I did lie in, until gone 8am. It was bliss and I really didn't want to get up!! Still, Pancake Rocks and the road south beckoned, besides, check out was at 10 and I wanted a nice long hot shower!!

Still in lazy mode I drove the 300m to Pancake Rocks (it was all uphill and no proper path - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it) and proceeded on in. Thankfully, they are free, one of the few things I've gone to see that are free here in NZ. I like it here alot, but it's getting expensive keep paying for everything. The Pancake rocks are a weird geological outcrop of rock, where limestone has been compressed up into thin layers that make it look a bit like a stack of pancakes, hence the name. It looks a lot like slate, but obviously not as pretty or as tough. But it does present some very weird and wonderful shapes in this little outcrop by the sea and some fantastic blowholes where the sea has undercut the limestone in the cliffs. Sadly I hadn't timed it right to hit high tide, so I didn't get the best of the blowholes, but you could still hear the sea booming in some of the underground caves and passages it had cut. All in all, worth a trip, but it would have been nice to actually get out on the rocks themselves, but I guess they are too fragile and the health & safety aspect would be a nightmare!! Stopped off at the tourist info, as they were having a clothing sale and picked up a rather nice waterproof jacket for under $100 - most of the others I had seen previously were a fair bit more.

On southwards to Franz Josef, another 4ish hour drive, but actually not too bad. The road runs along the coast and is fairly tortuous in places again, but nothing completely unmanageable. Got to Franz Josef just after lunch, too early to check into my hotel, which turned out to be a motel (again), so repaired to the local coffee shop for a sandwich and a leisurely coffee. Then headed up the road to the local tourist info, to discover that if I wanted to get on to the glacier, I was going to have to fly, and it would be expensive - average price, NZ$10 per minute, so a basic 20 minute flight, no touch down on glacier would be in excess of NZ$200, which to me, seemed an awful lot of money. Feeling somewhat deflated, after all the whole reason for stopping in Franz was to get on the glacier, I went back to the motel & checked in. And was pleasantly surprised, it was nicer than I expected - I had a nice big airy apartment and some thoughtful soul had left the heating on, so it was nice and toasty, especially as the temperature was dropping and was getting very chilly at night! Looked through the tourist brochures in my room and spoke to the girl on reception and discovered a combo deal for a 30+ minute helicopter flight over 2 glaciers, including a touch down and then a 2 hour quad bike safari, for the same price as many of the helicopter flights were for a simple fly by. So went to the main street to book it for tomorrow. Went to fill the car up (bless this car, it's done over 500km on a tank, way more than the poxy Vitara did!) only to find that the local petrol station is exploiting it's captive audience and charging 30 cents more than further up north. Outrageous. Only half filled up.

Chilled for a bit and then headed out to the bar round the corner, recommended by the motel, where they were also showing the rugby, which was great. Had an enormous burger (really must stop eating burgers) and watched the rugby, until the inevitable happened and the local village drunk turned up to harass me. Why does this always happen to me? Seriously, I was just minding my own business, quite obviously watching the rugby and not looking for conversation at all, but he wouldn't leave me alone. In the end, I had to leave, part way through the match, which was annoying. Watched the end of the match back at my room and then looked forward to a good nights' sleep and a lie in, as I didn't have to check in for my flight until 9.45am.