New Zealand

Hello one and all

Sorry for it being a while since we last posted something, we've been doing a lot and finding it hard to get decent internet access that's not a complete rip-off!

So when Sue last posted we were in Franz Joseph having climbed the glacier and were about to set off to head to Wanaka and check out if there was any snowboarding afoot. We woke in the morning to find that overnight it had snowed and our journey through the winding roads of the west coast were both picturesque and a little bit scarey at times. On the road to Wanaka you enter Mt Aspiring National Park which is just beautiful, with huge mountains and dense forest all bathed in lovely blue sky and sunshine. Arriving in Wanaka we found that there had been little snow so no snowbaording, just a lovely small town filled with skiers and boaders enjoying some apres-ski (or apres-sitting around waiting for snow). We only stayed a night and instead decided to push on to Queenstown where we would stay a few nights and see what was to be had.

Quuenstown is a great place. It's a small-ish city that seems to serve the needs of the snow and adrenaline seeking masses quite well. Again there was little snow but there was a lot more to do during the day then Wanaka. It was here that Sue and I decided we should embark on the leisurely pusuit of a bunjy jump We chose the one in town called 'The Ledge'. It's a 47m high jump from a platform that overlooks Queenstown. The view is stunning, once you've got over looking down! We both managed it first time (and without a friendly push from the guys running it). We have a video of it too which shows the before, during, and after. Most entertaining

After all this excitement we headed further south to a place called Te Anau which is essentially the gateway to Milford Sound. We took in a tour of the glow worm caves while we waited for the road to Milford Sound to open. We drove the 120km up to Milford on this most amazing road, taking photo after photo as we went along, each corner turning up something even more spectacular then the last. We had arranged a cruise around Milford Sound which takes you out into the Tasman Sea to look back at the entrance and then back in to take a close up look at many of the waterfalls and rock formations. While out at sea we were lucky enough to spot dolphins and unlike in the Bay of Islands they came right up to the bow of the boat and swam with us for a while. They were far more friendly then the other ones, jumping and playing around until we had to turn back.

Back at Te Anau we headed across to the east coast to Dunedin where we would take in a train trip, a tour of the Cadbury Chocolate Factory, and the Otago Peninsula to see an Albatross colony. The following day it was up to Oamaru for a spot of penguin watching (they have two types there. The rare Yellow Eyed penguin and the most common Blue penguins). Very cute and even more entertaining to watch as they waddle up the beach and then into their nests

Next on the list was a place called Methven which is an hour outside of Christchurch. This place is the base for the Mt Hutt ski resort and where Sue and I would hopefully take in some boarding. We decided to upgrade to a B&B while we were here, and good job too as the second day we were there we had a blizzard that covered the whole area! Good for the mountain and for boarding, but we couldn't get up there as the road was closed due to high winds. We finally got on the slopes and weren't dissapointed at all Both of us picked it up well again (to our surprise) and after a couple of lessons were happily sliding down the slopes on our boards rather then backsides! However all good things must come to an end and eventually we had to say goodbye and got back in the van to head to Christchurch; our final destination and where I write this post from We handed the van back and are now enjoying the space and creature comforts a hotel room offers.

Next stop is Sydney and then onto Singapore where hopefully we'll get some warmer weather (although the last forecast we saw was 33 degrees and thunder...nice!).

Hope you are all well and we'll post again soon.

Sharm

Hey all,

Having successfully made it to Napier by the skin of our teeth, our next stop was the capital - Wellington. We had a couple of days to have a good nose around before our ferry crossing so we got to get a good feel for the place. Our campsite was a little way out of town but the bus links were good so no complaints there It was also bizarrely full of ducks. We made the mistake when we first got there of throwing a bit of bread to the two ducks by our van. Within a matter of seconds the two turned into about 15, with ducks materialising out of nowhere and quacking a lot....this was the sound that was to wake us up on all of our mornings there

Our first night in town was spent camped in a pub watching the first test against the All Blacks...I don't think I need to say too much about that now do I! Other activities to note were the tour we did around parliament...really good guided tour and their house is almost identical to our house of commons, except they seem to have comfy arm chair type seats rather than benches...evolution in action right there

We had bright blue skies and beautiful still weather....until the day of our ferry crossing. At this point we woke up to something resembling what I imagine the weather during the apocolypse might look like - howling winds up to 100km/h, driving rain, and all of a sudden the bright blue mill pond we watched the ferry sailing majestically across the previous day was a grey, angry looking cauldron with 4 metre swells. This is the first time I have ever been nervous on a ferry - we started the journey sitting at the front and there were massive waves crashing across the windows and lots of people gasping....this front area emptied out pretty quickly as the captain announced that people with sea sickness would feel less ill towards the back of the boat We made it in one piece thankfully, but the storm continued to rage in Picton - at one point I was walking around the campsite and was hit with a blast of wind so strong it stopped me in my tracks! It also managed to dislodge a solar panel from a roof which shattered about 5 metres away from me....such drama!

