We intended to head to Greymouth, on the coast, today, and on the way there I read about some caves with blackwater rafting (that underground river trip through caves in the dark) that were actually in Greymouth, so we stopped and checked them out. Their next trip was at 8 the next morning, and because we couldn't think of anything else to do in the town for 20 hours, we had to give it a miss.

So we decided to get further down the coast, and after stopping at a big grey beach for lunch we just spent the rest of the day driving south, right along the coast with massive waves, up mountain roads, through forests, and into a tiny mountain town called Franz Josef just before it got dark.

The town is right at the foot of the southern alps, and only had two streets in it. You could see the snow on the mountains and the moon was starting to make it glow. Just about the only businesses in Franz Josef are glacier tour companies and motels. We found the hostel/motel place we were staying in, a supermarket and email, and then went for a walk in the dark to find some glow worms. The moon was so bright that we didn't need the torch we took, but it also made the glow worms hard to see in the undergrowth. After booking a trip to the local glacier in the morning we had some soup in the main kitchen and then cooked supper in our room and watched rubbish on the television.