Kapitea Ridge Country Lodge Hokitika

... retreated as there was not much evidence of any other campers. However the office was open and I had my pick of spots – the facilities were a bit over the top in niceness when you just really need somewhere clean and tidy. However variety is indeed the spice of life and at my next stop I was also one of a kind in that I was the only tourist – all the others looked ( and dressed) like permanent trailer park residents ( sound of banjos in distance) – but ...

... minutes in the middle of the road taking photos. Not one asian tourist walked by without getting a picture from the middle of the road. Punakika had a tourist stop at Pancake Rocks. We were here at low tide so the blowholes were not blowing. The pancake rocks were not that impressive to me (not a geologist).

spent the night in hokitika, which is like an empty 1970's american gold rush town with nothihg ion it bar hicks. the streets were un comfortably empty,so we found a cheap plase to sleep and headed out to get some food and then found a glow worm dell to explore which was pitch balck, and all these little ...

Rose: An early start is made easier with the free shuttle to the railway station for our Transalpine train journey coast to coast from Christchurch to Greymouth - 4.5 hours. This is known as one of the world's greatest train journeys - probably true but on the overpriced side. If you're hiring a car the road runs pretty much parallel. We travel through the fields of the Canterbury Plains and farmland, then onto the spectacular gorges and river valleys ...

... it was true to it's word, whew!!! the were hundereds of them with there babies lying in the sunshine & playing, lovely sight. the scenery through the next few tons & villages was equally stunning every twist & turn the view were so different, until we came to punakaiki which is famous for it's blow hole & pancake rock,it is true they look just like pancakes, it is an amazing sight, we took lots of photos for ...

... on a road halfway between the thrillseekers of Queenstown and the "English city" of Christchuch was not in the plan. It was the clutch, you see. The bus was brought in to Queenstown from the north by Bagginz... just, and it needed to get to the mechanics of Christchurch. The next driver going North was Skinz, and he was new. There was no way he'd get it there. Kerry, however, had over 10 years driving trucks. Big heavy, and sometimes broken ...

... leaving Fox glacier I visited the small town of the same name which seems completely dedicated to arranging scenic flights to the glaciers and Mount Cook. OK, I jumped out of a plane a couple of days ago, which was a first for me and I've never been in a helicopter. A perfect opportunity to tick another box on this beautifully sunny day. I booked a 30 minute flight over Fox glacier and around Mount Cook with a 10 minute landing where we jump out of the chopper for a roam on the ...

... hit our first stop. At this point everyone had breakfast and the next leg was much quieter as they all slept off breakfast and a few hangovers I suspect! It was lashing it down ... A really cold and miserable day. We were supposed to make a couple of stops for photos etc but after the first stop to head down to a seal colony where everyone came back looking miserable and soaked, our bus driver suggested that we didn't stop again until we got to the Pancake Rocks ...

... the walk to the face, maintaining a discreet distance as large ice blocks crash down at regular intervals, bob into the river and thump their way downstream. The access valley has cathedral-like steep walls and rainforest looms above the ice; very odd.

We also enjoyed evening kea displays, as these naughty parrots try to pull nails out of roofs, chew at possessions and lollop around. Andy even had to chase a group out of ...