Greetings from sunny Singapore.

I have no idea why some of you can't see them, as my daughter can, but I am starting to 'share' them with some of my friends, so if you would like me to send them to you, just send me a pm. (Please remind me of your forum name and FB name as I don't have my notebook with me and there are too many names for me to remember them all!)

Nor mine....

Sorry, anno, I really still have you listed as a friend. I will try to tinker with the privacy settings, but if some people can see them I must have something right.
Incidentally, a FB friend who is not a member of gransnet has made a comment - just 'shame about the smudge on the lens'. I hadn't noticed it before, but I think she might have found something more positive to say!. Grrr.............

They're not showing up on mine!

I can now see loads of photos

I seem to have set my privacy to 'family' but I have now changed it to 'friends' so I hope it works.

This really is a beautiful country but I am quite glad it is too far to attract many holiday-makers - selfish, I know!
I am quite happy to use my real name on forums - it just didn't seem to be the accepted thing to do on Gransnet! I would have had to have something other than Carol, anyway, as there would have been several of us. Must be our age - I think Carol Lombard was very popular in 1940!
Today, my daughter is taking me to Blenheim to drop off some things for my grand-daughter who is on placement at the hospital there. It is a lovely journey, but I will be able to relax as a passenger.
I hope my photos are showing on my FB timeline now - if now, I will get my tech.wizard here to help me do it again.

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.

Obviously the Carol clique

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

Oooh! Outed me, too ha ha!

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

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

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

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).

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 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.

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 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

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.

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 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.

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'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!