Good Bye Dotti

August 2 – Showing off Dotti

We were up early this morning to take Dotti to her 8am pink slip appointment. We wanted to be there early so we could double check for any oil. We drove over and stopped into the McDonald's nearby. I grabbed us breakfast and Beau mopped up the tiny bit of oil that appears to be leaking for the oil cap. While we had our breakfast in the van a young guy started checking out the van. Beau opened the door and had a little chat, apparently he is looking for a van. We gave him a flyer and hoped to hear from him. We headed down to the mechanics and while Beau got the pink slip done, I picked us up coffee from 7-Eleven. I was gone maybe 10 minutes but Beau had paper in hand by the time I had gotten back. WE PASSED! We made our way downtown to the car market feeling very optimistic about our day. Once in the car market I stayed with the van while Beau went to check his e-mail. He found a van wanted ad and replied to that in hopes of drumming up some interest. We had a bit of down time before we got our first call about the van. We ended up setting up 4 different viewings of the van for today! Or first one was around noon and we met them downtown. They were a nice British couple, they had a look at the van said they were going to grab a coffee and would give us a yes or no after. About 10min later they were back coffee in hand and said they'd take it! Awesome, they hadn't even test drove it or started it or anything! We got a deposit and said we'd bring it to them in Bondi tomorrow. We headed back to the caravan park in disbelief. We messaged the other people who were supposed to see the van and told them it had sold. Now we had to pack ourselves back up into or backpacks again! Yikes!!! We did laundry then crammed everything we owned in our bags. We went out for a celebratory dinner at the mall up the road and had some yummy Thai food. We had a sundae for dessert then headed back to the caravan park. It was our last night with Dotti.

August 3 – Good Bye Dotti

After a quick breakfast we finished our packing and cleaning and set off for Bondi Beach. It was about a 30min drive and we found the place without too much trouble. We got the money off the British couple in crisp $100 bills. We sold her to them for $4500 and they were going to take car of the registration renewal. They had give us 45 100 dollar bills but we had gotten a $200 deposit off of them yesterday so being the honest people we are we gave them $200 back. We went down to the transit office with them and submitted the notice of disposal, form saying we no longer own the van. Then parted ways and hopped a train back into town.  I hope Dotti treats them a little better than she did us. We booked ourselves into a pretty nice hostel in the Kings Cross area. Kings Cross is the backpacker mecca here and not so strangely the red light district too. Our hostel was off the main drag and should be pretty good. After settling in we walked over to the car market and got our bond back from them. The guy who was working down there was very happy for us and had been a really good guy to deal with too. Now we needed to find a bank but had to walk about 20min to find an ANZ branch. We deposited our money and closed Beau's account. On our way back we stopped into O'Malley's Pub and had a jug of beer. We then went to Coles and bought kangaroo burgers for dinner. We passed the evening with internet and Olympics.

Good Bye Dotti!

August 4 – Around Sydney

We had our free breakfast of cereal, toast and instant coffee. The coffee sucked but better than nothing I guess. I Skyped with Elaine for a bit, we had some catching up to do. After a nice chat I signed off and Beau and I went in search of something to do for the next 10 days. We looked into some trips out to Ayers Rock, also known as Uluru, but with flights and a tour it would be about $1000/person. Not quite what we were hopping for unfortunately. We discussed our options and decided to go to the Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley. So we rented a van for 5 days. We got a “Wicked Camper” a graffiti van with a bed in it. Feeling pretty excited about our next week we headed down to the harbour to get some shots of the Opera House on a beautiful day. We also went for a wander in the Rocks and into the Sydney Visitors Center. We got some pamphlets on the Blue Mountains and the Hunter Valley. On our way out of the Rocks we got side tracked by a candy shop where they were hand making peach candies. It was super cool and we got to try some fresh ones when they were done. Yummy. We had another jug at O'Malley's before heading back to the hostel to make burgs again.

