Franz Josef & TranzAlpine

March 25, bus across to the West Coast then down the coast to the town of Franz Josef. Whilst I was. in Franz Josef, the mountain region above the village experienced a massive "100 year" rain event that caused flooding, landslips and the bridge on the highway between Franz Josef and Fox Glacier was washed away (I've lost the photos). For a while it looked like I could be trapped in the town for some days. Late in the afternoon on my final day the skies cleared just enough for a helicopter to take off for a scenic flight over the Franz Josef Glacier but when we were up the the clouds began to close in again and the flight had to be curtailed so we missed out on getting over to the Fox Glacier. The road to the north and the TranzAlpine rail from Greymouth to Christchurch were reopened on March 28, so with a very early morning start I was able to continue on with my travel plan. A bus up to Greymouth then the train up over the Southern Alps and across the Canterbury Plain to Christchurch.