People start packing up and leaving in the dorm at 6am, and by 7.30am I have the room to myself so I steal an extra half hour of undisturbed sleep. I have a nice morning, skype with dad, a full unpack and re-pack of my bag, and then cook some lunch for later. The bus leaves Franz Josef at 10am and heads to Hokitika. I have half an hour at Hokitika to look around before the bus heading to Greymouth. Being a bank holiday, Hoikitka is more like a ghost town, though I am told it is like this, bank holiday or not. I walked through the main town to the sea – and understand why people call the west coast of New Zealand wild and rouged – the waves were crashing in, but a few ... read more

I am up, breakfasted and out of the hostel by 9am, despite by bus not being until 9.30am…..just needed to breathe some fresh air! The bus journey is only very short, at 30minutes from Fox to Franz Josef glacier, again with lovely scenery. Franz Josef feels like a big town after Fox, but with one main street and one back street behind it, in reality I don’t think you could describe it as that! Left my bags in the storeage area at the hostel, grabbed my lunch (prepared yesterday) and headed straight to the DOC office to check the track conditions of the day walk – Alex Knob Track, which I wanted to do. Being a full day hike, I knew that if I didn’t do it today then I wouldn’t have the time. In the ... read more

Slept poorly despite having a room to myself because of the crazy storm outside and the wind whistling through the chimney going through the room (on a par with your ariel clanging in a storm dad!). We all have a very chilled out morning – I worked on a job application and organised my photos from the trip. This afternoon I had a great run, nice conditions with a light wind and a tad of drizzle but not too cold, on the biking/walking track to Albert Town and back. After a nice hot shower I headed to the internet to book up accommodation and buses for my next destination, (driving the big 4x4 again which is great fun.) We had a yummy dinner of quinoa and veg with a tad of chorizo, and then headed to ... read more

The route to Mueller Hut is the only full day hike here in Mount Cook which people can undertake here without a guide and full ice climbing gear. At 1800m the hut is just above the snow line and a great day walk. After little sleep the three of us (that’s right, Dick included) head off bright and early to start the route. The route consist of two main sections – the 2010 steps up the mountain side to ‘Sealy Tarns’ and from there, follow the unmade but marked track up the hillside – overcoming large boulders, grassy slopes and a scree slope to the hut. We made it through the steps to Sealy tarns quickly, all going at our own rate but reconvening every now and again. IT was quite handy the steps up the ... read more

The abundance of food and lack of exercise has started to get to me now, and this morning I take one of the mountain bikes which are at the house along the track which runs around the lake. This started off as a nice easy route, but soon turns into a track featuring sharp narrow downhill sections with boulders and tight corners and similarly steep uphill’s. It’s been a while since I have been mountain biking which shows by how tiring it is….slightly worrying! However the views are more than worth the sweat and panting it takes to reach the end. The morning mist is starting to burn off the lake, revealing the crystal blue waters beneath which are framed by the surrounding dramatic hillsides and snow-capped mountains. I am back by lunch and after a ... read more