Today we had a 2/3hr drive north to Greymouth where we handed back the car.

Again the drive was full of brilliant views sometimes mountainous sometimes coastal. We stopped for coffe at a little one horse town called Ross and the cafe was full of

all sorts of old junk, including a few old motorbikes. Next door there was a whole heap of motorbikes in a closed down shop. A bit further on we stopped at Hokitika which was on the coast. It was a centre for Jade carving and lots of Asian tour buses were stopping so it was quite busy. We walked to the beach front ant it was full of driftwood which had been washed down the rivers and out to sea and blown back onto the shore. There were a few shops selling arty stuff made of driftwood.

Onward to Greymouth where we were catching the Tranzalpine Express to Christchurch. This is one of the worlds Scenic rail journeys, and I don't think Michael Portillo has been here yet. The train was late leaving Greymouth and even later into Christchurch 45mins late. The journey through the Southern Alps was fantastic with viaducts, steep drops and towering mountains with lots of glaciated rivers running through them.

We arrived in Christchurch at 7.30pm and got a taxi to our hotel. As it was late we opted to eat in the hotel - we were all starving.