So, last nights effort to keep warm was a partial success. Leggings definitely a keeper, in fact I invested in a new pair. The addition of the duvet was also a winner. Remaining issues: frozen faces, red dog noses and ice on the outside of our sleeping bags (well nearly). Not sure what the solution is ??? Maybe we need more wine ?? Anyhow, the roads on the way to Queenstown were mental! Hair pin bends and sheer drops lead to a slow and cautious journey, to liven...

En-route to Wanaka we stopped at Lake Matheson for a quick porridge break, which turned out to be a morning basking in the sun absorbing the breath taking views of the southern Alps and constructing amusing blogs for your reading pleasure. Finally we dragged ourselves away and were greeted with yet more spectacular scenery, in fact some of the best either of us have ever seen! Jackson Bay was our lunch stop for the day and a 100km detour, the lonely planet had a...

Another early start meant that we arrived in Franz Joseph just in time to book a heli hike for that day, closing our eyes and handing over our credit cards we parted with $380. It was worth every penny, helicopter ride was stunning although somewhat stomach churning as we were almost vertical at one point! After a brief bambi on ice moment we strapped on our crampons and over the next 2 hours became ice walking geniuses. Check out the photos for fashion on the gl...

Given our track record, it was at this point in the journey that we decided to see how many freebies we could get, and only ten minutes down the road we had we had our first result. Buller Gorge Swingbridge. With just $2 each in our pockets (Sean had assured us that $2 was the entry fee), we rocked up at the desk. The guy was kind enough to let us off the usual $5 fee, and we posed as children for the day. We did the obligatory walk across NZs longest swing bridg...

How the mighty fall! From a 4 bedroom house with all mod cons, to a long drop toilet, wooden shed, and treading in cow sh#t! But before I go into that, a bit about our journey. We visited 2 lakes, Rotoiti and Rotorua, sadly in the rain, but managed to get some good photos, and just about managed to eat our - you guessed it - wraps minus the sandflies. The journey to our 'Bach' (wooden shed) took us through fords, cowfields and countryside dotted with poplars - c...