Stretching candy

August 5 – Bondi-Coogee Costal Walk

We have enjoyed being warm and inside at night but the beds are quite squeaky and every little move I make creaks. We had cereal and toast for breakfast before catching a train out to Bondi Beach. We walked down to the infamous beach to go for a nice walk. It was lovely and sunny out with a bit of wind to keep us cool. We did the Bondi to Coogee costal walk, a 6km walk between Bondi Beach and Coogee Beach along the ocean. It was pretty busy with people since it was a gorgeous Sunday but it was nice to see so many people out enjoy the lovely winter day. It took us about 2 hours to do the walk with many scenic picture stops along the way. We got Subway for lunch once we reached Coogee and then grabbed a McD's cone to enjoy at the beach. We enjoyed the beach for a little bit before catching the bus back to the train station. Once back at the hostel we had a nice shower before heading for to O'Malley's for a jug of Snakebite (cider, beer and grenadine). After a jug of that we decided to switch back to beer. After a couple of drinks we popped into the grocery store for some fish and made fish burgers for dinner. Then spent the rest of the evening on the internet and watching the Olympics.

Bondi Beach

Healesville Sanctuary and Phillip Island

May 14 – Healesville Sanctuary

We were up early this morning to say good bye to Monique and Ingo. We are sad to say so long but happy to get moving. We spent the morning get all packed up and organized. We popped out for gas, groceries and cash, we need to leave some rent money. Then we had to say goodbye to our four legged friends. I'm going to miss Snowy and Juneau but not their hair. Having them around did make me want a dog when we go back home so I'll have to work on Beau for that :P We set off for Healesville Sanctuary which is a native Australian animal zoo. We'd been meaning to go awhile back but didn't get around to it. It rained pretty heavily along the way but had mostly stopped by the time we arrived. We got to the sanctuary in time to catch the “Spirits of the Sky” show which showcases some of Australia's bird of prey which included Sulfur Crested Cockatoos, Black Cockatoos, buzzards, owls, Fantail Hawks as well as other raptor birds. Prior to the show though we had time to stop into the koala enclosure. We caught one of the koalas during his 4 hours window of active time, they sleep 20hrs a day. He was jumping between two trees in his pen. It was cool to see him so close but I'm glad I saw koalas in the wild too. We also had time to poke our heads into the reptile house where they had 10 deadly snakes on display including the most venomous snake in the world. After we saw the bird show we went into the Land of the Parrots and saw loads of colourful birds. We then had to find a little shelter from the rain before it eased up enough for us to go on a wetlands walk. We saw a couple types of Ibis as well as a bunch of other birds. Next we reached the dingoes and got really lucky as we arrived just in time for Meet the Keeper. We got to learn a bit about dingoes and asks some questions too. The one in the enclosure were quite tame and the keeper was in with them giving them treats while talking to us. After we went on to the kangaroos. You can pay for “extras” at the sanctuary which can including petting a kangaroo, this was going on when we arrived. I'm not sure whether it was the kangaroo breed or else they were fairly young as the roo's were smaller than the ones we'd seen walking the dogs. It started to rain pretty hard again so we ducked into the Vet Clinic. At different times of the day you can observe them performing procedures. We arrived in time for a bird autopsy which I wasn't too interested in watching. The rain let up again and we made our way to the platypus enclosure. Since platypuses are nocturnal it was very low lighting. One platypus was chilling underwater; they can hold their breath for about 11min! The other was swimming laps around his pool. They are very funny looking creatures! After leaving the platys we saw Emus as well as some more native birds. Then we saw Animals of the Night which was mainly nocturnal rodents including a bilby. (family-remember the tv show we saw in Christchurch!) Next came the Tasmanian Devils and Wombats. Both are sort of small bear-like creatures. The devils were fairly active but wombats are nocturnal so they were sleeping. It was about 5pm already and the sanctuary was closing down. Back at the van we plotted our route to a free campsite at Kurth Kiln Regional Park. We arrived at the site just as it got dark and were the only people there. We made soup for dinner and played crib. It was chilly and damp but we stayed warmer than the back of the truck at Big White!

Mr Koala Bear

Female Black Cockatoo

Dingoes

Emu

Tasmanian Devil (not happy with my pictures)

