New Zealand part 4

From East coast to West coast via the Arthur's pass. Great scenery underway to our next destination: Hokitika. Lovely beach where we watched the sun go down after a beautiful afternoon with an extremely excited Nina because it would be her birthday the next day. Up early to open the presents, we continued south along the West coast. In Franz Josef, the birthday cake with 7 candles tasted great just before the surprise helicopter flight up to view both Fox and Franz Josef glacier and even a stop on the glacier for a snowball fight: unforgettable, impressive and beautiful! After this the day drive continued along the windy coast to Haast Beach where we spent the night. Queenstown next: the route was again extremely scenic with waterfalls, clear blue lakes and white capped mountains. In the Queenstown area we found another fantastic freedom camping place. Right on the lake, mountainous views and finally the opportunity for the long awaited campfire. We decided to drive to the famous Milford Sound the next day and we made it just in time for the last boat tour of the day. Lush green, waterfalls galore and even a seal colony and the rare yellow-brow penguin up close; it was a windy but great trip. We spent the night at Milford Sound, waking up to it's great view from our prime parking/camping spot. The South coast was next: passing through Invercargill and then onto the scenic coastal road, we made a little detour for the most southern point of South Island - Slope point - to set up camp right at the waters of Porpoise Bay.