Wednesday 20th January Christchurch to Franz Josef

As we left Christchurch this morning, we were joined by 5 more passengers who are doing the South Island only tour; Benn and Kim from Sydney, Brian from Korea, Alex from Crete (but lives in Melbourne) and Katga from Switzerland.As Jana and Camilla have now left us, there are now 16 of us on the bus.

On route we stopped in Hokitika for lunch and to try and get our SLR camera fixed - it hasn't worked since we left Abel Tasman and we are desperate to get it working again before we get to the glacier.Hokitika is the only place in New Zealand where Goodletite (which contains ruby, sapphire & tourmaline crystals) is found.Unfortunately, they were unable to fix the camera.

The Great Alpine Highway is one of the most direct routes from Christchurch to the West Coast.This is a scenic drive with diverse landscapes, lakes, rivers and magnificent views of the Southern Alps and alpine passes.Often called Glacier Country, the West Coast is a long, narrow region wedged between the Southern Alps and the Tasman Sea.The region has more than 60 glaciers (there are over 3000 in total in New Zealand), including 2 of the most accessible glaciers in the world, Fox and Franz Josef.

Along the way we stopped at a flooded lake (Lake Ianthe) and had great fun taking pictures of us all trying to balance on the submerged picnic benches and posts (this was not on the official itinerary!!!).