Womabat

May 15 – Phillip Island

It was still drizzling a little this morning and the trees kept making good plonking noises on the roof. Beau and I stayed toasty in our bed last night even though it was a little chilly out. This made getting up quite difficult. Fortunately the weather was clearing a little so that prompted us to get moving. We had cereal for breakfast and a nice hot cup of tea. We set off on our way down towards Phillip Island. We stopped for a couple more groceries and some gas. It seems we have VERY poor gas mileage. It hurts me a little. Once we reached the island we went into the visitors center and asked about what we should see while there. I had been really interested in seeing the little penguins but it's about $25/person to see the “Penguin Parade” which is the little penguins coming back from the ocean to their burrows at dusk. So we opted to not which is a little disappointing since that was the main reason for coming down here but they have just been turned into a crazy tourist attraction. We did go down to the “Nobbies” and have a walk along the board walk. The Nobbies are some rocky formations off the coast. There was also Seal Island just beyond them where the Australian Fur Seals live. It was very wind but had some lovely ocean scenes. After our windswept walk we went into the visitors center and read about the local sea life in the Bass Sea. There were also some large tv screens on which you could view Seal Island using remote video cameras. Kind of cool but again you had to pay $5 for 4 min of video. We then popped the top and made lunch in the parking lot. We headed into the main town of Phillip Island called Cowes. We took a little walk along the waterfront and out onto the jetty. We also took advantage of the fact we have a cell phone and made a few calls for campsite prices. The best we could do is a non-powered site for $24. We figured non-powered would be fine since we have the second battery system now. Once at the campsite Beau decided to check on the second battery to see how it had charge throughout the day. Turns out it wasn't really charging properly. Obviously this worries us since we spent money on a electric cooler and proper battery for it. We aren't sure what the problem is but hopefully we can get it figured out. The van lights are a lot dimmer since the battery is low. I'm sure clever Beau will get it figured out though :S

The Nobbies with seal island in the background

May 16 – Phillip Island

After breakfast we headed down to a peninsula on Phillip Island to go for a hike. The lady at the information center had recommended this one to us yesterday. We parked the van and set off along the beach, before we went though we decided to switch to sandals since there was beach walking. It was a beautiful day out. The first part of our walk was a little windy and chilly and I was happy to have my jacket on. As soon as we left the beach though the wind died off and layers had to be shed. We reached some pink granite rock formations known as “the Pinnacles” and enjoy the view with a granola bar. We continued on the the highest point on Phillip Island at 112m. We were on the trail back to the car park when there was another trail that lead to an old quarry. We followed the path down to the beach on the other side of the peninsula to where there had once been a pink granite quarry. Stones had been mined here for use in Melbourne until the Depression. We walked back along the beach till we found the path back to the car park. We headed out from the car park to find ourselves a toilet and a lunch spot where we enjoyed some PB&J. This concluded our little visit to Phillip Island and we headed off towards our free campsite for the night. We drove to Cape Liptrap Coastal Park where there was a free campsite called Bear Gully Reserve. It was quite a picturesque spot right on the ocean and even had little fire pits available. Unfortunately there was no firewood around and even if there was it would have been too wet to use. We did get to see some Wombats though they definitely look like furry pigs. The battery seemed okay this evening, I guess it got charged up okay but we are still going to monitor it.

The Pinnacles behind us

Old Quarry and jetty

At Bear Gully reserve

Camper Van Hunting

Mar 6 – Into town

This morning an Australian couple came by to show us their van, a 1981 Nissan Urvan. They were doing what backpackers do just in their own country. The van looked pretty good. It drove well and had a pretty good layout. They were traveling with their dog, Banjo, and he played with Snow and Juneau while we checked out the van. We took it for a test drive, Beau and I were quite interested in it. After they left we headed into town to check out the CBD. We went into the visitors center to get some info on where to go and what to see. Then we went back to the little Indian place for lunch. It was yummy and cheap so why mess with a good thing. After lunch we walked through the botanical gardens and over to the war memorial. This is apparently a great place to get an awesome view of the city. Unfortunately it was about 5pm and the memorial closed to visitors at that time so we couldn't go up it for the great view. We decided we'll have to come back. We had been planning on meeting another girl and her van this evening but she couldn't meet until 7pm and wasn't willing to meet us at a train stop on our line. It would have taken about 2hrs to get back to Monique and Ingo's if we met up with her so we decided against it. We really just wanted another comparison, we weren't super interested in this van. It was blue with clouds on it. We headed back and were just in time for dinner. We spent the rest of the evening with Monique and Ingo. Beau and Ingo have been having fun playing soccer on Playstation. Beau and I thought the van this morning looked best of any of the ads we had seen and the guy seemed like he had taken good care of it. We got in touch with him about taking the van to a mechanic tomorrow.

Melbourne CBD

The city and Botanical Gardens

The War Memorial

Mar 7 – Checking the van out

Beau spent some of the morning finding a mechanic in a town called Geelong. That's where the van couple is staying, they were just in Melbourne for a few days. Geelong is about an hours drive from here but it's a two hour train ride as you have to go into the city and then back out again. Beau set off on his merry way and I picked up some groceries. I had a quiet day to myself. Beau got back just in time for dinner. The mechanic thought the van was in good condition for it's age and couldn't see any problems with it. We had decided that if the van was good we'd buy it so Beau had given them a deposit. We were pretty excited about our new van.

