One end of South Island to the other

Today was a long drive as we moved from the West Coast to Fjordlan; around 700 kilometers, it is one of the surprises of New Zealand that it is so long, I suppose it is like driving from London to Edinburgh, without motorways, or dual carriageway. And even that is not the entire distance as there is another 300 km north of where we started in South Island. So it was an early start and away from the B & B before 6.30. The owners had kindly left out breakfast for us.
The first part of the drive was flat along the coast until we climbed into the mountains at Franz Josef Glacier. I am afraid we hurried through, but did stop at Fox Glacier (sounds like mint to me) for coffee. This was full of people arranging tramps or flights to the glacier. Interestingly the brochures were along the lines of we are better than the other glacier. The drive then followed some flattish forested land to the coast where after 300 kms we came to Haast a place that had been sign posted since the start. It turned out to be a petrol station and a couple of cafes, still we purchased some excellent rolls and drinks for a picnic lunch.
The scenary then grew more spectacular in what was described as the largest wilderness area in the Southern Hemisphere. Apart from the road it was a totally natural landscape of mountains, valleys and lakes. The lakes were an amazing turquoise blue, but quite rough because of the strong wind. At this point we had driven three hours without passing through any community big enough to have a speed limit.
Later we travelled through an area specialising in soft fruit. Marion bought fresh cherries at roughly half the price of the UK.(NB from Marion – not much is cheaper here!) There were vast cherry orchards completely enclosed by anti bird nets. Then it was a narrow gorge as we dropped down into Queenstown. The last part to Te Anau was little bit of a trial as we were tired. However we have a chalet room with a fantastic view over the mountains and lake. Hotel a little eccentric, I think Laura would appreciate some of the characters.
Tomorrow we are looking forward to our overnight on Doubtful Sound. All the pictures look marvellous. So beware readers our blog post might be delayed as I doubt there is a broadband connection on the boat. It will also be the first day that I will not have run, difficult on a boat. Maybe some kayaking instead.