Day 3 ...

So after going to bed with clouds closing in round the mountains it was fantastic to wake up to this view in the morning ... perfect!

This is photo was taken from in front of our cottage .... simply stunning!

 And so began our trek up to the Franz Josef glacier ... about a 40 min walk up to the glacier through a mixture of bush and rocky river bed ... the kids loved the walk and did really well ...

A family portrait with the galcier to the right (using a rock as a makeshift tripod)

It looks small in this photo but to get some perspective I zoomed in and took the shot below

Can you see the large-ish dot near the middle of the photo? It's a helicopter droppping off tourists up on the glacier!

This is a shot of Emma and I standing in front of one of the many waterfalls in the valley.

 Another bush track about 10 min off the side of the glacier carpark takes you to the Peter's pool (thnk that was the name?) and this beautiful reflection pic.

I decided  wanted to go back to the Fox Glacier to see it in better weather. This pic was at the start of the track from the carpark up towards the glacier ... just a shallow pool of water but enought to give another stunning reflection.

And the face of the Fox Glacier ... and unfortunately the weather started getting stormy again, and after walking back out of the valley, 5 min after getting into the car it started raining again.

But not to worry as the rest of the day was spent travelling up to Greymouth where we were staying that night.

Another tour that night ... hubby's choice ... yes the Monteiths Brewery! The tour was ok, the factory is pretty small now with being bought by one of the bigger breweries. The tour included pouring our own lager afterwards ... I tried an Apricot wheat beer ... very yummy. You also got 3 vouchers to sample some more product over the bar and I found my new summer drink  Monteiths Pear Cider - so easy to drink ... almost too easy! They also do restaurant meals and we had tea there after our tour ... yummy whitebait patties ... and fantastic way to finish off the day.

Stay tuned for Day 4 ...