Next stop on our list was Franz Joseph glacier, we arrived early afternoon so visited the West Coast Wildlife centre leaving the forty five minute walk to the glacier for early evening.

The centre breeds two of the world’s rarest kiwi, the Rowi and Haast tokoeka it also has a good heritage, conservation and glacier display. The Kiwi can actually be viewed in a darkened enclosure which mimics their natural habitat, they are a very timid bird so silence and good night time vision is required. There were only two chicks in the enclosure and difficult to make out not helped by a child having a tantrum then a man coughing which sent them scurrying back into the nesting box so we went round a second time and had a great view.

Later we walked along a very stony pathway to the edge of the glacier which was not as spectacular as we thought it was going to be. During the last ice age both Franz Joseph and Fox glacier reached the sea unfortunately climate change has seen them recede to where they are today. I met a lady on the campsite who had been here 22 years ago and at that time she said you could walk up to and on them which really bought home the devastating affect of climate change.

The walk to the glacier was enjoyable following the river and enjoying the many waterfalls cascading down the rock face which made up for the disappointing end.

En route to Fiordland we stopped overnight at a place called Cromwell which had an interesting history, in 1992 they built a dam which flooded the historic town centre as well as homes and surrounding farms. To preserve some of the historic buildings they were disassembled and rebuilt in a pedestrianised area next to the river. It is also situated at the centre of the prestigious Otago wine region so after visiting the historic area we called in at one of the wineries for a tasting session and some lunch. I am normally a Sauvignon drinker whilst Charles will drink whatever is on offer but does enjoy a good Rioja, so I was surprised when I opted for a reisling which normally is to sweet but this had a nice citric back taste and Charles found a nice Pinot noir needless to say we left with a few bottles tucked safely in the van.

Further down the road we called in at Queenstown to find someone who could fix the World Wide Web device that kept playing up. After numerous circuits of the town we finally found a car park where I sat in the van whilst Charles did his business, I had seen enough to ascertain it was just one mass tourist attraction extremely busy and not for me. Then on to Fiordland to try and get on to a trip around Doubtful sound, most people head for Milford sound but our friendly Kiwi back at the lakes said Doubtful was better and he had visited three times. We headed straight for the quayside at Manapouri and booked on to the eight o’clock sailing next morning so as it was late it was straight to site eat and bed.

Photographs do not always do justice to your surroundings as they only capture a snippet of what the eye sees and I feel that our photographs do not do the Sound justice. To be on this great expanse of water dwarfed by the surrounding mountains with their many waterfalls was surreal.