Greetings from sunny Singapore.

Sandflies are NZ's way of stopping you sunbathing. If you keep walking they are too slow to find you. If you sit on the beach for 10 minutes they blunder up and sink their mouthparts into your leg.

I can now cross Norway off my list of must- see places, after years of pining for the fiords! Today a coach picked me up at 7 a.m and took me to the boat for an hours cruise up Lake Te Anau, then we transferred to another coach for the drive to the head of the fiord - Doubtful Sound. The boat was very comfortable with free tea and coffee on tap - I had ordered a packed lunch which proved to be substantial! You will know what fiords are - very deep inlets of the sea with mountains rising sheer from the water. Doubtful did not disappoint and the bottle-nosed dolphins put on a playful display for us. There were seals basking on the islets at the outlet to the Tasman Sea. This is one of the wettest places on earth but today the sun shone. The sand flies did not bother me because I was wearing my new pink jacket and we were told they go for dark colours - or else they prefer young flesh.

On the way back they took us underground to a power station. I thought it might be claustrophobic but the generating room was like a huge cathedral.

So my road trip has been everything I could have hoped - I chatted to many different couples, from the USA, Australia, NZ and Britain, the hotels and meals have been very good and, of course, the scenery is breath-taking.
Tomorrow I will leave very early to start the 1,000 km journey back to Wakefield, but I will stay overnight around Frans Joseph.
I have a lot more plans before I leave on 25th March but I think next week I will just enjoy the garden and local walks.

Correction - it was Lake Manapouri that. we cruised first, to the West Arm.

Sounds wonderful, greatnan. Wish I could have been there

Thank you Greatnan.

Yesterday I was pacifying my mother in hospital as she was expecting to leave for a care home but a tummy upset has delayed her departure a couple of days. Reading your post took me back to when we did the same trip and the sun shone and the dolphins played and it was wonderful. And I agree, we've crossed Norway off our list too - Doubtful really would take some beating.

I just wish my mum had had the courage to travel and have wonderful memories too to help her through the dark times she has to come.

Glad you enjoyed greatnan. 24 hours to remember.

Greatnan what a great picture you paint of Doubtful. It would be enough to see the dolphins playing, let alone all those majestic sights like the fjord and underground power station, which must look amazing.

I'm so pleased to hear that you actually saw Doubtful, because we never did - or not much more than a few metres from the boat. But at least we did see the beautiful Milford in glorious sunshine. I always suspected that the captain of that boat had an arrangement with the pod of dolphins! That has been a wonderful trip for you Greatnan. And you've been so fortunate with the weather. NZ can be even more unpredictable than UK!

I left Te Anau at 5 am whilst it was still dark - I like to watch the sunrise gradually turning the bare mountain peaks pink.
I drove for eight hours, stopping. for bacon, poached eggs, toast and coffee in Wanaka. I am now using my tablet in the Top Ten holiday park in Frans Joseph but I have another glacier to climb before dinner (well, up to it !)
I noticed that some people, mainly Americans and Japanese, seemed more interested in taking photos than actually enjoying the dolphins' display!
I will get 'home' tomorrow and I am looklng forward to telling my daughter all about it and showing her the photos as they plan to make the trip themselves. Her husband worked in England with a friend who now runs an adventure centre in Invercargill, which is even further from 'civilisation' and they have a permanent invitation to stay with them

It was their 16th wedding anniversary yesterday and I was very touched to see she got messages from both new and old friends, including the midwife who delivered some of my grandchildren and the children that she child-minded over twenty years ago. She had the gift of friendship - it makes me so happy that sh
has such a wonderful life.

I had a wonderful meal - roast pork with lots of roasted vegetables, apple sauce, gravy and crispy crackling. I do not normally eat dessert other than ice cream but I had had no lunch so I ordered apple and blackberry pie and it was the best pud I have ever had. The filling was hot and juicy and there was a little bonnet on top made of very light puff pastry . There were two little bowls at the side, one containing vanilla ice cream and one with clotted cream. It looked as good as it tasted. I got a complementary glass of Sauvignon Blanc and bought myself a glass of sparkling wine to celebrate such a good trip.

