Even though we're back home now I think I'll keep going and write up the rest of our New Zealand trip, it would be a shame to leave it uncompleted. So, taking up the story at Queenstown, I'll carry on.

From Queenstown we drove down to Te Anau on the edge of Fiordland, which was to be our base for a trip to Milford Sound. Everything that everyone says about Milford Sound is true. Out little boat sailed from dock at Milford Sound and out into the Tasman passing sheer cliffs diving straight into the sea, waterfalls and wildlife. We were lucky with the weather too, it was mainly overcast, but dry. The pictures will have to tell the story, I'm afraid.

So, (1) snow-capped mountains with waterfalls, (2) and (3) close-in to one of the waterfalls. The captain of the boat actually put the bowsprit under some of these falls.

Written back home in Caversham, well after the events described.

We left Franz-Joseph on 9th November, and arrived at Queenstown later that afternoon where we booked in to our B&B, a Swiss-chalet high up on a hill overlooking the town and Lake Wakatipu. They'd had snow overnight before we arrived, even down in the town, but this had all gone by the time we got there. Our hosts were Joe, Swiss by birth (car registration 'SWISSIE') and Maria, who was born in The Netherlands, nice people.

Our journey from Franz-Joseph, on a cold, cloudless, clear day, took us over the Haast Pass and beside Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea, the most terrific scenery. We stopped at the mirror lake of Lake Matheson to see the views of Mount Cook and Mount Tasman, at the Thunder Creek Falls, the Fantail Falls and the Blue Pools walk.

The pictures are (1) a view of Lake Hawea taken on the trip from Franz-Joseph to Queenstown, (2) the view over Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu, taken from the balcony of our B&B, and (3) an old lake steamer, the TSS Earnshaw, tied up alongside at Queenstown.