The Westhaven Fox Glacier

... 20 people of mixed ages. The guide was a local man who explained a lot of the history and geological facts about the phenomena as we went. The route took us up the valley towards the 200M high glacial face. We began to climb the path onto the green, fern covered hillside and then further up onto the steep mountainside steps and track to be able to reach the upper edge of the ice wall. To traverse the uneven, craggy ice field we had to attach 'cramp ...

... small legs couldn&#8217;t stretch very far (the other girls had problems too, but Luke made out like I was special or something!) but with a bit of help from Luke (finally) I got out of there, phew! And then it was time to make our way off the glacier and back down to the bus. <br> <br><br>And, wouldn't you just believe it &#8211; as we finally made it off the glacier, it stopped raining and we saw some blue sky for the first time in days! We ...

... horse riding with a few others and Rob stays behind to do the laundry and prepare tomorrow's lunch.<br><br>The horse riding took us amongst some beautiful scenery and most of us managed to get up to a gallop which was actually a bit scary. My horse flash liked to be at the front of the group so would often take himself to a trot without any instructions from me. And if some of the others would decided to go for a run, Flash would ...

Bus drivers in New Zealand are a special breed. They're friendly, more than willing to stop at a picturesque spot for a photograph, and passionate about their country, so much so that they feel obliged to share the minutest of details with a full busload of passengers who really don&#8217;t give a ****. For example, as we drove across a newly built bridge, we were told "funny thing, the old bridge used to be called the new bridge ...

... far) to Franz Joseph. So we parked the car and walked the 20 minutes to the glacier view point to see the second glacier of the day! Again it was gorgeous and basically looked as if it had been a ferociously flowing river when it had been instantly frozen by some superhuman force. <br> We had a quick bite to eat before our glacier walk and then drove back to Fox and got kitted up. They gave us big boots ...

... it was really good, in a separate house nearby so quiet. The only problem was that the lock on the door of my room was damaged and I got locked out, luckily the very nice young couple also in the house were kind enough ferry me to the main backpackers and after about an hour we found someone to open the door-a bit traumatic for me! On to the next step.<br><br>I set off next morning for the long drive down to Franz Josef Glacier, travelling ...

... as opposed to the huge looking moon when it's low near the<br>horizon. So we ate our lunches at the top, and then took about an 1<br>hour to come back down, not as long as going up without as many breaks.<br>My crampons were so loose and miserable to walk in, but we didn't ...

... not-so-naturally by the hacking of axes by the tour guides. <br> <br>After lunch the spectacular drive continued, travelling south through Haast Pass and skirting the shores of Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. We were heading towards Queenstown, the so-called &#8216;Adventure Capital of the World&#8217; and quite possibly the climax of the whole tour, and as we approached it Darryl announced the schedules for all the optional activities we had put down to do over ...