Mar 8 – Picking up Dotti

We made arrangements with the van couple to meet part way between Melbourne and Geelong at one of the train stations. Beau couldn't have taken the van yesterday because we had to wait for today to get the cash out. We are only allowed to take out $1000 each per day with our bank cards. So I had $4000 in 50's on the train. One of those times you really hope you don't bump into the wrong people. We met up with the couple no problem. Beau and the guy talked about the van a bit then we made the money exchange. We felt pretty conspicuous counting all that money out. But it was all there and Beau and I had our “new” van to drive back to Diamond Creek. We were discussing names for the van, Urv was one option but vans tend to be girls. We settled on “Dotti” since she's technically a Datsun, what Nissan was formerly known as. Once back at the house we set about the task of cleaning out the van and figuring out what we need for it. We decided we want to make a little folding table and we discussed ways of accomplishing that. We made bean burgers for dinner and while Monique and Ingo were a little skeptical when we told them what was for dinner they really enjoyed them. I also made greek salad to go with.

 

 

Mar 9 – The Movies

Beau and I had planned on going into town today. Unfortunately right before we were going to leave we double checked our train tickets and we could find Beau's anywhere. We search high and low but to no avail. It must have fallen out of his pocket on the train. We were both pretty bummed because those tickets hadn't been cheap. Since it was already afternoon we decided we'd go into town earlier tomorrow. Instead we decided to work on some modifications to the van. We want to build a cover for a shelf area that doubles as a table. We headed to the hardware store but their main car park is underground and we weren't sure how tall the van is with the roof cage on it. She's quite long especially with the bike rack on the back and pretty tall with the roof rack. We'll have to measure the height to see where we can fit. After the hardware store we headed to the grocery store and had similar problems parking. We barely fit in a stall, the bike rack had to hang over the center median. Back at the house Beau started trying to figure out the best way for him to create his shelf/table. Monique and Ingo got home and suggested we go to a movie. Ingo had been planning on going with some guys from work but their plans fell through. We had a look at movies that were playing, Monique doesn't like violent movies, so the girls were going to go to one movie and the boys another. We had some dinner at the food court before hand. Ingo and Beau went to see an action movie called Contraband while Monique and I went to a chick flick called The Vow. It was a sweet and sad movie, think the Notebook or Timetravellers Wife (all with Rachel McAdams). After our movie Monique and I got a very decadent hot chocolate while we waited for the guys movie to finish. They really enjoyed their movie and we enjoyed ours.

Glaciers

Jan 13 – Franz Josef to Fox Glacier

It was raining again this morning. Apparently the west coast is known for it's rain. The windows in the RV don't have an weather seal left so they drip. We drove from Franz Josef to Fox Glacier which is only about 30km. We stopped at Lake Matheson which is supposed to have beautiful views of the mountain reflected in the lake... when it's not raining. We walked a little ways along the path with hopes we might see something but we mostly just got wet. We went into the little town of Fox and had lunch at a pub. After lunch we checked out the campsites in town, both were grossly overpriced. Feeling a little disgusted Dad wanted to go up to see the Glacier. We drove up to the parking lot and it was a torrential down pour. We couldn't see the glacier. Dad got out to “check a map” and got pretty wet in the process. We then headed back into town and checked in to one of the camp sites. Later that evening Beau and I hoped to get some coffee and dessert but everything was closing at 9pm. I guess that's what happens in little towns. One placed stayed open to serve us coffee and Mom and Dad joined us with ab beer. Dad and Beau did take advantage of the pool table.

Jan 14 – Fox Glacier to Wanaka

The rain had let up this morning so we were able to take the short walk out to the Fox Glacier view point. It was a nice view. There was a short walk that lead across the river on to the chalet walk. Elaine, Shane and Beau started on that hike while the rest of us went to drive the RV around. Unfortunately we couldn't make the drive, there was a road sign and height barrier that only allowed vehicles under 3.2m up the road and our RV was 3.3m. We didn't want to risk it! We headed back and walked to meet back up with the rest of the team. Mom and I decided not to do the chalet walk which turned out for the best since there were several rivers to jump across. The other 4 had to remove their shoes to cross some of the streams and throw them across. Elaine throws like me and missed her mark with her shoe and had to run down the river to retrieve it. They did get some lovely photos. After they returned to the camper we drove to Wanaka. We took a gravely back road and found a really nice motor camp. It had a great view of Wanaka Lake. We borrowed a bbq and had burgers for dinner. It was quite chilly tonight!

