We drove across to the west coast via Arthur's Pass as we had been told it was very scenic. The day we went however it was pouring with rain and visibility was very poor. At a lookout point over the viaduct we could see absolutely nothing!!! Needless to say we saw very little of the scenery. We then drove down the west coast to Franz Josef and did a half day hike on the glacier the next morning. It was pouring with rain (again!) and we could barely see the glacier when we first stepped out into the river bed. We walked to the terminal of the glacier then put on crampons to walk on the ice. We climbed up steps hewn out by picks and walked over ice shelves and through crevasses in the ice. The ice was amazingly blue in the crevasses and apparently it's bluer when it rains. It wasn't particularly cold as the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers of New Zealand are the lowest lying glaciers in the world.

We drove up the coast to Greymouth and parked up for the night on a campsite next to the sea. The wind howled about us and rocked the van about most of the night but the next day we were treated to a rare day of sunshine. We visited Shantytown the next morning which is a re-created 1860's gold mining village, it has quaint old style shops, stable yard, saw mill, steam train, hospital (be glad you weren't around in those days!) and Rosie's House of Ill Repute! There was also gold panning. Up the coast from Greymouth we stopped at Punakaiki where the pancake rocks are found. These are cliffs that are formed from flat layers of rock which supposedly look like piles of pancakes. There are blowholes there too but they weren't active as it was low tide.

We drove to Mark and Julie Freeman's and their four children Sarah, Jane, Kevin and Lauren. They live on a dairy farm near St Arnauds. We had tea with them and then Mark and Kevin took us out on the quad bikes on their farm land hunting for wild boar with their four dogs. The hunt was successful and we now have some wild boar in our campervan fridge! We stayed on the farm that night and left the next morning having had a great time with them. Our next destination was the Abel Tasman National Park and we took a water taxi up the coast from Kaiteriteri. The coast line is beautiful and the sea very green, the sand on the beaches varies in colour from bay to bay ranging from light to bright orange. We stayed in Motueka that night.

Then it was on to Nelson, supposedly the sunshine capital of New Zealand but again it was pouring with rain. We went to Steve and Sandra Hunter's, and had lunch with them after a visit to the 'World of Wearable Art and Collectable Cars'. This is a collection of immaculate condition classic cars and a kind of exhibition of artwork that can be worn and modelled. The bizarre bra section was particularly amusing, one particular exhibit was called "she runs hot and cold" and was a bra with hot and cold taps protruding from it!

We drove to Blenheim via the coast road overlooking the Marlborough sounds and through Picton. Mum and Dad arrived in the south island on the evening ferry after a few days in Singapore and the North Island and met us at the Holiday Park. It was good to see them after nearly 4 months away from home so there was a lot a catching up to do! Dad was only just recovering from being fed curry and other spicy stuff in Singapore!