Monday 26th February

Time to finish "The Southern Scenic Route" which would take us from Invercargill to Te Anau, the sun was shining when we left but we hadn't gone 20km before a huge cloud was hanging over us. By the time we had reached Riverton the wind was gusting. Carrying on to Monkey Island we decided to get out of the car and try to take some pictures of the Southern Atlantic crashing in, we had trouble standing upright. As we headed inland the weather front had moved completely away, the wind died down and the sun came out. We stopped at Tuatapere for a coffee break and then at Clifden to see the old suspension bridge that was built in 1899. The landscape was changing as we headed North and you could see the start of the Fiordland National Park to the west. Our next stop was at Lake Manapouri, this is the departure point for trips to Doubtful Sound and to the Hydro Electric Power Station. By the time we arrived at Te Anau (a small resort on the shores of Lake Te Anau), the sky was a brilliant blue and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We checked in and confirmed that we were on a trip that we had booked for the next day to Milford Sound and then had a wander around the resort. Once the sun went down the temperature dropped quite a bit and it was chilly near the water,

Tuesday 27th February

Picked up at 8.15 for our "Trips and Tramps" tour around the Milford Sound, we picked this tour as it would be in a small minibus as opposed to a large tour coach, would involve a few small walks and a local guide to supply us with lots of local information about the many stops we had on the way. There is only one road in and out of Milford Sound and as expected most vehicles were heading in the one direction. We had stops at waterfalls, Lakes and many viewing points along the way, most with a small walk involved. We were climbing higher on our journey and then had to travel through a single lane tunnel through the mountain, this had been dug out by hand in the 1930's and widened to take coaches in the 1990's. When you emerge the other side there was then a steep hairpin drive down to the next valley and then a short drive to the waterfront. There were boats of all sizes in the water waiting to take the tourists to the mouth of the sound where it meets the Tasman Sea.

Other options for viewing were by small plane or helicopter, these were really busy as we had a fantastically clear day (our guide tells us that most days are cloudy or wet as they experience between 4000ml and 8000ml rain per year). The views were just amazing, with sheer rock face and snow capped mountains either side, the water was really calm and we could see seals basking on the rocks. When we hit the Tasman Sea though, the wind got up and the waves were huge, only a short stop and then back the other way. All in all we had a terrific day and learnt a lot about the area, the wildlife and fauna, we were back in Te Anau at 5.30 p.m.

Wednesday 28th February

We had been advised by lots of different people that we had met, that we must go to the local cinema in Te Anau to watch a special 32 minute film called "Ata Whenua" which when translated means Shadowland. This film was made over a 2 year period by a local helicopter pilot who wanted to share his experiences of Fiordland with everybody else, this is the only place in the world that you can view this film. At 10.00 a.m. we presented ourselves at the cinema along with about 20 other people (the film is shown 7 times a day) to watch the film and we were not disappointed, it was truly spectacular, especially the winter scenes.

We then took a walk along the South End of Lake Te Anou and walked about 5 km each way (as usual we had not realised the strength of the sun and both ended up with burnt heads again). Later on we went on a trip to the Glow Worm caves which can only be accessed from the lake, we had a 25 minute boat trip and then a conducted tour through the caves. You had to crouch down to enter the caves and at the end of a 250 metre walk you boarded a small boat which set off into the blackness, all you could see was little blue dots which were the rear ends of the glow worms, it was a fascinating sight. There was complimentary tea and coffee at the end of the trip as it was freezing down there (well about 12 degrees) and you got lots of cold drips down your back.

A little rhyme was written in the visitors centre which we would like to share with you:

"I wish I was a glow worm, For they are seldom glum, They are always happy, because the sun shines out their bum".

Thursday 1st March

Another month, another destination. Today we drove from Te Anau to Queenstown, passing the usual spectacular views of mountains and lakes. Queenstown is situated on the side of Lake Wakatipu which we drove alongside for 40 km, the mountain range on the opposite bank is called "The Remarkables", so named because the person who discovered the range said "What a remarkable sight". Our hotel is advertised as being only 300m from the lake side (but nobody tells you it is up a very steep hill). Never mind we can see the lake from our patio, well over some roof tops. Much to our amazement the town seems full of people who look older than us, where are all the youngsters? probably out doing adventurous things. We got ourselves armed with lots of brochures about which activities were available and spent the rest of the evening browsing through and deciding what to do, we are here until Sunday.

Friday 2nd March

Walked to the Gondola Station and took the gondola to the top of the "big hill", people of all ages were queuing up to do a tandem paraglide back down to the bottom, looked too much like hard work for us. We just took the scenic loop walk (about 2km) and watched the big and little kids having fun on the luge tracks. Once we were back down at the bottom we took a bus to Arrowtown which is a former gold mining town. Whilst there, we took the heritage trail to the Chinese Goldmining Village, which had old tin shacks still standing. There was a party of schoolchildren who were trying their luck at panning for gold, we didn't hear any shouts of joy, so guessed none was found that day. Back in town we watched TSS Earnslaw which is a vintage steamship (over 90 years old) it operates 6 cruises on the lake every day, it had a very loud hooter which it blasted as it left its moorings.

