We left Fox Glacier and travelled via the picturesque but desolate Jacksons Bay, through the most incredible mountain scenery and on to Wanaka. We have just completed a fantastic 6 days in wonderful Wanaka (pronounced one-a-car; the locals get offended if you get it wrong), enjoying some great weather (back in summer gear) and being very 'Kiwi'. We probably wouldn't have visited Wanaka if it was not for Darroch, one of my old Platoon Commanders, who has recent...

I have also uploaded two other blogs today. The next day we continued down SH 6, through more horrendous weather to the small settlement of Franz Joseph which is the main town in glacier country. On a wet autumn afternoon Franz Joseph resembles a (probably Eastern European) ski resort at the end of the season. As no 'glacier activity' had taken place for a few days due to bad weather there where scores of dejected looking people hanging around overpriced bars, ...

After leaving Able Tasman we headed south west to start travelling down the west coast. It is a spectacular coast, with mile after mile of beach, flanked by bush covered mountains. Whilst this description is similar to that of Able Tasman, the west coast is dramatic where as Able Tasman is tropical. The appalling weather helped, with grey skies, angry seas and the odd shaft of sunlight bringing real life to the jagged rocks and cliffs. To get to the coast we h...

Able Tasman is a national park on the north coast of the South Island, about 100km from Nelson. It is thick native bush land which meets exquisite crystal clear sea and deserted golden beaches. We had wanted to visit ever since we had seen a picture in the Lonely Planet and the scenery and weather did not disappoint. We found a lovely camp site overlooking Tasman Bay with the mountains beyond and on both mornings woke to watch the sun rise beautifully change th...

The main reason to visit Nelson was to meet Rosie's kids (refer to queen bad idea bear), Pip and Maggot. Nelson is described as the most liveable place in NZ and has the most days of sunshine. It was raining when we arrived. The best activity on a wet afternoon is visiting museums (or perhaps sitting in a pub by an open fire, but we could not find such a place). We chose the World of Wearable Art and Classic Car Museum (aka WOW), which consists of a load of rid...