After the whale watching we headed 2 hours further south along the coast towards Christchurch before heading inland and west towards the 
Southern Alps for our 140km long crossing of Arthur's Pass. The Pass snakes its way through the stunning scenery of snow-capped mountains and forest of Arthur's Pass National Park. The road is in itself an amazing piece of engineering considering that it was built in 1864 and we were nervous that we might not be able to cross as it is often closed due to poor weather at this time of year.
Thankfully it was open and it was very quiet and peaceful 2.5 hour crossing... the roads are so empty of traffic in the South Island. We stopped along the way in the historic Jackson's Pub for hot chocolate with marshmallows. On reaching the west coast we headed south, finishing our long journey just after nightfall in the small township of Franz Josef. We found a charming hostel called Glow-worm Cottages and they gave us a lovely little room with its own kitchenette and Sky TV for the price of a basic hostel room. We marvelled in our luck and made ourselves right at home!
Saturday morning was very cloudy and overcast. After a well deserved lie-in we drove just out of town to see the famous Franz Josef glacier. We walked up Sentinel Rock for some good distant views of the 12km long glacier before walking for an hour along the glacial riverbed to the face of the glacier. As we returned to the car a torrential downpour began... and it never stopped! Well, when have we ever been stopped by the weather! We drove 30 minutes further south to the 
Fox Glacier and kitted up in all our waterproofs and ponchos to begin an hour's walk to the glacier face. It poured down and we had to cross two rapidly flowing rivers before we reached the glacier face which was impressive despite the cloud and the heavy rain. By the time we started walking back to the car the river levels had already increased so we had a tricky time getting across, especially with Bi's little legs! 
Just before getting to the car the weather worsened further... we had thunder and lightning, the rain poured and the wind howled. We were drenched but the waterproofs held. Unfortunately our shoes did not and after we dived back into the car we were able to wring our socks out! We sat in the car and ate lunch before deciding to call it a day and return to relax for the afternoon in our nice room. Within half an hour we were dry, in our pyjamas, eating popcorn and watching movies! It was actually just what we needed after nearly 6 months of pretty full on travelling. Tomorrow we head across the Haast Pass to Queenstown where Ash is looking forward to some adrenaline-fuelled activities. We are really enjoying our time in the South Island. It is such a beautiful and rugged place and despite the weather, being off-season has meant we have had most of the sights to ourselves.
