We woke up after another cold night, but it was a good sunny day and we had a quick breakfast numerous cups of tea to help warm us up, then we were ready to head off and drive the 42 km onto Arthur’s Pass Village. Again our legs were feeling the effects of our previous days walking and we were going to have a lazy day as Rob had another big walk planned for us once we got to Arthur’s Pass Village! Again we had a superb drive, we were so lucky with the weather, Arthur’s Pass is notoriously know for its cloud but today was a beautifully clear sunny day without a cloud in the sky! It was hard trying to concentrate on actually driving as the scenery was that breathtaking but I managed it and we got there safe and sound. We were pleased to see how many free campsites we had passed on the way and there were quite a few within a couple of miles of the village, which would thankfully mean a cheap stay. We headed straight for the DOC office and information centre where Rob picked up a walks leaflet. The

first mountain he picked out for us to climb would have been impossible, 27 people had died on it and you had to be a expert mountaineer with Ice axe and crampons!!! That was us out then!!! Thankfully before I could say anything he saw what I would call sense and picked out another mountain for us to tackle! The one he picked was called Avalanche Peak and was described as difficult but extremely popular - hmmm if the Kiwis call it difficult then I guessed it was going to be pretty hard going. Rob was very excited about it and was already starting to plan what we were going to have for our mountain climbing breakfast! I was a little less enthusiastic as it looked incredibly big and it has to be said I was a little worried about the Kiwis use of the word difficult!

As it was still fairly early we decided to go and check out the Devil’s Punch Bowl, a 2 km, 100 metre ascent to a 131 metre