Nelson and onwards, written at Christchurch. At Nelson we stopped at a B&B called Sussex House, a pretty place by a river, nineteenth-century, white-boarding, verandahs and all very nice (see the first picture). Our main excursion from Nelson was to the Abel Tasman trail, we travelled by bus to Kaiteriteri, took a water taxi to Bark Bay and walked back along the coastal path to Torrent Bay where we were collected by the water taxi and taken back to Kaiteriteri. From here, back to Nelson, on the bus. A throughly enjoyable day. On the track from Bark Bay to Kaiteriteri there is what they call here a swing-bridge (it's actually a wire-rope bridge) that bounces when you walk on it (see the second picture, showing Anne on the bridge).

We left Nelson on 6th November and drove to Pancake Rocks, known to Maori as Punakaiki. Here we put up for the night in a cottage belonging to a motel. It was next to the beach and was, in fact, what New Zealanders call a bach (pronounced batch). More about baches later, but this was perfectly decent accommodation. The pancake rocks themselves were very impressive, strange water-worn things with layers. It was drizzling when we arrived and overnight the drizzle turned into a torrent. From Pancake Rocks we drove down the west coast to the village at the Franz Joseph glacier, in terrific rain all the way and without so much as a glimpse of the Southern Alps through the gloom.