Iceberg sightseeing flights about to take off

By Lachlan Forsyth

Sightseeing charter flights to a cluster of giant icebergs in the Southern Ocean could be up and running as early as next week.

A fishing boat has spotted the bergs just off the remote Auckland islands, 450 kilometres south of Bluff.

Tourism operators are already gearing up for a flood of long range excursions.

The last time an iceberg drifted near New Zealand's coast it was a sightseeing bonanza, and this latest berg won't be any different

A fishing vessel confirmed the large mass of icebergs around 80 kilometres northwest of the Auckland Islands and just seven days after a similar cluster was spotted drifting around off Macquarie Island.

With icebergs travelling up to 40 kilometres a day, tourism operators are gearing up for a flood of interest

One iceberg is estimated at almost two kilometres long but sightseers will have to get in quick. Although these bergs likely broke away from Antarctica close to a decade ago, their drift into warmer waters means their journey is almost at an end.

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