Another day of rain, we are on the rainy side of the Island. Milford Sound is about 50 miles west north west of Queenstown but there is no direct road through the mountains so the route is south for 80 miles, west for 30 miles and north for a 100 miles. The route is spectacular with snow capped peaks, giant water falls, tree covered hills and boulder strewn rivers. We almost felt like extras in Lord of the rings! The sun came out as we reached Milford Sound, un...

Have arrived at Queenstown, the adventure capital of the world. You can do every dare devil thrill seeking adventure you can think of plus a whole lot more. We ruled out bungy jumping with a long list of excuses, sky diving abseiling and considered jet boating at 60 miles an hour up canyons or rafting down same canyons. As committed sailors we decided to use our own power and signed up for the white water rafting. We signed all the disclaimers aimed at stopping u...

Stayed last night which is a one deer town. There was one bar/restaurant which like many in New Zealand closed at 9pm. The place was full of deer antlers which was appropriate as it was called the deer antler! Set off this morning to lake Wanika and on to Queenstown. The route was spectacular with great vivid blue lakes, rivers and snow topped mountains. Perfect for walks at the various places we stopped.

It rained all night, which wasn't a good sign for our helicopter trip to the top of Franz Joseph Glacier and a walk with crampons on the glacier. Our trip was to start at 11:10 and the forecast was for improving weather. 9 o'clock the rain stopped and blue sky was seen. 10 o'clock raining again. We decided to visit the kiwi centre where they are working to save the endangered species. As 11 approached the skies started to clear and you could get glimpses of the m...

Last night I said you could set up your own gallery with all the drift wood, it turns out that their is a competition for the rest of the week to create the best drift wood art. The children have their own to make a house for the local penguins. We spent an enjoyable day at Hokitika visiting the museum and walking the heritage trail which allowed us to see the early entries in progress for the competition. It started to spit with rain as we left town and by the t...