The journey to Queenstown from Franz Josef was pretty hair-raising (good job Ray doesn't have any)! As we travelled higher into the Haast Pass, the torrential rain turned to heavy snowfall. Most vehicles were stopping to put snowchains on but as we were all-wheel drive we presumed we would be ok and we didn't have chains anyway. The snow ploughs were out and were working well to keep the road reasonably clear -as it's the only road in and out to the west coast suppose they need to.

The stress levels in our car were quite high with Ray concentrating on keeping to the tracks. I was frightened to speak and certainly not brave enough to click the camera at the picture postcard snow scenes!! Anyway, we got through to the other side in once piece and both breathed a sigh of relief and had a good laugh about it.

Distance from Franz Josef to Queenstown is 240 miles but took 7 hours which is not far from normal because of all the hairpin mountain roads.

After a good night's rest we woke to a fresh fall of snow in Queenstown which was exciting, however it brought things to a bit of a standstill activity wise so we set out to explore the town on foot. All the ski slopes were closed and the town was heaving and not a seat to be had to take our much needed flat white. We persevered and rewarded by sipping our morning ritual viewing Lake Wakatipu.

Queenstown is a compact little town sitting on the shores of Lake Wakatipu and overlooked by the peaks of The Remarkables, covered in snow at this time and the local ski resort.

It is certainly the adrenalin rush capital of New Zealand and home to the world's original bungy site - Kawaru Bridge. Even though we were not into any of the heart-stopping activities (canyon swinging, 120 mph free falls and white water rafting to name but a few) we did manage jet boating through the Shotover Canyon with plenty of 360 degree turns - good laugh and managed not to get wet.

Queenstown's surrounding area has plenty of vineyards and wineries, particularly specializing in Pinot Noir. Now there is an activity we had to take part in and the sampling was delightful - not sure it did a lot for the adrenalin rush but it certainly made your legs feel weird!!

Looking forward to tomorrow already.

Jen and Ray