South Pacific Ho!

We were up at about 6.30 a.m. as we had an early start at the offices of Wilson at Kaiteriteri which is about 53 km outside of Nelson. We left without breakfast and drove through a couple of towns before stopping for a coffee at a wayside cafe. We arrived in good time at Kaiteriteri and checked in for our trip called 'A Great Day Out' which it certainly proved to be. We were soon aboard the catamaran 'Vista' and we called at various bays including Anchorage Bay, Torrent Bay, Medlands Beach before disembarking at Tonga Quarry for the 'Seals and Beach Walk'. MAC trying to look like a local in her 'Kiwi' hat and 'sunnies' Before arriving at Tonga Quarry beach we went close to the seal colony at Tonga Island and caught a glimpse of some seals on the rocks there. Seals on Tonga Rocks After disembarking from the catamaran, we started walking the trail southward along the cliffs and through the rain forest. We climbed up to

We woke up to the sound of the surf outside our window and made coffee and re-packed those things which we had unpacked, which was not much for the one night's stay. Our hotel in Punakaiki, couldn't have been more 'beachfront' than this We set off for Nelson on the last stage of our South Island leg of our New Zealand trip. The road trends north along the coast with wild ricks and surf on view at every turn. We passed through some small towns and stopped for gas at a service station at Westport and also had a later brunch there at a small cafe. Almost all the cafes we have been to have great home-made cakes, pies and pastries. Everyone is universally friendly and helpful. We also stopped at a supermarket to get our cats some cat food as they do like to taste international cuisine. Pressing on we passed though a number of small towns and the road became a little more crowded with pre-holiday (Easter), traffic. There is no doubt that driving on the South Isla

Courtesy of Wikipedia The first European description of one of the west coast glaciers (believed to be Franz Josef) was made in the log of the ship Mary Louisa in 1859. The glacier was later named after Emperor  Franz Joseph I of Austria  by the German explorer,  Julius von Haast  in 1865. The Māori name for the glacier is  Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere  ('The tears of Hine Hukatere'), arising from a local legend: Hine Hukatere loved climbing in the mountains and persuaded her lover, Wawe, to climb with her. Wawe was a less experienced climber than Hine Hukatere but loved to accompany her until an  avalanche  swept Wawe from the peaks to his death. Hine Hukatere was broken-hearted and her many, many tears flowed down the mountain and froze to form the glacier. Following the passage of the  Ngai Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998 , the name of the glacier was officially altered to Franz Josef Glacier / Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere. Advance and retreat An aerial view down the

We were up at about 7 a.m and enjoyed our breakfast basket of goods which had been delivered the night before. It contained cereal, yoghurt, bread, preserves, orange juice and milk. There was a toaster in the room so we could make toast and also a coffee machine as well as a French press. Truly very civilized. We packed again and then walked to the Expedition Center to check in with for our Glacier Valley Walk   There are two glaciers within a short distance of one another, the Fox Glacier and the Frans Josef Glacier. We were to explore the area around the Frans Josef Glacier but not actually walk on the glacier. There are many trips that can be taken from this place including those by helicopter and aircraft and there are also those that actually walk on the glacier. All of these are much more strenuous and our walk was to be less so, well we will see about that!! We checked in and were given a wristband which we then had to scan at a laptop. When scanned the screen popped up wi

We were up at about 8 a.m., having had a heavy day the day before. We skipped breakfast and completed re-packing for the road trip up to Frans Josef Glacier. The hotel, which was excellent in every way, called a cab for us and we set off for the airport and the Go Car Hire office. It was raining fairly heavily and the day would turn out to have the most torrential rain I have seen. We soon had the formalities completed and loaded up our Toyota Corolla. We set off northward on the round-about route which will take us to our destination, the Rainforest Retreat at Frans Josef. The rain became very heavy indeed making driving not so pleasant but we still made good progress. We passed over mountains, through valleys, along flat areas where there were farms and through forests. The scenery was ever-changing and never boring. Even if, at times, the low cloud and heavy rain did not make for good visibility, there was enough to tel that this was a verdant and unspoiled area of the world.

We were up at 5 a.m. in preparation for our day out to Milford Sound. The name in Maori is Pio Pio Tahi which is much more attractive than Milford! After dressing we had a quick breakfast which had been laid out for us by the hotel and then walked into town to find the Information Center where we were to pick up our bus. Well, this did not prove so easy as there are more than one Information Center and eventually after some time and some helpful people we found the one we should be at and checked in. At 7 a.m. the bus arrived ans we boarded and were welcomed by our driver, Ian. Ian proved to be a very interesting an charming character with a droll and amusing delivery along the way but he was universally kind and thoughtful and really looked after us  very well indeed. We set off out of Queenstown and picked up people at various points on the way including very near our hotel which could have saved us the angst and long walk into town!! We circumnavigated Lake Wakapitu and passed t

A bit of a slow start today after the long trip yesterday. We got up and dressed and had a very light breakfast at the hotel as we had an epic lunch on the horizon. We walked into town and sat for a while on the edge of the Lake Wakatipu and watched th world pass by. Speedboats and other watercraft crisscrossed the lake and the population of Queenstwon seemed to be out promenading. After taking our ease there for a while we walked through the public gardens which border the lake. There is a short walk through the gardens which runs along the shoreline. The gardens have an amazing collection of trees including some oaks which were planted by the founder of the gardens in the mid-19th century. There were some huge sequoia redwoods and a rose garden which was past its best but still very lovely. There was a game of Frisbee golf going on which looked fun, some swing ropes out over the lake and a small stream and some memorials to past celebrities of Queenstown including one who has climb