The next day, the weather was back to being perfectly calm and the mill pond sea returned. Hmm!

We had a quick look around Picton which is a lovely little place - we even visited the Edwin Fox - the worlds 9th oldest wooden ship (who counts these things?!) and a place called Seahorse World (somewhat of an exaggeration, as it turned out, we saw one...) before heading off to Blenheim. Here we did a rather pleasant spot of wine tasting and met Tomi the grape eating dog who is something of a celeb in the Marlborough region - apparently she can sniff out the difference between a ripe and unripe chardonnay grape...how useful

Next stop was Christchurch for the rugby. Even though the result was rubbish we had a great time, and the English kid holding the "At least we can beat France in a World Cup" sign was something of a hero amongst the travelling supporters

From Christchurch we proved how small the country is by driving from one coast to the other in a matter of a couple of hours We stopped off in a place called Franz Joseph that exists purely because of the rather large glacier on it's doorstep. But I'll tell you all about that one next time - you can see piccies of it on Sharm's Facebook til then!

Love to all, we'll be back soon!

Sue xx

Well hello there everyone

So if I pick up where Ms Magoo left off we were in Paihia in our little campervan called Rabbit. Turns out that although Sue and I are not to shabby with our camping our van was a little more ancient then we first thought. The first couple of night were spent without electricity, a serious lack of running water, and only a small duvet to cover us from the cold!

However we survived and made our way up to Cape Reinga which is the most northern part of New Zealand. You get to drive along 90 mile beach (which is where New Zealand's Maori name of 'Aotearoa' (The Land of the Long White Cloud) comes from as it is the first part of the land that they saw when they migrated across...fact!) and visit the lighthouse on the very tip for some spectatular views! Back in Paihia we took a boat ride out into the Bay of Islands which again are amazing. Even better was on this trip the organisers managed to find a pod of Dolphins and we got the boat right up close to them! We then took the boat through Cape Brett (loving the name) and back to Paihia where we continued our journey back through Auckland (where we changed vans to one a little more modern and with mod-cons like working electrics) and then onto Waitomo.

The next morning we got up and booked our caving tour to see glow worms, and weren't to be dissapointed. Due to it being the off season Sue and I were the only ones on the tour which meant we got to do more and go further. We started about 100 meters up and got as far down as 90 meters into the caves, seeing glow worms, cave crayfish (which are huge) and some fantastic cave formations. The tour also included 3 abseils and 2 rock climbs (the last one being a killer of a climb) so although the water was freezing we were kept warm.

Finally back into the world of daylight we once again boarded our van (now called 'Junior' in respect to our now retired 'Rabbit') and headed for Rotorua where we would find some crazy thermal pools and geysers. We went to the main place in Rotorua called Te Puia where we got to see some traditional Maori rituals, dances (including an upclose redition of the Haka) and housing. We also saw (and smelt) some of the most famous geysers in New Zealand. Out of Rotorua we went to another thermal park with some even better thermal pools (I think Sue has got some photos up of these) and a buried village where Mount Tarawera erupted some 120 years ago and killed off many local tribes and industries. Have to say the local people love their history and will spend so much time telling you all about it which is just fantastic.

Anyway, after all that we headed for Napier to see the 1930s architecture and get some fresh fish for dinner on my birthday. From there we drove through Taupo and stopped for a cuppa by the lake, and before setting off I spotted a sign saying last petrol station for 130km. I thought nothing of it until I looked at the dash and saw we had only 1/4 tank of petrol left! Several reassuring conversations back and forth and we were convinced we had enough to cover the distance...until the light came on and we'd only gone half way. A quick chat with the locals confirmed we were out of luck (that's not exactly how they put it shall we say!). However we persevered, free wheeling the car out of gear on all the down hills, gathering as much speed as we could to get up the other side before reluctantly putting it back into gear and hoping for the best! We got to Napier by the skin of our teeth and our van has now started to make some worrying noises!

And now I'll leave you to digest all that and hopefully be back soon for another thrilling installment

Hope all is well with you all.

Sharm