The sun decided to desert us this morning as we set out on a tour of the garden city...or what was left of it! Massive office blocks are waiting to be knocked down, hotels left empty and coffee shops with cups and plates still on the tables. We walked arond Hadley Gardens aong the river Avon and then to the re:start mall, a shopping centre put together from containers - a brilliant idea. Drove out to the sea in the afternoon..some of the back roads still closed e...

The sun decided to desert us this morning as we set out on a tour of the garden city...or what was left of it! Massive office blocks are waiting to be knocked down, hotels left empty and coffee shops with cups and plates still on the tables. We walked arond Hadley Gardens aong the river Avon and then to the re:start mall, a shopping centre put together from containers - a brilliant idea. Drove out to the sea in the afternoon..some of the back roads still closed e...

The ferry trip was very calm and coming into South Island was spectacular. Saw a swarm of fishes very near the surface and wondered if something was chasing them.. Picton was looking at its best with bright clear skies and a crisp breeze setting the flags snapping and putting white caps on the waves. Stopped for lunch at a cafe overlooking the beach and had a glass of Moa 5 hop ale...very nice!! Back to the station to catch the train but instead of the fancy new...

A very lazy morning, packing up, catching up on my e-mail and wincing every time I tried to get up or sit down. I went for a walk around the town and found the old station cafe and had a lovely toastie for my lunch. At the bus stop there were 4 of us waiting for the same bus..2 of us going to Wellington and 2 to Auckland..so we were a bit confused..but it was just a shuttle bus taking us over the park to tanguiro Found my intercity bus..and an atm..which was goo...

We left Lake Taupo early and first stop was Waitomo to see the glow worms in their caves. Fascinating to watch the tiny blue dots of light appear as your eyes got used to the darkness. Stopped at another town to stock up for our trip to national park..for all of it's grand sounding name there isn't a lot there! The capital of King County there is a large rock with a top hat in the centre of town..not quite sure why... on the way to national park we stopped at som...