(All the narrative is in this post, days 2 & 3 are just 'photos as the blog has a limit on the number of 'photos which can be uploaded at any one time).

At Queenstown we meet at 0615 and 20 of us with three guides head off for our three day hike (tramp in Kiwi) over the Routeburn Track first used by the Maori when they went searching for jade. The coach driver has huge knowledge of the geology, history and Maori myths of the region and makes the journey really interesting.

We enter a land of mountains (snow capped), rivers and lakes all carved into shape by ice. (As you would imagine many of the lakes here are cryptodepressic.) We approach the start of the walk and the wind rises, the cloud comes in and the rain starts. The weather systems hitting here from the Tasman sea appear very quickly. We are quite a mixed group; some are clearly athletes,one running ultra-marathons and one lady has a beaufont hairstyle and much make up; the guides are young fit and friendly.

The hiking company has done a deal with the Department of Conservation - they pay for 50% of the track maintainence and are allowed to build lodges for us to stay in. The DoC huts on the track are basic - no heat, power, showers or drying facilities. Ours lodges (right beside them so that we can look down on poor people) are immaculate, warm and cosy with fresh linen. The food is top class (for example, eggs Benedict for breakfast) and the hospitality great. The wine choices are excellent and priced reasonably considering that everything has to be brought in by helicopter. Likewise for the construction of our lodges everything single piece of material and all labour was flown in. At our first lodge the hosts are from Portrush and Dublin, at the next one the hostess is from Sligo. Paddies everywhere.

After day one the lady with the hair looks like she cannot continue to day two. No amount of encouragement helps her so the guides say they will order a helecopter. At NZ$3,000. On hearing the price she decides to finish the course. The scenery is fantastic; on days two and three the weather is perfect. River temperatures are 7 centegrade but that does not stop some people swimming. We see every geological feature you could imagine, plus a few. And see some idiots canyoning when there is a perfectly good path to walk on.

Stoats were introduced to kill the rabbits which ate all of the sheep's grass. Instead they ate many of the flightless birds and are now the major predator of the Kiwi. Stoat traps are everywhere but there are still 70 million of them running around.

At the end we go to a local pub for beer and chips, get our certificates and are soon back in Queenstown. Me, I head straight off the Milford Sound, the wettest place on earth with 7 metres of rain a year...