Saturday 3rd March

Decided to try the Queenstown Hill Walk, described as moderate to high fitness required, would we fit the bill, we were soon to find out. In order to reach the start of the walk we had to negotiate several very steep hills (just think of Steep Hill in Lincoln and you will be on the right path). There is a signboard states that the walk to the summit (907m above sea level) should take between 2 ½ to 3 ½ hrs to complete the round trip. We made it but it was tough on the legs and knees, the 360 degree views of the surrounding area were worth it, we were even higher up than we were the day before at the top of the gondola ride and watched the paragliders leaping off their base below us. After having a short rest back in our hotel room we faced our next challenge, another first for us, we took a paraflight over the lake. We boarded the boat with 10 other people and we went up in twos, we had to sit in a harness which was clipped to the parachute and as the boat gathers speed, the line is released and you sail upwards to a height of 600ft. We were up in the air for about 12 minutes and then you are winched back aboard and you land on the deck again, another WOW factor for us. We are having that many we will have to come back to earth with a big bump at the end of our adventure. Back to reality we went back to the room to organise the washing for moving on again tomorrow.

Sunday 4th March

Set off early as we had a 380km drive ahead of us following the Alpine Tourist Route (up hill and down dale) and stopped for breakfast at Wanaka and enjoyed views over the lake. On the way we saw a sign for a 15 minute walk to "Blue Pools", we managed to get the last parking spot at the side of the road and headed through the forest. We had not thought about the "little blighters" that might try to eat us and we were soon wishing that we had sprayed ourselves with bug spray. The walk involved walking over a very wibbly wobbly suspension bridge (only 4 people allowed on it at any one time). Our next comfort stop was at Haast Junction where there is a motel, shop, petrol station (the last one before Fox Glacier which is still 140km away), and café, it was un surprisingly very busy. We went through vast areas of rainforest on our journey and then suddenly you see a snow covered peak in the distance (Mount Cook). It wasn't hard to find our hotel in the township of Fox Glacier as there is only 2 roads, with lots of booths advertising helicopter trips or glacier hikes. After unpacking we headed to the car park at the Glacier Face Terminal and walked along the Fox River valley floor, you can only go so far without a guide as the glacier is moving all the time and is considered unstable. Fox Glacier is 13km long from the main divide to the terminal face and is in parts up to 350m deep, we were surprised to see that it is quite blue in places, we learnt later that this is because the snow changes its composition when the oxygen is squeezed out. Back at the hotel we see that a flock of alpine parrots abide quite close by. They are called Kea and are unique to New Zealand, they are very destructive but are an endangered species so locals have had to learn to live with them.

Monday 5th March

Well the day has arrived to make use of Linda's last remaining birthday present (remember she was 50 last year). Specialist Plant had bought us both a 20 minute flight by helicopter for a snow landing at the top of the glacier. We had to check in at 7.45a.m. and luckily the sun was shining and not a cloud in sight (that wasn't the same later on in the day). Linda was given front seat in the helicopter so had to be on camera duty as well. It was another of those WOW days as we travelled up the full length of the glacier and then landed on the snow. The snow was too icy for Ron to throw any snowballs, Linda was too busy just trying to stand up, it certainly didn't appear cold to us which was just as well as we had our usual shorts on, everybody else was dressed in jeans, coats and hats. When we got back down to earth we enjoyed a late breakfast and then a trip to Lake Matheson which is famous for its reflective views of Mt Cook and Mt Tasman, we weren't to be disappointed. To get the best views we had to walk round to the far end of the lake - to walk right around the lake took about 1 ½ hrs. As we were in glacier mode we drove to Franz Josef Glacier which was 20 km away, the drive took much longer though as it is a nerve racking hairpin road. We firstly went to the Glacier Exhibition Centre that had only been open for 2 days, they have a multi sensory show which has exhibits explaining how glaciers are formed over the years. Surprisingly in this age of global warming, both Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers are both advancing. For the more adventurous there is also a 10m high indoor ice climbing wall, with all gear provided, we didn't participate but enjoyed watching others. As we were in Franz Josef we decided to take the glacier valley walk which follows the Waiho river bed to the glacier terminal, there was warning signs everywhere as this terminal is considered to be very unstable and large chunks of ice have been displaced recently. When we arrived at the barriers (which were about 50m from the terminal) we found that there were many stupid people who just ignored the signs and were right up at the face of the ice. By now the clouds were hanging right down over the mountains so we returned to Fox Glacier for our evening meal.

Tuesday 6th March

Left the glaciers behind us and travelled further North, it was a really miserable looking day, we were lucky we had our helicopter trip the previous day. As we were both covered on our legs by sand fly bites we decided not to do any more walks through forest areas. We stopped at Ross which has a heritage trail taking in the old gold mining trails, apparently there is still gold in them hills and you could take a shovel and pan with you if you wanted to try your luck. Arriving into Greymouth, the town was just like its namesake "Grey", that included the sky, the river and the sand on the beach, but like most places when the sun pops out it always looks a bit better. A quick walk around the main centre and then to the supermarket to buy provisions for Linda to cook for the next 2 days. Our meal was just what we wanted, mince and totties with bread and butter (just for Linda to make a mince buttie). Later on we took a quick walk to the beach (5 min walk) to watch the sun setting over the Tasman Sea, yes it had stopped raining for a while

Wednesday 7th March

It is pouring, and the forecast was for even more rain. We had decided to visit Shanty Town about 5 km North of us, this is a replica of a gold mining town during the 1860's. As well as gold panning and a ride on a steam train (eat your heart out Ken), there are over 30 buildings depicting the many trades from the gold mining era. On a whim we decided to have our photograph taken in period costume at the Golden Nugget Bar as a souvenir momentum, Ron was dressed as a gold prospector and Linda was dressed as a Saloon Tart!! The rain was now torrential and by 2 p.m. we called it quits and went back to dry out at our hotel. We were soon wet again though as we went for a swim in the hotel indoor swimming pool and lazed in the Jacuzzi. Rest day today, rain cancels play, as we put this information over on the internet the sun has come out, but for how long?