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Finally in Sydney we made a trip to the Blue Mountains and met up with Owen and his family (relatives of Fran). The Blue Mountains were beautiful and the day was a scorcher so no complaints on that front. The mountains are called the Blue Mountains as the Eucalyptus releases an oil in the heat which gives the mountains a blue hazy look (see this site is educational too). Click here for the photos.

After a brief rest the four of us headed down to the South Island to Queenstown, from there we went on a Tiki Tour around the west coast of the South Island, this is where the adventures really began. We had an absolutely packed nine days, from beautiful scenery to amazing heights (and drops).

After arriving in Queenstown we picked up a car and headed down to Lake Manopouri at the head of Doubtful Sound. Doubtful Sound is a regional park surrounded by mountains with stunning lakes and water ways in between and fantastic wildlife too. We had a cruise booked on Doubtful Sound and were really lucky to get one of the 100 days a year when it doesn't rain and in fact we were told that they get about three days a year as good as the one we had. We headed out on the Sound on a ferry and made our way out into the Tasman sea where we got to see the Seals. On the return trip we came across a pod of dolphins which played and jumped around us, almost seemed like they were playing to the crowd and cameras. Click here for the photos.

After leaving Doubtful Sound we headed back up to Queenstown before heading North to Lake Wanaka, the mountainous scenery was truly spectacular and the house that Mel had rented at Lake Wanaka looked straight out over the lake and on to the mountains, Mel couldn't have picked a better spot.

The next day we packed up again and headed out West to Haast. This is a pretty remote spot with a couple of hotels and a few cafes but not a lot more. We had booked a trip on a jet boat which was great, lots of 360 degree spins ut heaps of scenery too, a wonderful remote spot to get to if you can. The next day the Tiki Tour continued with us heading north along the coast to the Fox Glacier. Carl finally got to fulfill one of his ambitions with a heli-hike onto the glacier, the weather was spectacular, with blue skies and sunshine all day. Really worth the wait, ! Carl had been given this trip as a birthday present some 2 years before and finally he can put the tick in the box. Click here for the photos.

Just down the road from the glacier is Lake Matheson, this lake is famous for the mountainous views that get reflected in the lake when it is absolutely still. This lake must appear on more postcards than any other piece of scenery in NZ. Once we were recovered from the heli-hike Mel and Carl headed down to the lake to get some photos of the lake and mountains with the sun setting. Carl took about 300 digital photos (all of the same lake, same mountains!) and Mel about 3 rolls of film before we called it a night and headed home for dinner. The next morning we all got up early and the four of us headed down to the lake again. Carl shot another 300 photos and Mel another couple of rolls of film as well as Paul and Fran taking a fair few too. Carl insisted on staying just a few minutes longer in case the light just changed slightly, then another five, then another five (the light never did change much!). Click here for the photos.

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