Rimu Lodge Hokitika

... pants' in NZ: they're called 'undies'. Which doesn't begin with a 'P'. Which kinda defeated the Point. Oh well, we had fun, got some random (drink I promise! I don't think it helped that we were drinking white (basically yellow) wine) stains on said item, got a wee bit tipsy. Plus, the English people understood, so it was all fine. Fun times.

... at all. Being the chickens that we are (Martijn isn't the only one that dislikes bridges that sway when you walk across them), we wanted to first SEE the bridge and THEN determine whether we were going to cross it. So we gave this a total miss and drove onwards. Oh, and the fact that the place was filled with sandflies didn't help either... We were having a relaxing day, but those little pests made us RUN for the car ;) The reason we ...

... ot better and get on the road in the heaving rain on the way down to Fox. Arriving in Fox after, ridiculous mountain passes from Franz-Joseph it is dark and raining and even though the Glacier is out there somewhere between the looming hills we can't see it through the low cloud. We drive around unsure of where to park for the night and follow a road a little way out of town to a car park beside a lake where at least ten other campers are stopped for the night and set up camp.

... and land for a small fee. We had an interesting evening observing the clientele and feasting on a delicious pizza and locally produced beer, before setting up Neil for bed in the dark! We hoped that the visual spectacle would become slightly more boring to allow us to catch up some time on our trip south - and give us a chance to take a time out! We were sorely mistaken. The scenery as we set off again, along the coast would easily rival Australia's Great Ocean ...

We didn't have a great deal of time to get up to Waiheke Island for Spud and Kims wedding (more to come), and as a result spent most of the next few days on the road. We did get to stop at several attractions including the impressive Fox's glacier as well as some scenic lake side stops for picnics. We spent our first ...

... I also booked on to the TranzAlpine for the next day. This train takes you across the country to Greymouth (near Barrytown for those that remember) through Arthurs Pass, and it supposed to be one of the best train rides in the world. The next day I was up before any of the rest of the bus crew. I was waiting for the free bus to the station. I saw Kerry briefly outside and we said our goodbyes again. At the station, the train was 8 carriages ...

... We have good views of the glacier spilling down the mountain from further back. Back to Fox for a walk round Matheson Lake, just outside town followed by an excellent lunch at the Matheson Cafe sitting out on the sunny deck. The cloud is gradually lifting but still covers the peaks. We go heli-hiking, which means that a company takes my credit card and extracts a large sum from it. We then get into a helicopter and are flown ...

... which was nowhere near as exciting, but a took some good shots without the glare of the curved glass in the front. In many ways I enjoyed this indulgence more than my sky dive. The mountain scenery here is some of the best I've every seen, it's not massive like the Himalayas but equally as beautiful. Next I drove to Franz Joseph Glacier. I was surprised to discover the glacier is actually advancing. In the 70's the ice could hardly be seen from the current lookouts along the ...

... demasiado cansada. Podria haberme alquilado el documental de los glaciares, que era el plan de dirk y estar muy agustito informandome a traves de la pantalla. Llamarme vaga, si. Es impresionante sobretodo por la magnitud,unos 12 km, y su continuo avance y retroceso, cada tanto va desplazandose... esta a solo 300 m del nivel del mar, y cuando se desvanece forma el rio waiho o algo asi... y tb es ...

Nadat we uit Punakaiki vertrokken waren, moesten we toch eerst geld halen en boodschappen doen. Oudejaarsdag morgen, dus dat wordt mooi inslaan!

In Greymouth gestopt en aldaar ingeslagen. We hadden besloten om, na weken lang op "sandwichbrood" (zeg maar het goedkope vierkante brood uit de supermarkt) geleefd te hebben, eindelijk fatsoenlijk brood te gaan eten. En aangezien daar hier een tekort aan is, moeten we dat zelf bakken. Gelukkig had ik van de boerin ...