Thursday 29th MarchWe drive to Picton today and take a boat out into the Marlborough Sounds. They are similar to Halong Bay, almost like an archepelago of islands. The boat trip is serene and we see penguins, seals and lots of birds. It's a bit more sedate than some of the other things we've been doing - I know this because everyone on the boat is at least 30 years older than us. But it's good fun and very entertaining watching the captain, who is pro...

Wednesday 28th MarchWe arrived in Nelson yesterday which is a cute little town around the size of Llandudno. We stay at a lovely hostel called Honeysuckle House which has a really comfortable feel to it. The lady who runs it has booked us on a horse riding trek so we trot off up there this morning (excuse the pun). We meet Susan who is our guide. I'd guess she was in her late 30's. She comes from the Channel Islands and used to be a merchant banker but ga...

Sunday 25th MarchWe have a lovely breakfast in the garden with Jean and Roger. I'll be sad to leave today. Jean shows us around the vineyard and we learn about how to test the grapes sugar levels. They have nets over their grapes to stop the birds getting in. There's also a wind machine and some diesel burners which are used if a frost sets in to help protect the grapes. We meet their two horses and their pony Sammy. They have hens, sheep and a peacock th...

Saturday 24th MarchThe drive to Milford Sound is stunning, as is the view at the lake. Once again we're blessed with great weather. We meet up with our kayak instructor, Will, who gets us all kitted out in the gear. He then announces that the person who sits in the back of the two man kayak should be able to multi-task as they have to steer as well as paddle. That'll be my job then! We head out into the lake and paddle around for about 3 hours while Will ...

Wednesday 21st MarchWe're releaved we visited Mount Cook yesterday as the weather isn't so great today and there's a huge cloud sitting over the top of it. We drive on to Queenstown and look around. It's a great place with a real ski resort buzz to it. It's also very beautiful with the mountains surrounding the lake. I book my skydive for the morning and we head out to Jean and Rogers who live in Cromwell.They have guests, a lovely couple call...