Leaving Christchurch in our SAM Mercedes 6-berth luxury campervan for the West Coast, we were happily driving along in the sunshine and enjoying the magnificent views of the Alps, towering, majestic and snow covered (WOW!). Along the way, heaps of sheep and baby sheep!! And alpacas and cows and baby cows! Sadly, the closer we got to the Alps, the more it rained, and rained, and rained. It was very reminiscent of our adventure last year on the North Island, where it rained, and rained, and rained. We were hoping to do a few short walks at Arthur’s Pass, but the weather was wild. Instead I tried to at least get a photo of the Arthur’s Pass train station (we got in trouble for driving too close to the tracks). It was a long 7-hour day of driving with a few short stops to get to our destination: Franz Josef. Tomorrow we are booked on a heli-hike 28kms further at the Fox Glacier. Although the rain has stopped for the moment, the cloud is hanging over and we can’t even see the views of the mountains. We don’t know if we are going to be able to fly in the morning due to all the cloud and inclement weather…..up early and we’ll see what happens! Am loving being in NZ again, however I must protest the ridiculous internet rates at the holiday parks. WiFi should be free for goodness sake - at the very least, free if you have your own laptop!! P.S. it is fricking FREEZING!