Fox Glacier

Fox Glacier

Fox Glacier

Lake Wanaka

Camper Van Travels!

I know it feels like I've been neglecting my blog but the problem has been finding free internet. None of the campsites have it free! It sucks but we've found a nice pub in Queenstown for lunch with free Wifi. I'm a little disgusted that we could get free wifi all over Asia and here they care $5 for an hour. Pfft not paying that thank you very much! Ahh well who would have thought we'd be less connected in a Western country.

The camper van has been going pretty well. We've been a little cooped up lately because the weather has been brutal. It's been rainy and cold. I'm a little upset thats I've had pants and polar fleece on. There was even snow in the mountains one day! We are going on a massive three day hike tomorrow so cross your fingers we have good weather :S

 

Jan 4 – The Beach

Today, after a very leisurely start to the day, we hoped on the bus and headed to an area called Sumner to go to the beach. It was lovely and sunny out but unfortunately windy as well. There are some houses built on cliffs above the beach but you can see where the cliff has fallen away due to the earthquakes and actually taken part of a house with it. We also saw some of the concrete pads overhanging the cliff too. At the bottom of the these cliffs there were big shipping containers, I think to hold back any falling rock and debris. We walked along the beach, the sand was very hot but the wind kept things quite cool. The water was pretty cold too. People were sun bathing and swimming despite the wind. I think our blood has thinned because it did not seem warm enough to go swimming. We had a nice walk along the beach and on the promenade. There was a beach side restaurant and Beau's and my eyes almost fell out of our heads at the prices and they weren't necessarily out of line. We just are used to $1 beer and $2 meals. We had a coffee and a mixed appy plate. After digesting we saw a sign with some walking trails near by so we headed off in that direction but the trail was fenced off most likely due to earthquake damage. We headed back into town and stopped in at a store called The Warehouse, it's like Zellers. We did some recon on soft sided coolers and portable BBQs for when Mom and Dad come down. The rest of our evening progressed the same as most nights with dinner, walking the dogs and watching whatever movie is on TV, tonight was the Green Mile.

At the Sumner Beach

Jan 6 – Hiking in Christchurch

Beau has been bugging me to go hiking so we finally figured out how to get to the mountains. The day started off not so nice but once the afternoon rolled around the skis cleared. We took the bus down to the Halswell Quarry to start our hike. We hiked the Quarry and then turned east towards the mountains and the ocean. We hiked through some sheep farms and cow pastures while also hiking upwards. It was quite a ways but we finally made it to the coast. It was beautiful and windy. There were clouds forming as they came up over the mountains and us. It was really cool. We hiked along the mountains towards where we were catching the bus. We hiked for a total of 4.5hrs and had about 1.5hrs transit time. It was really enjoyable but we've been so lazy lately that I felt out of shape.

The view from the top of our hike over a bay

Jan 8 – Mom and Dad Arrive

Today Mom, Dad, Elaine and Shane arrive this afternoon. Beau and I spent the morning organizing ourselves. Cleaning and getting things organized to get packed up. Everyone arrived around 1pm and were starving. They hadn't had a chance to eat anything between their flight and picking up the RV. We went out for lunch at a pub around the corner from the house. We then went grocery shopping and

picked up some things for camping. The rest of the day consisted of getting the camper organized. Beau and I made dinner and we watched some of Die Hard 3.

Jan 9 – Drive to Abel Tasmin

After a hearty breakfast we finished cleaning and packing we were ready to go. We left the house around 10am, we had been aiming for 9. We headed north through Christchurch towards the north coast. It was a very pretty albeit windy drive. Two of the seats in the camper face backwards so are condusive to car sickness. I had no problems with all those windy bus rides in Asia but this one made me a little green around the gills. We stopped in Kaikoura for lunch and to check out a supposed seal colony there. There weren't too many seals but we saw a few and the view was super nice. We continued on our way with more twists and turns. We stopped in a town called Havelock and had some amazing steamed green lipped muscle from the Muscle Pot. It was really good. We ended up in Marahau. We arrived at our campsite and just had some salad for a late dinner. The campsite had a nice location near the beach but was very full.

