We only stayed one night in Hokitika then had a long drive to get to Franz Joseph one of the main glaciers in the South island and also New Zealand. The drives in New Zealand are spectacular the scenery is amazing and I think it would have been even more so had it been winter with all the snow capped mountains around us. We had been told by friends we'd met previously that Fox glacier was the better of the two as there were smaller groups and more time on the gla...

Today we drove from Abel Tasman to Nelson re-fuelled then back to the East coast further south than Greymouth to Hokitika a small town known for its jade carving. The drive was quite good and not plagued with rain like last time. We're staying in a nice cheap clean hostel which is just above a jade workshop / shop where the inside living area of the hostel looks out over the shop below. Jade, Paua and bone carving is quite a big industry in New Zealand and you ...

Luckily we did only need one night in the shack at Murchison and were able to get to Abel Tasman National Park area the next day. We're staying at the Barn which is right on the edge of the park, the tentsare doing well and the weather has been really nice. It's really pretty around here and the beach is nice although it is a little too cold to actually sun bathe or go in the sea. There are quite a few walks that you can do in the park all along the coastal tra...

Tents all dry finally we were off further north to a place called Karamea. Steve and Al had seen a picture of it which looked beautiful and wanted to go so off we went. The road to Karamea takes you up and around the mountains and then back down to the coast and is also the end of the road once you get there so it's the same way back. The weather on the West coast is very unpredictable and gets a lot of rain and yo yo temperatures, today was one of those days t...

Tents all dry finally we were off further north to a place called Karamea. Steve and Al had seen a picture of it which looked beautiful and wanted to go so off we went. The road to Karamea takes you up and around the mountains and then back down to the coast and is also the end of the road once you get there so it's the same way back. The weather on the West coast is very unpredictable and gets a lot of rain and yo yo temperatures, today was one of those days t...