Tangley on Clyde Christchurch

... especially in the wet and very cold evenings.<br> New Zealand is gorgeous and I would recommend any to visit. I became obsessed with all the animals especially the mini cows. Steve assures me these are calves as its spring but I just wonder why they would be separated from their mothers?<br> On to what we hope will be a warming Australia.......<br><br> <br> <br> &#12288;

... up falling asleep! <br><br>We decided to have a bit of excitement the next day, as we booked onto the Jet Boating trip. We were given very stylish yellow wet weather gear, trousers, jacket, hat and glasses and we piled into the back of the boat. The jet boat works in a similar way to a jet engine and can throw people around the water in as little as 10cms!!!! The huge engine sped us along the rivers of Westport and after a quick "scenic tour" of the ...

... with Alex and Matt after which Matt terrified everyone by driving us out to some haunted graveyard in the dark!!<br><br>Final day in CC went to see Slava's Snowshow as part of the Arts Festival. Was really good - basically a music and dance show with Russian clowns. Being seated in the cheap seats upstairs we missed out on all the fun below as the audience got to play with snow and huge bouncy balls (I'm easily impressed!).

... was half the fun. Our climb down was a lot easier than the climb up and by the time we got off the glacier 4 hours from the start we were knackered and ready to head home. Yet we still had a 40 minute walk back, Fun!<br><br>Back at the hostel finally we sat down for a breather, they boys were in bed nursing their hangovers and other than making tuna pasta none of us moved that night.<br><br>Day Five:<br><br>The boys got up at 6 for their 7am glacier climb (part of this ...

... started to die, so I had to steal pictures off Paige. After we got back into town we picked up our bags from the hostel and trekked to the car rental agency, where we had a nice little white Mazda waiting for us. Unfortunately, since Paige is only 20, only I was able to drive without us paying the extra insurance fees, so I faced the challenge of driving on the left side of the road. We had a few crazy screeching minutes where we thought ...

... then 70 years ago, until we reached the top and saw where it is now. From the car park here we took a 15 minute walk over rough terrain (well there was a stream and a couple of hills) to within 50 metres or so of the glacier. On leaving Fox we drove off towards Franz Josef where we planned to stay the evening. We found a nice but cheap 'cottage' in the centre of town, checked in and then took a soak in the hot glacier pools just around the corner. Day 42 We had ...

... home, even if the temperature isn't far off. I guess the trams look a bit like they were nicked from Blackpool, but thats exactly how they look, like they were taken from somewhere else and plonked into the city centre, running endlessly round a little circular track which is so small because it doesn't really have anywhere else to go. Not that I'm complaining, it was all rather cute, and I was really taken by all the craft markets, the ...

... s Pass is 737 metres above sea level; Arthur's Pass National Park was New Zealand's first national Park. When we got to the stop we took our picture in front of the in front of the big white sign. Before we got the turn around at Greymouth we had a to go through nineteen tunnels. It was really cool. The weather during the train ride was sporadic. At one point there was not a single grey cloud in the ...

... Next morning we took a walk up to the glacier face ... it was very beautiful. We rang the skydiving company in Fox Glacier and booked in for 12 noon the next day. We set off to Fox Glacier early afternoon and took a walk to the Fox Glacier terminal face which involved crossing streams and rivers which ran down from the glacier. There were these pools of aquamarine water which were so inviting, but the 'no swimming' and 'rockfall area' signs put us off jumping in ...

... fresh air and sunshine by taking the easy 10 minute walk from the international terminal to the domestic terminal. (We did that 3 times!). We also attempted to get on the internet with our wireless computer, but had no luck without paying a days' budget via credit card (our first glimpse into NZ internet challenges)! We also took a stroll to the observation deck at the airport where three levels up, you can watch the planes coming and going from ...