We awoke to a crystal clear calm morning on the Sound. The previous night had resulted in a fresh coating of snow everywhere down to 300m - good news for tourists! Once again though the primary interest in the cruise came all in good time - i.e.. after a huge fried breakfast was consumed!

It was a very good trip, taking us literally right underneath waterfalls and right next to a seal colony, as well as other various sights along the magnificent walls of the Sound. We got back at the terminal at 9.30am, and then were forced to wait several hours until our bus arrived due to the Homer Pass needing to be cleared of snow.

It was a magnificent bus ride back - when I say bus it was actually more of a personal taxi service, with the driver extremely informative and willing to stop wherever desired for photographs. We actually had the bus to ourselves for most of the journey and as there were no time pressures it was a thoroughly enjoyable trip back with fresh snow in the autumn trees, the amazing Homer Tunnel (1.25 km long carved out of rock with no reinforcing at all!) and the beautiful Mirror Lakes (with ripples thanks to some ducks paddling around on them).

We arrived back in Te Anau to find the car safe and sound. There was no power and hence no petrol stations open thanks to the storm. Time for a fresh change of clothes, return the hire gear and head back through the snow to Queenstown (again quite spectacular). The barren mountains from just a week before were now topped in snow, and with beautiful sunny weather there was nowhere else in the world that could be better...

Upon arrival at Queenstown we pigged out on a huge fish & chip meal and then crashed, making up for a lack of sleep over the previous nights...

We woke up late. Real late (11am). It was another beautiful day, but it was time for a take it easy day. We booked Connie on the Shotover Jet (which I had done on a previous trip), and then headed out to get her on it. For those who don't know it, it's basically jetboats that race up and down a tight shallow rocky river giving the passengers a thrill. Some get more than they bargain for - two boats have been fished out of the river over the last four months... needless to say Connie's boat made it safely back.

We drove up Coronet Peak to check out the views which were once again gorgeous (running out of words here, better start up the Thesauraus). Then we went to catch up with a friend of mine in Queenstown for a few hours - a chance as well for Connie to review her digital camera photos on his TV set. The day was polished off with some magnificent pizza at The Cow.