Saturday 17th July - Franz Joseph Glacier - Wanaka
Awoke to the feeling of aching limbs that ached more as the day went on . Our first stop was Fox's Glacier only 25ks from Franz Joseph to compare it with our experience. Unfortunately, the viewing area was far away and we had to content ourselves with following the huge river valled that lead to the glacier front. We motored on to stop at Bruce Bay for a fantastic view of a sweeping beach with whopping great waves. Fantastic scenery all the way today. The sun shone all the way though it was frosty everywhere. Snow capped mountains, blue skies, green fields and trees - the sea on one side, mountains on the other. Everything seems so clear and fresh - air and water especially.
We stopped briefly at the most deserted supermarket we've ever seen (both people and products!) in Haast before continuing through the coastal moutain area with ever more fantastic views until we finally made it to Wanaka. Wanaka is a ski resort so a busy place at this time of year. Another quiet night in front of the fire (how quaint and yet how cold!) watching the All Blacks beat the Wallabies at rugby. In NZ they don't do central heating like at home so every night in our motel room it has to be heated from close to freezing . Also noticed that this is the only place we've come accross where Heinz is not Heinz - it's Watties!

Sunday 19th July - Wanaka - Te Anau - 250Ks
Frosty white colours everywhere this morning as we left Wanaka. Twists and turns galore as we sped past Queenstown and looked down on silver valleys encased in mist. The car, cheap as it it, has certain things that irritate both of us - like no central locking, an extremely irritating bleeping sound and a radio that is truely crap at picking up any radio station - we're desperate for music on road at the moment!. Still, we drive on regardless. Booked ourselves a boat trip to Milford Sound tomorrow trying not to be too put off by avalanche warnings! Checked into a motel (after findiny many empty and/or abandoned) with a 'spa bath' - not as good as it sounds mind you. After enquiries we found that in our room, hot chocolate is not available during the winter season as we pay 'cheap rates' - to us hot chocolate and summer don't blend as well as winter-time - oh well! Many menus here also like to overuse the word 'gourmet' when it comes to food - we've even seen it on pizza takeaway menus!!

Monday 19th July - Te Anau - Milford Sound - Te Anau
We were pleased to find out that snow chains were not required for our 220Km return journey to remote Milford Sound . Straight forward journey until the last 40k close to the fiord. Avalanche warning signs were everywhere - we also passed roadworks that were repairing a landslide - no wonder you have to check the conditions before you set off! Milton Sound itself is a huge fiord in Fiordland National Park (which is a world heritage area) with fantastic mountain views right next to deep water drops. It's one of the wettest areas in the world which means trees and moss can grow on the rock-face even though there's no actual soil there. Part of our boat journey included a stop-off at Milford Deep Water Observatory which unlike an aquarium puts people in the cage to look at the coral (red and black) and fish rather than the other way round. It's the only place in the world that such coral grows in such shallow water (8m as opposed to 20-40m normally). We even got to spot a penguin and a furry seal on the fiord rocks on the way back which is most unusual for us 2!