Back to the New Zealand recaps, sorry they seem to be dragging on but we just did so much on our trip! Sorry if you’re getting a little bored with it.

After our supper at Lake Matheson Cafe and walk around the lake, we had a relatively early night in anticipation of an early morning walk around the lake. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there was a temperature inversion around the lake meaning the visibility was terrible so we had a bit of a lie in.

Our plan was to go for a walk up to the Fox glacier. We were told (by my Mum) that the walk was only a 20min round trip, so I opted for a very impractical strapless bra. I really regretted this decision once I discovered the walk was actually about an hour!

It was about 10am by the time we set out on our walk, and so warm already. We reached the glacial mouth to be greeted by a number of warnings about not getting too close. Sadly, it seemed that a number of tourists have been injured by falling ice.

The ice was really dirty at the mouth, and it was only the slightly blue sheen that came through the dirt that gave a clue to the actual glacier beneath.

We had a  couple of photo opportunities on rock stepping stones in a stream.

The rest of the day was spent on a long drive from Fox Glacier to my Uncle’s house in Nelson, at the top of the South Island. Our plan was to spend the next couple of days with their family, including Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Christmas Eve in Nelson was spent doing some last minute shopping, hanging out with my younger cousins and checking out the town.

Tomorrow I’ll recap our completely untraditional Christmas day in the Southern Hemisphere!