A drier morning so we packed the car and walked a few miles round the lakeside. It was warm (T Shirt weather) Our friends decided not to join us. Pete and I walked for 2 or 3 miles until we got attacked by the dreaded sand flies. These are tiny black flies with VERY sharp teeth and they show no mercy. We returned to Wanaka with sore ankles and legs. Picked up our friends and started north towards Fox Glacier. The drive was stunning. The sun came out and the tem...

This morning we had a very short trip from Queenstown to Wanaka. It was raining. On the way we visited the original Bungee Jump Centre and watched people throw themselves off a bridge. It really was quite scary to watch let alone to do. Further on to Arrowtown which was another gold mining town but this was built by Chinese miners. It was a fascinating place and a very pretty village but was eye opening how people used to live in the 1800's. We did actually batt...

7am breakfast onboard the Milford Mariner, then a cruise out to the neck of the Fjord to the Tasman Sea. Now we see the other side of the coin - it's chucking it down. En route we saw another penguin and a load of seals. The swell as we got towards the sea was quite high and a lot of fun. By 9.00 am we were back and by 9.30 on the bus for the return trip to Queenstown. Still the rain came down - hard. The coach was warm and comfy and we were all settled in when w...

Not sure what I was expecting on the trip to Milford Sound, but we were told it took 5 hours. The bus arrived at our hotel and it was very nice with glass panels in the roof and big windows. All the seats had been slightly angled towards the windows and they were banked so you could see in front too. The company was very in to ecology and preservation of the land and its animals. The driver was very knowledgeable about everything and stopped frequently for photos...

Communal Breakfast and everyone was eager to leave for the final leg. It was a very short journey and even stopping at every viewpoint we arrived early. Not only had it rained very hard in the night, it was forecast to rain again later in the morning. Like all good weather forecasts, they were wrong, and it stayed dry and got warm. So we completed the trail in total dry sunny weather. As it happened the shuttle bus was early too so we got back to the start in go...