On the way to Franz Josef we stopped over night at Greymouth. Again, not much really happening there and it was raining but we spent the whole afternoon in the campsite TV room and had steak and red wine for dinner so all was not lost!

The next morning we went to the Shanty town, which is an old mining town with a working steam train. It was pretty cool and got some good black and white pictures of Ant playing silly b@ggers and looking quite the part with his mo (Hogan style!) ha ha.. We also enjoyed a good old Devonshire tea before hitting the road. Ahh the simple things in life!

Except for a few hours in the morning, it rained again all day long. Booooo. We stopped at Pancake rocks to get some pictures but got soaked through to the bone and had to get changed before driving on. We arrived in Franz Josef in the afternoon and the views off the mountains were stunning! We booked in for a few nights and hoped the weather cleared up the next morning so we could go on a Helicopter ride.

Unfortunately that was not natures plan and it rained so much all day that we had no choice but to stay in the van for the full 24 hours! Yawn.... By the end of the day we were both a little grumpy and fed up and crossed our fingers that it cleared up by the next day. After a night a rain banging down on the roof (not helped by the trees above us dripping rain too!) the sun came out for us! Yay.... We were able to go on the flight at 10am for half an hour.

At first when we got into the Helicopter, it was pretty scary. It was quite different from a normal flight and wobbles a lot more. Before we knew it we were over the glaciers and the view was amazing! The pilot was telling us all about them and pointing out bits saying they were 150 metres deep etc...I was sitting in the back thinking I wonder where he'll stop, secretly hoping not in the bit he just told us was hundreds of metres down, but low and behold, he started to land it! I had a moment of freaking out (again secretly!) but once we all jumped out and were walking around, it was actually quite breathtaking! It was obviously quite cold and slippery and as you walked around your feet started to sink in a little but it was hilarious watching people! lol... The pilot took some pictures of us by the helicopter before heading off again, which were pretty good and not too expensive for a change.

We were put in the front on the way back and we managed to get some amazing photos, as well as enjoying the ride back. We never quite realised just how big it all looked from down on the ground but we are so glad we spent the cash and did it that way! Awesome...!