16th July 2009 We said our goodbyes to the guys this morning as its the last time we will see them now until a trip to Ireland!!! We then drove 4 hours to Wanaka, passing through lots of snow and by a massive lake. Just North of Wanaka is puzzle World so we stopped here for the afternoon. After having lunch we first tackled the maze, lol. the challenge was to get to 4 towers at each corner of the maze and out of the exit as quickly as possible. The competition w...

14th July 2009 We drove half an hour south to Fox Glacier this morning, it is half the size as Franz Josef but very similar. We drove straight to lake Matheson where Mike wanted to do another 1 and a half hour walk around the lake, I refused lol, but Mike bribed me with some cake at a cafe at the end of it so i reluctantly agreed! It was a much easier walk than yesterdays, just a gravel path all the way around the lake. About 30 mintues in we stopped at reflecti...

12th July 2009 On our way here we first stopped off in Hokitika parking up by the sea where there was an old boat and anchor we took some pictures of. I also took a pictrure of these 2 little dogs this kid was walking as one was spray painted pink and the other blue, lol!! From here we drove further south to Okarito, 15k off the main highway, a tiny town with a population of 32, a few houses and a Kayak centre, no shop, no atm, nothing! There was a free campsite...

11th July 2009 After Punakaiki we continued our drive to Greymouth. Another small town with the majority of shops closed! There are only big supermarkets in the bigger towns which means shopping at expensive convienient stores inbetween, so we did a big food shop here to keep us going for another week! We then camped up in a hostel carpark as it was cheap and we could use all the hostel's facilities. This afternoon we took a long walk along the river front as th...

10th July 2009 Punakaiki is a very small town on the coast which is renowed for its pancake rock formations and blow holes! There is a small information centre and cafe, then over the road is a short walk which takes you along the cliff edges to see the rock formations and views out over the ocean. The rocks resemble loads of pancakes on top of one another, hence the name, lol, due to pressure and erosion over millions of years. We also saw what I originally tho...