We woke to clouds and persistent rain. What a pity we didn't seize the opportunity to take photos of Mount Cook yesterday! No chance at all today, by the look of it. Clearly the weather wiped out any chance of scenic flights, so we ended up moving our Glacier Explorer trip forward from tomorrow to 11 am this morning. We wrapped ourselves up against the weather and met our guide in the lobby.

A quick dash through the rain to the waiting bus, alas a bit too fast for me and I managed to gash my shin on the very steep bus steps. Ouch! I hate the sight of blood, most especially my own, so kept my eyes tight shut until Simon had cleaned me up and applied a plaster.

After about 20 minutes on the bus we piled out into the rain and set off at a very brisk pace across very rocky and bleak terrain to walk the 1.5 km towards the terminal lake of the Tasman Glacier. On arrival at the shore we were kitted out with more wet weather gear as well as life jackets and carefully boarded our custom built MAC boat for our journey around the lake.

As well as being wet it was very cold! As instructed we dipped our fingers into the water and tried to keep them there for 10 seconds. More fool us, it was freezing! The rain drops turned to ice as we sped across the water and made sharp pin p**** as they hit our faces. We pulled up very close to some icebergs which have calved from the main glacier. Newly calved icebergs retain that beautiful deep blue colour. We held and tasted the ice crystals which began as snow 300-500 years ago. Apparently the water is very clean and pure. I just hope they are right!

The colour of the lake is a fascinating glacial blue. As the glaciers move through the valley they crush the brittle rocks to a fine powder known as Glacial Rock Flour which is suspended in the water in high concentrations and gives the water its milky appearance.

Our boat sped along to the other end of the lake so we could view the Tasman Glacier ice face from a safe distance before returning to the jetty where we disembarked, returned our gear and marched quickly back to the bus and returned to the hotel. A fascinating experience in spite of the inclement weather.

After we had dried off we drove down into the village to see what there is to see and the answer is almost nothing! No shops, no nothing! Quite amazing really, just a few houses mainly for people who work in the Hermitage complex. Quite by accident we found the Old Mountaineers bar and cafe. This is actually a private enterprise which has battled for existence and survived against all the odds against the strength of the local monopoly. It's a great little place providing good quality, reasonably priced food and drink. Sir Edmund Hillary himself thought it was a great place and sent the owners a message of encouragement which is kept above the fireplace.

Later, back at the hotel, we visited the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre and watched an interesting film called Primeval New Zealand, a journey through time to the present day.

We treated ourselves to dinner in the a la carte Panorama restaurant and it was excellent, nothing short of that.