Hi all, sorry for the very long delay in writing this blog - life has been somewhat busy since we landed in Australia. Anyway here goes..........

Dunedin looks very like the Scottish city of Edinburgh especially the town centre. The train station is probably the most famous landmark in Dunedin, standing inside is like being in the nineteen twenties. The YHA we stayed in was once an old hospital and was rumoured to be haunted! The TV room was down in the basement which was once a mortuary - nice! We spent our few days there walking in and around the city center taking in the sights.

We spent one of our days travelling through the Tairei Gorge onboard a restored nineteen twenties train. The carriages were all wooden and had old style sash windows which you could hang out of - reminisent of the Railway Children. It was a great trip with some amazing views (see pics) that allowed us to experiment with our still new camera!

After Dunedin we headed north towards Lake Tekapo stopping enroute on the Otago coast to see the Morekai Boulders. The Moeraki Boulders are huge, spherical boulders lying along a stretch of Koekohe Beach - they are quite magnificent to see. They occur naturally all along the beach either isolated or as clusters of boulders and have been protected in a scientific reserve.

When we arrived in Lake Tekapo we were surprised to find that our YHA was a stones throw from the lakes edge. The water in the lake is glacial fed and as a result has an electric blue colour (see pics). On the far side of the lake there were snow capped mountains which made for a picturesque view. We only had an overnight stop before heading off to Christchurch which was plenty of time as the main attraction was the lake itself.

We spent a week in Christchurch and it was one of the best weeks we've had so far. Having met up with the Carne clan (Marks rellies) we spent the days sightseeing with them and the evenings at their home in Lyttleton. We spent a considerable amount of time on the trampoline and the kids thought it was great when Mark was on there as they bounced so high! Anne is a wonderful cook and as a result we are both a few kilos heavier! It's fair to say that we were welcomed whole heartedly and felt like part of the family in no time at all.

Whilst in Christchurch we visited the Ferrymead Heritage Park which is similar to Scolton Manor. You can actually hire out an old cottage (see pics) to hold a dinner party which is cooked on site in an old aga style oven by women dressed up from the early 1900's. They have a replica 1900's village with a post office, shop etc. The kids thought it was hilarious to take us into the phone exchange and give us an electric shock with one of the gadgets!

One day we took a trip south to Akaroa via the mountain road so we could see down over Lyttleton and the coast. We stopped en route at various beaches to skim stones, play footie, have a picnic and walk along the Brighton pier. It's about as picturesque as our Brighton pier and every bit as cold! Akaroa itself is a really pretty seaside town, very similar to the South West coast of England. We walked along the pier, down the boardwalk and up to the lighthouse. Along the way Mark upset Maddy by pretending to put a crab down her back and is now affectionately known as Mr Krabbs!!!

One evening we took a ghost tour around the Arts Centre after having a lovely meal at the Dux De Lux. We were taken around the centre in the pitch dark and told all about it's history by our guide who was called Dr Forbes! Along the way there were eerie goings on, which culminated in a cloaked figure running amongst us in the darkness and scaring some people half to death.

On our final day we hired kayaks in the Botanical Gardens and headed down the river for a paddle. It was glorius weather, the gardens were in full bloom and there were plenty of ducklings to feed along the way. It was a great end to a great week. Later that day we went to a wildlife park so we could see a Kiwi before we left. A good afternoon was had by all, except Alex who got his finger bitten by a ferret!

We were very sad to leave our Christchurch family behind when we left for Australia, but are hoping that they will visit us next summer so that we can return their wonderful hospitality........