Met our new driver Dillon and some new passengers and left Nelson for the west coast. Our 1st stop was Nelson lakes national park where we had lunch on lake Rotoiti surrounded by beautiful mountains and shared with toe-biting black swans! We carried on through the Buller gorge with more stunning scenery to look at. Apparently one of the best drives in new zealand but a bit scary with very narrow one-way bridges sometimes doubling up as railtracks. We arrived in Westport and explored the town, not very exciting as being good friday everything was shut. Even the supermarkets so we had to be very inventive with some leftover rice for our dinner!

Next morning we were on the bus again heading down the state highway along the coast and past the southern alps. We stopped at cape foulwind where we walked along the coast to New Zealands biggest seal colony and the closest point to Australia. Couldn't quite see it in the distance and the seals looked a lot like rocks from a distance, as you'llsee in the photos! The next stop was Punakiki rocks, known as pancake rocks because they look like stacks of pancakes (judge for yourself from the photos but im not convinced!). Also saw blowholes which were random jets of water spray caused by the pressure from the waves. The famous West coast rain had started so we moved on quickly to Greymouth where 50 of us did a mad trolley dash round the shops throwing together costumes for tonights 'tight & bright' party. We arrived in Lake Mahinapua to meet our ancient hotel owner Les who would treat us to a slap up meal and host our party tonight. After taking advanatage of happy hour in the bar we merrily enjoyed a mixture of steak, venison stew, pasta and potatoes. Into our costumes next and we all met in the bar to laugh at each other. I'd joined others with bright tights, boys boxers in neon yellow (very tight!) and a green vest, but others were more inventive. One guy wrapped an orange rope round him in the style of borat and another girl attached light bulbs to her outfit. Even our driver joined in, it was loadsa fun!

Up next morning and everyone was feeling a little worse for wear but back on our trusty bus for more driving. Pur first stop today was the bushmans centre where we learnt the history of deer helicopter recovery in NZ, saw a giant pig, saw cute possums, and then headed to the cafe where they sold possum pies! Needless to say none of us were tempted to try. Very random but quite an interesting place to spend getting over a hangover. We arrived in Franz Josef and walked straight up to the lookout point to get our first view of the glacier. Everyone left feeling a little more nervous about the 8 hour hike over the ice the next day!

Next morning I was kitted out in waterproofs, hat gloves, ice boots and crampons before heading to the glacier. We had an hour walking to the base and then a steep climb over the 'dirty ice' of Franz Josef glacier. For the next 2 hours our crazy guide, Cliff, cut out steps and made walkways in the beautiful blue ice so we could experience walking through the glacier. The crevices we squeezed into were very narrow so we ended up with our backs against the ice, coming out soaking wet and cold at the end. Was a beautiful sunny day though so we had time to dry off before doing it all again. Next we were involved in our own episode of 999 when Fleur slipped in one of the crevices, twisting her already injured knee and dislocating her hip. We all tried to pull her out and then waited for the rescue helicopter to arrive! After the drama we carried on with Cliff becoming scarily more adventurous as it was his last day on the ice. Good for us though as he took us higher than any other group that day. With everyone in high spirits 'team rocky' started the 2 hour walk back down to the bus, one of us with severely damaged feet!

Tuesday saw us back on the big green bus at 730. We drove out to see Fox glacier and stopped at lake Mathison, the most beautiful lake in NZ because of the mirror image of mount cook and the southern alps in the water. We left the west coast and headed into the mountains up the Haast pass into yet another National park. Another brief stop at thundercreek waterfall before we did THE best drive in NZ (according to our bus driver). He was right though as we got into the Otago region with mountain ranges on either side and the huge Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea appearing in front of us. Spent the afternoon getting my travel worn feet checked out by an overpriced doctor and then sat by lake wanaka waiting for the freshwater dolphins to surface. I was disappointed not to see any but felt pretty stupid the enxt day when i was told it was another one of our drivers jokes! Went to Wanaka cinema that night, the most comfortable cinema ever with a mis-match of sofas and armchairs although dangerous if you plan on staying awake for the whole film! The highlight was the interval where you could get freshly baked cookies and a hot drink, perfect for a good nights sleep.

Heading to Queenstown tomorrow, party and adventure capital of New Zealand, and most famous for its bungy......... ; )