Quick round up of the last couple of days. Drove from Westport to Franz Josef Glacier yesterday, with a few photo stops, notably Pancake Rocks. Had an early night, in anticipation of my big day today - heli-hiking up the glacier! But the helicopter had to cancel because of the weather - boo. The alternative activity was a 5-hour hike with a Lucy Liu lookalike guide - but that would have meant another night spent at Franz Josef, which would have knocked my itiner...

On reflection, I may have been a little harsh on Blenheim. In daylight, it seemed to be an improvement on Stevenage. It can't help it that it's not California, or the Cook Islands - and most of all, it can't help it that it's winter. Did I mention that it's cold? That's because it's winter. I think my brain just computed that fact this morning. What's going on? I never signed up for two winters in one year... well, technically I suppose I did, but I wasn't prepa...

Woke up in my trendy chic (and cheap) hotel this morning because something was buzzing in my room - there were so many lights and gizmos that it took me ages to realise that the phone wasn't properly on the hook. Which concerned me slightly, as several hours earlier, I'd called my nan to wish her a (belated) happy birthday. So, with some trepidation, I called reception to ask how much my call to England had cost - $1.72, phew. I went back to sleep and later rang ...

I'm writing this entry retrospectively to fill in the gaps - another one from today to follow. The last couple of days in Rarotonga were uneventful - I knew that New Zealand was quite likely to be busy so I quite fancied chilling out. On my last night, I was due to attend an Island Night with Ingrid, as her grandson was performing at it - but she was ill (originally thought it was dengue fever, but turned out to be food poisoning - hmm, wonder if she had fish) s...

Not entirely sure I feel like posting after finding out the Newcastle score, what happened? On second thoughts, I don't need to know, I'm sure it was just like the rest of this bloody season. **** WARNING: don't read the following while eating **** Well, I've arrived in Rarotonga - much bigger place, you have to check for traffic before crossing the road! Quite nice to have a choice of bars and restaurants within reasonable walking distance though. Picked up at...