Up early to prepare for the Rob Roy Valley & Glacial walk. D checked the weather at 9am: patchy cloud with showers forecast for mid morning. Packed warm clothes & wet weather gear, & set off into Wanaka, to get more info from the i-site (pretty useless!) & the DoC office (very useful!). Blue skies immediately above the town, but as awe started driving north & west, we could see the grey clouds hiding the mountain tops, ahead of us. After ~10...

Woke to clear blue skies & wonderful views of the surrounding mountains (again!). Morning routine completed, we set off south, following the shore of Lake Wakatipu, towards Queenstown. A coupe of brief pauses for scenic photos, before stopping for a 20 min walk to find 3 LotR locations in one lakeside area (oliphants, catching coneys & Rangers of the north). Then through Queenstown, for the long & steep drive up a windy gravel road towards the Re...

Cloudy, overcast & dry start to the day - but the view is still great! D up first - spent an hour catching up on diary, then sorted out breakfast. Usual morning routine, packed & ready to go pre-10am, but then D&L chatted to Jimmy (the owner) for 20 mins, much to J's (impatient) annoyance! Drove down a gravel road for a different view of Lake Manapouri, then to Rainbow Reach, & the start of the Kelper Track, to cross a suspension bridge over ...

D woke at 6.30 to cold, clear blue skies & sunshine on the high snow-capped mountains, all around! Got up & dressed, & went outside to admire the views & take photos. L followed suit soon after, & at 7am the kids were woken, dressed, & put in the car! Beautiful drive up to Milford - hardly a car on the road - stopped for a couple of photo op's, even though we were on a time limit! Arrived in Milford & found the harbour - not too d...

A beautiful clear morning, crisp & cold & sunny! Stunning mountain views - snow-capped, against light blue skies! Reluctantly left at 10am, after booking Milford Sound cruise for tomorrow at 9am, and reserving the self contained cabin for tomorrow night. Brief stop at Manapouri Lake, then headed north, into the mountains! Paused at Te Anau to find an ATM & buy a few groceries, then followed the shores of the lake, stopping a couple of times to ad...