It was 8 pm by the time I took the track to the glacier and the light was beginning to fade but the path across the rocky plain was marked by posts, which is more than I get in France.
The area at the mouth of a glacier is not pretty - it looks like the aftermath of an earthquake or bombing. A huge area is strewn with grey and brown rocks and if I had been the nervous type I could have found it quite forbidding to be the only figure in that vast, surreal landscape. Some young people turned back when they saw how difficult it was - what idiocy to decide to walk over a glacier flow in flip flops or high heels.
By the time I got to the last few hundred metres it was quite dark - and then I Remembered that my thoughtful Son- in-law had put a large flashlight in the boot!
The actual walk was much shorter than the one up to the Fox glacier - only an hour's round trip compared to three hours.
Last leg tomorrow, through. Greymouth and Murchison.
It has been tremendous fun but I would not like to live so far from 'civilisation' - it is often 100 kms between villages. I think my daughter was very wise to choose the Nelson/Tasman area, with its good town centres and mild climate
. The water in the Southern lakes is 10C - I prefer the 28C of the Red Sea for my snorkeling trips.

Look out for the Pancake Rocks on your way up the West Coast. Strange formations. We stopped at a cafe on the other side of the road and were surrounded by greedy wekas, wanting a share of our muffins or scones. Have a good trip back to Nelson.

I have so enjoyed reading your travelogue greatnan - you certainly have a way with words. It has brought back memories of a wonderful trip I had to the South Island four years ago. I too love Nelson - a great place with very friendly people.

I have only visited Queenstown and Milford Sound on the South Island and it's wonderful to read about your travels to parts I've not yet seen! What a super trip you are having

Greatnan I've really enjoyed reading about your travels and it's whetted my appetite to go to NZ.
You can put pictures directly onto GN now, at www.gransnet.com/forums/pictures

I have been unable to load any photos on my profile for many months but I will try the new system when I have access to my proper computer - thanks for that information. I will be asking my grand-daughter to post some albums of my trip on Facebook in the meanwhile.

What an adventure you're having Greatnan, and your descriptions are wonderful.
You are a one woman travelogue!

We had just 2 weeks in New Zealand in 2003, and loved it. The clarity of the light struck us, and the laid back "no worries" attitude of the locals. Looking forward to seeing your photos some time.

I didn't manage to post a photo - perhaps some of the many members who joined me on FB can post a photo of the glacier?
I left Franz Josef at 7 a.m. in the dark and fog, but it was fun to watch the sun rise and the fog lift - one of the things I love about NZ is the emptiness - of the 4 millions inhabitants three quarters live in North Island, which leaves plenty of room in South Island. I drove for an hour, about 50 miles, and saw two other vehicles. It was another 20 miles before I found a cafe open for breakfast. I was getting a bit short of petrol, so I was very relieved to get to Greymouth and find the garages were all open.
I made the mistake of telling my daughter about my late visit to the glacier last night, and got well and truly told off because I could have tripped on the rough ground and there might not have been mobile phone coverage and I could have lain there all night........yeah, yeah, yeah.......who broke her ankle then? Not me!I drove for 480 kms today, 300 miles and I was a bit stiff when I got out of the car, but I made sure I cleaned it before I even had a cup of tea - I may want to borrow it again (anyway, it is great fun to use their pressure hose).

greatnan your trip is envy-inducing. What a wonderful world.

Hi Carol
I looked for your glacier photo on facebook to see if I could upload it onto Gransnet for you, but can't see it. There's nothing in the last few days. Can you point me in the right drection and I'll have a go?

Glad you're having such a great time
Love, Carol x

Whoops! Just outed you - sorry . I thought I had pressed private message. Really sorry! #onefthosedays!

Oooh! Outed me, too ha ha!

Don't worry when I won't tell anyone else!

Obviously the Carol clique

Glad you are having a great time Greatnan I enjoy reading your travel report, makes very interesting reading, and you certainly have a way with words! You are so incredibly active, I guess you don't know the meaning of the word "boredom"! Looking forward to more of same.