Well, on Wednesday morning, apart from the fact that we'd slept badly, and I found the skin was peeling off the backs of my legs in big sheets, the day got off to a good start. We called in at Cape Foul Wind to walk up to the lighthouse, and then further round the bay to see a colony of seals. We got back to the car park to find two Wekas and a chick (native flightless birds about the size of ducks, with hens' feet and long beaks) trying to dart into the camper van when I opened the door. They were also hiding under the van, which made it a bit tricky trying to reverse out of out parking place! A short while later we reached Panakaiki, with its famous blow holes and rock formations that look like stacks of pancakes - much more impressive to see than it sounds! If only we could get our photos uploaded we could show you! We passed a little cafe and shop on the way back to the car park, so decided to stop for an ice cream. We sat in the sun at an outside table until Tony started attracting swarms of midges and flies again, then beat a hasty retreat back to the camper van. We had been driving merrily along for about half an hour before we saw an amazing view of some mountains bathed in sunlight, I reached for my camera....which wasn't there! With a horrible sinking feeling, I realised that I must have left it on the table at the cafe! Amazing how having an ice cream cornet in your hand could feel just like having a camera in your hand(!?)
We raced back the way we'd come, and amazingly the camera had been handed in at the cafe! I love New Zealand! Off we went again, in high spirits, and all went well until we reached the little 'town' of Ross (blink and you'd miss it). We'd passed the handful of shops and houses which make up the town, and (with me driving) we headed round a bend and out onto the open road - hotly pursued by a police car, with all it's lights flashing! Oh dear! Apparently I was not out of the town as I thought , but still within the limits of the town, and a speed limit of 50kph, rather than 76kph which, according to the digital display in the police car, is what I'd been doing as I sailed past the layby where the police car had been hiding! Instant hefty fine, and 35 points on my licence, or rather it would be if I was a Kiwi - they can have up to 100 points, then they have to go to court. If you're reading this, Michael, sorry - you did warn me! I have to say, Tony was VERY nice about all this, and just slid into the driver's seat..... A short while later we stopped at the scenic Lake Ianthe, where I had a coffee and a banana to calm my nerves!
Eventually we arrived at our campsite at Franz Josef, surrounded by mountain peaks, checked in, and booked ourselves onto a 'heli-hike' for the next day (more of that later). As it was a beautiful evening, we decided to head down to Fox Glacier, about 20k away, as you could hike up to the glacier terminal from the car park. It was quite an exhilarating walk, the fast flowing river beside us, with notices warning of possible water surges, the craggy peaks on the other side of us with notices warning of potential rock falls, and as we scrambled over stepping stones across the creeks, notice everywhere saying NO STOPPING. After about 30 minutes, there it was, our first view of a frozen river of ice! It didn't look real. We couldn't get too near, as there were more warning notices about lumps of ice the size of camper vans falling off the glacier every day. After the incident with the camera and the speeding ticket, I was a bit worried that there was still one more bit of bad luck to come, so we didn't take any chances!
As we drove back to the campsite, we encountered the amazing site of the full moon, which had just risen above the mountains on one side of us, whilst the sun was setting over the mountains on the opposite side. As we wove our way round the hairpin bends we were faced with these two views alternating at almost every bend - it was quite magical. I was very excited about going onto the ice the next morning - but also a bit anxious about going up in a helicopter ! And so to bed.....