Lovely Lake Wanaka kept us company as we made the pleasant drive north out of town this morning, after breakfast by the lake. The road hugged the lake's Eastern shores the entire way before leading us through another National Park towards the Tasman Sea. The road and surrounding landscape was blissfully quiet. In fact, we can go so long without seeing another vehicle on many NZ roads like this one, we actually get excited whenever we see other people - especially if it's fellow campervanners - so, we've taken to beeping and waving at each campervan we pass. Yep, we're THOSE happy campers now... We guess that's what happens when you're living like turtles carrying your home on your back!

Our Tourism Radio persuaded us to stop at lots of lovely lookouts and short walks from the side of the Haast Highway, including The Blue Pools walking track. It was a short beech forest walk down to a swing bridge which crosses the Makarora River, where we spied trout in the crystal clear water. We arrived in Fox Glacier town slightly later than planned in the afternoon but it was worth every stop we made.

As pretty as this town is in the brilliant sunshine, with views over to snowy Mount Cook to the east, the town is so sleepy it's almost desolate. We parked up the van, and headed towards the glacier terminal (posh word for the front of the ice).

Another healthy walk meandered towards the terminal's fractured face - close enough to make us feel insignificant. We could hear the ice moving, and pieces were breaking off here and there as we gazed up the sheer wall of ice ahead. With newspaper clippings warning of previous fatal accidents in the area, it was scary and magical in equal measure. We'd hoped to do an ice trek which would take us straight on to the ice from the terminal the only way you can - with a guide. But because the ice is moving too much at the moment and is unsafe, the treks were all closed. Taking a helicopter flight was the only way to access the safer parts and we spent much of the afternoon seriously mulling over whether we could fork out the hefty price of chartering a chopper in the morning! In the end, we (obviously) decided to save the dollars for a bungy jump instead. Better to get that done and dusted while we're still young (and stupid) enough to consider it…. Ice trekking (for OAPs) can stay on the bucket list.

Back in town, we drifted in and out of its handful of cafes in search of wifi good enough to book the bungy online, and then followed our bellies back to the pub at a hostel - where we'd earlier convinced the owners to let us overnight in the attached car park - and tucked into a slap-up meal of bangers, mash and a pint or two (toasting a very happy birthday to Jo back home). Well, it was the least we could do given their NZ generosity…