After the tinkling drops and then heavy rain the night before, we woke to a clear, brilliant blue cloudless sky with not a breath of wind. The Mount Aspiring range looked splendid and it was hard to pull ourselves away, we both fell in love with Wanaka, but onward we go - to Queenstown! Very little driving today, it was a mere 70k from Wanaka to Queenstown, not the long distances we've become accustomed too and so there was little seen albeit the wonderful scen...

We started the slowly by not getting out till around eleven by the time we phoned Sarah etc. Sky is a mixture of blue with white clouds but very warm and windy. Drove into Wanaka a really nice little town for an egg and bacon breakfast (Dave) at a small cafe before deciding where to go. Wanaka is in one of the most beautiful settings we have seen, so beautiful it makes your heart ache with the bright blue lake surrounded on all sides by steep, high and striking...

The day dawned bright, some low cloud but bright warm sunshine and we were glad to be walking today and not yesterday (low cloud and rain). No time for second or nervous thoughts - straight off to the check in to get kitted out: Waterproof coats and leggings, woollen gloves and hat and most importantly - crampons! Having signed the usual disclaimers (walking on a glacier being hazardous etc etc and the reassuring knowledge that if Shirl had a problem with her a...

After arriving at Franz Josef (FJ) glacier the night before in brilliant sunshine we woke to cloud and rain. (The rain on the van roof sounds odd - like the tinkling of lots of aluminium can pulls.) Decided to check out the different trips for the glacier and planned to go tomorrow and hope the weather would be better. Bit of a chance as FJ gets 2 out of 3 rainy days, up to 250+ per year! We found an amazing Cafe - Full of Beans - that has free Wifi, such exci...

Unbeknown to us today was to be a day of mountain to beach, to bush to mountain, a real day of contrasts. Firstly thank you Jacksons Retreat for the use of your barn placing our motor-home out of last night's strong wind guaranteeing us a restful night free from thundering (torrential) rain on the roof and the van shaking in the winds. Even in shelter the sound was tremendous, not sure how the other Van-ners got on though, we slept peacefully on our own in the...