Hi Guys,

Sorry there has been no photos from NZ wifi is both slow and general not free out here. Luckily we've found a library and while it is free its still really slow.

So Yesterday we climbed on and in a glacier. We joined a guided tour at about 10am in the morning. Donned some lovely boots (and smelly socks), huge rain coats and crampons and set out to the glacier. Apparently its the lowest glacier to sea level in the world.

We got a short bus ride to the bottom of the river and then we spent 40 minutes trudging through rocky rived bed til we reached the ice.

From there it was crampons on and two hours of climbing up and down cut ice steps and walking around icy drops. We even heard large chunks of ice fall into the river below twice during our walk.

We ended up at a small ice cave which we walked into and got soaked.

It was an amazing experience and I would totally recommend it to anyone coming to NZ. The half day (which ended at 5pm?) Was more than enough for me as I was knackered by the time we got back.

Luckily after we gave back the coats and other gear we also had free entry to the local hot springs. So we spent the next two hours soaking in the warm water - very nice.

After that it was a short 8 mile drive to the next DOC campsite to spend the night being eaten alive by sand flies and mosquitos - god I hate sand flies!!!

This morning we set out north again towards greymouth on the way we stopped to make a quick phone call (thursdays activity is sorted now).

We have stopped for lunch in Hokitika which is about 40 miles south of greymouth. Its got a really impressive beach - with black sand, and it looks like there may have been a competition on the beach to build driftwood sculptures as they are everywhere.

Speak again soon.

Mr P