4.30am - oh dear! We didn't actually realise this until we put the keys in the ignition to drive off! This is where our good luck and freebie trail starts to dry up. Some doughnut, aka Fiona, set her blinking alarm for what she thought was 7.30am. We did think it was little dark, but put it down to us being so close to the South Pole(?!).

With no desire to hang around in the cold for 4 hours, we phoned the Canyon Swing dudes to let the know we'd be back through town in a week and would arrange a new time for us to take the leap. 2 1/2 hrs later in our layby in Mossburn we hear that we are unable to rearrange, or be refunded, so effectively we have just spent $179 to not do the Canyon Swing. Despondent, we crawl into the back of Johnny and sleep.
When we awake, we make a quick cuppa and of course porridge, before giving some Japanese a brief guided tour of our campervan, then onwards to Milford.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow! We were instantly cheered and were dying to get out and play. With no snow chains we were a little worried we wouldn't get through, but the snow ploughs had done a sterling job. As it is snowy and cold we treat oursleves to a campsite, complete with open fire, big comfy sofas, board games and alledgedly glow worms. I will explain the glow worms. On advice from Yanik, we went for what turned out to be a stumble around in the muddy, dark undergrowth to spot the litle worms. It proved less than fruitful - we saw a grand total of three. The cheese and nutella sandwiches that they made for us on our return however, were much more successful.

The next morning we are up and away (at the correct time too!) for our cruise through Milford Sound. It was ridiculously cold, but we were really lucky to have a crisp, clear day with bright blue sky - we have since found out that with 200 days of rain a year, we were exceptionally fortunate. Hopefully luck is on our side again.

The cruise itself was very pleasant, and the view breathtaking as ever. We even saw a few seals lazing about in the sun. The free muffin and coffee were also an unexpected treat! The whole trip was worth it just for the snow, but sadly no snowman building or snowball fights, it had all melted by the time we drove back through.