J: Heavy rain on a flat roof was deafening last night and didn't bode well for today's heli-hike up onto the glacier. We rebooked for the midday trip after the cloud dispersed and it was brilliant! They gave us the gear - crampons are brilliant, we're going to recommend them for MK at the first sign of ice!

W: The helicopter pilots clearly enjoyed having fun with us - swooping in and out of the valley and popping over the ridges! But that was not half as much fun as crawling through ice tunnels!!

Lunch afterwards at 3pm was a great success with Speights old dark ale which is now a rival for anything in the UK. Off to eat again even after the embarassment of being weighed for the helicopter.

Getting the train across to Christchurch tomorrow when we've driven up to Greymouth. Oh we now have a Mazda 3 which is great but doesn't mean we'll buy one. Could have done with the soft top for the long warm drive through the mountains from Queenstown. Had a Subway at one of the stops!