Left Franz Josef with a farewell from our tattooed Maori host in full national dress - he warned us that our journey to Queenstown was lengthy (350k - 220m) and advised us to double the time planned as we would no doubt want to stop numerous times along the way to appreciate the magnificent scenery. True to his word we had only travelled 25k when we had to stop to admire the Fox Glacier! The trip to Queenstown meant that we had to transverse the Southern Alps a...

Sue had a long cold beer ready for her little 'airman 'when he returned from his paragliding jump and was so very delighted that he was safe and sound. Had a long chat and Sue began to wonder …what if? YES, you have guessed it Sue DID IT, absolutely brilliant, what a star!!! Sue's quote "Well I'm on the other side of the world and shall probably only get one chance to do this so why not run off a mountain side"! …….Oh what an amazing experience - started...

Moved off to Franz Josef, negotiating many twisting roads throughout this mountainous region and were rewarded with fantastic vistas. Arrived in Franz Josef with a fabulous of the Glacier. Upon arrival we were told that the hotel was in fact, fully booked but were offered an upgrade to their 5 star sister hotel - reluctantly we agreed! Actually it was a bit OTT for us in our flip flops and carrier bags of wine and beer but we managed to push through it. . The wh...

Whilst on our way to Franz Joseph we decided to stop off at Hokitika - so wished we had stayed here instead of Greymouth! Really quirky place with a wide stretch of beach absolutely littered with driftwood which the local artists have brought together to make some wonderful sculptures. Travelled on and diverted to the 'Hokitika Gorge' - so gorgeous with fantastic views over the river Hokitika. Route took us over a really quite precarious swing bridge some 40 fee...

Up for an 8.15am departure from Christchurch - the transalpine route involved an assent from sea level on the East coast to 2000ft where we had a quick 5 minute stop to stretch our legs then we descended back down to sea level on the west coast. Sorry to use the 'a' word again but we were blessed with good weather and the views across the south Alps really were awesome. As with most of NZ at the moment, everything is completely booked up and the train was packed...