Arriving in Glacier Country we immediately headed off to explore Franz Josef glacier... unfortunately the route to the terminal or base of the glacier was recommended to be offlimits because of flooding...but did that stop us...oh no... We clambered through the ropes and yellow tape and walked the 2.5km to see the glacier up close and personal. However our sense did kick in when we realised that to actually get to the base we would have to clamber up a steep wate...

Leaving Christchurch we drove the spectacular alpine road across South Island to the West Coast via Arthurs Pass, admiring mountains and lakes en route. We found a lovely backpackers above a jade (or 'greenstone') factory and Kim indulged herself and bought a jade necklace (this is where greenstone is found after all!) The only notable event was Kim leaving the car lights on - resulting in a flat battery... needless to say Mark was crowing at this rare example ...

More hassles with Australian public transport added a few more grey hairs to Marks developing 'salt n' pepper' look... the 'Sunbus' airport transfer we were supposed to catch never appeared and we were left to catch the next one which only gave us 45 minutes to check in. We flew to Sydney and then spent a delightful night in Sydney International Airport (which closes at 10pm - hardly International!) before catching our connecting flight to New Zealand. Notable ...