[phila]

Penguine, thanks so much for the input I really appreciate it. I was wondering if you could email me at phila@holly.colostate.edu It seems like you have quite a bit of knolledge I could surely use. I was wondering if it was a good idea to pend most of my time on the "west coast" area of the south island...It looks beutiful but is this practical? Phil

[Penguin]

The West Coast of the South Island is a nice spot although there's not really much to do until you get down as far as Fox Glacier and Franz Josef.

If you're driving I would definitely spend a few days going down there and even on public transport it's not too impractical. The West Coast isn't really as remote as it's made out to be. You may get a bit bored if you spend all your time there, though.