalism is the best we have encountered in any tourist orientated business and the flight rates with anything we have done in the world. This includes flying the Grand Canyon and being on top of the Alps adjacent to The Matterhorn or the Glacier Express from Zermatt to St Moritz.

I cannot praise Richard’s willingness to please enough. We felt that he wanted us to have a very special experience and our enjoyment was paramount while always maintaining a very professional attitude which is of course very reassuring.

Heliworks has obviously set a business plan in place with a very high standard and the management and staff should be congratulated on the exceptional standards achieved. The company deserves every success and we will recommend your service any and every time an opportunity presents.

Bill & Patsy Wright
Australia

Lord of the Rings trip - weblog
By Ian Smith, UK

"Fortunately Heliworks are patient and more than understanding, and our companions who've been kept waiting don't seem as stressed out as we are. Our pilot 'Alfie' explains the options available to us on our planned 3 hour helicopter trip. I mention the opening scene of 'The Two Towers' where a helicopter swings over mountains and ask our pilot if he's seen the movie. 'I filmed it!' he announces, and I realise we've got lucky and landed the pilot who flew Peter Jackson around and did most of the helicopter filming. He later explains that in fact the opening shots are of two separate mountain ranges - the Remarkables and Mount Earnslaw.

To describe the next three hours plus as 'awesome' is putting it mildly. With hotel check-out in less than 15 minutes, and a long flight to the UK ahead as I'm writing this log I can't go into detail here, but the trip is everything and a lot more than I (or any of those with me) have expected, and my expectations were certainly high after doing a helicopter tour of The Grand Canyon last year. This turns out to be light years ahead of that! Heliworks do us proud with a flight that's a lot longer than the '2 hours 6 minutes' we've been told and I really can't recommend them and Alfie Speight, our pilot, highly enough!

Alfie proves to not only be a great pilot with intimate knowledge of the locations used for the movies, but one of the most patient human beings on the planet (and that's all I'm saying at this stage!) Our trip is one of the most exhillerating experiences of my life. At one stage two great rocks come zooming up to us (still pictures can't capture the speed we're going at) - and instead of flying over them he flies between them. Woo hoo! Time after time we swoop over ridges very closely to reveal jaw-dropping chasms below. What we see makes the opening of 'The Two Towers' look weak and puny by comparison! It's an awesome experience and a thrill for all of us except the poor fellow traveller who gets motion sickness (I normally suffer from this but find the helicopter a very smooth ride). The poor girl can easily identify with Sean Bean who apparently walked to one of the mountain locations the two days they were used because he, as Alfie puts it, 'just doesn't get on with these things I guess'. For my part, I couldn't believe how gentle the ride was.

We effectively get a speeded-up version of the whole tour we've completed by coach, but with much better views. Alfie is more than accommodating with letting us stop where we want, insisting on taking photo's of us or lining up the helicopter for the best shots. In short, the perfect pilot and tour guide! When our poor fellow-traveller is sick he tidies up without fuss at the next stop. He also keeps us entertained with stories of the filming trips, how hard Peter and Barrie worked on the movies, how crazy the hours were etc etc.

Well, hopefully, you get the drift. I'm still stoked about the trip over a week later! If you do just one thing when you visit New Zealand take a trip with Heliworks (who aren't on the usual brochure list at Te Anau where I tried to book the trip) but are reachable at heliworks.co.nz or by phone on (03) 441-4011. As I said earlier, I really can't recommend them highly enough! If I return to New Zealand, as hoped for in a year or two's time, a custom trip with these guys will be top of the planning agenda!"

Ian Smith - UK. Click here to read about Ian's entire Lord of the Rings trip