A seal in Kaikoura

Family Photo

Jan 10 – Kayaking in Tasman Bay

Today we are going kayaking in Tasman Bay. We were up pretty early and had cereal for breakfast. We were supposed to be at the kayaking place for 8:30 but as usual we were running late. We had tried to contact the company the day before but for some reason the call wasn't going through. They had started the safety demonstration without us but fortunately we have all kayaked before although never with skirts. We had to demonstrate that we knew how to recover from a capsized kayak. We got through the safety course and were fortunately on schedule. We loaded the kayaks onto a trailer and hopped in a van to be taken the short distance to the beach. We got out in the kayaks and had a little more instructions from the guide and then we were on our way. We kayaked along the coast and then headed towards Stuart Island. We were hoping to see some seals, penguins or other marine lift. We didn't see much around this island but it was pretty none the less. We went around the island and north towards Adele Island. We pulled up on a little bit of sand and eat our sandwiches standing. It was high tide so there wasn't any beach to speak of. It was also quite windy. We got back on the water and went around the top of Adele Island. We saw some seals and seal pups! They were very cute but we still didn't see any penguins. We headed back towards the mainland and took a little break on a beach there. We then followed the coastline back towards our kayak pick up spot. The pick up point was tricky since the tide goes out very far so essentially the area is a big sandbar. We ran ground and had to pull the kayak in part of the way. We kayaked for about 5hrs and were very sore in the shoulders by the end of it. We got the kayaks back and got showered and warm. Then we tackled the task of trying to cook dinner on our little BBQ. The charcoal briquettes were slow to get going and never really got going well. Dinner cooked up okay with the help of the microwave. Beau made marshmallows over the tail end of the coals. We enjoyed some nice coffee and Baileys before bed.

Elaine and Shane in their Kayak

Mom and Dad in their Kayak

Kayaking in Tasman Bay

Jan 11 – Drive to Greymouth and wine tasting

It looked like it would be a lovely day when we woke up this morning. We had breakfast then left the camp ground. We stopped to buy a few groceries and got some directions for wine tasting. We went to three very nice wineries. The first was Neudorf Vineyards which was a very nice old looking wooden building. They had some lovely grounds and tasty wines. Our next stop was Kahurangi Estate, they had a lovely Merlot which is actually made from grapes from the North Island. Apparently merlot grapes don't grow well down here. Our last winery Woollaston Estates, it was a very snazzy winery. There was a little art gallery and some interesting sculptures outside. They too had some very nice wines and we splurged and bought a more expensive Pinot Noir. We finished with wine tasting and headed towards Greymouth. It was a relatively uninteresting drive. The scenery was nice enough and fortunately it was too twisty turny. We arrived in Greymouth and found a motor park to stay at. Beau and I made skewers for dinner and mashed potatoes. Our motor park was right by the beach so we had a little walk along there before jumping in the hot tub. It was nice on our sore kayaking muscles. It had started to rain when we went to bed. Some very loud thunder woke us up in the middle of the night too.

Jan 12 – Franz Josef Glacier

The rain didn't stop from last night, it was pouring when we woke up. We had breakfast then packed up again to hit the road. We had to do a big grocery shop again, 6 people go through food very quickly. After groceries we were headed towards the Franz Josef Glacier. We arrived at the glacier and had some lunch in the RV. Then we set off to do the glacier walk. It was pretty nice out at this time, but we made sure to pack sweaters and rain coats. As we walked towards the glacier, the view was quite nice but there were some clouds closing in on the top. Pretty soon the glacier was obscured and it was pouring rain. We got soaked. Mom headed back to the RV but the rest of us ducked under the rope and continued closer to the glacier for a better view, we were also hopeful the rain would let up. It did stop a bit and we were able to get some good pictures although the clouds never fully lifted from the top of the glacier. We headed back to the RV and were almost dried out when it started to pour again. We were only 5 minutes from the RV but we were absolutely drenched. Once back in the RV we got into some drier clothes and struggled to find space to hang all of our wet things up. We headed into the Franz Josef Village and checked into a motor camp. It was Elaine and Shane's turn to cook and Beau and mine to do dishes. After dinner and dishes we went out to a pub for a little bit to us the internet. The internet was free but the drinks were kind of expensive. It had stopped raining for a little while but it started up again when we went to bed.

The Franz Josef Glacier

Elaine!

The top of the glacier