When last we spoke, the three of us were in Queenstown, being extreme. That didn't last long. Being extreme is very expensive and so we decided to spend our money elsewhere. Well, we really wanted to go and see Milford Sound but it was a 5 hour coach journey there, and the same back and the idea of 10 hours on a bus was not one that lit a fire in either of us. The Sound is meant to be beautiful, but for 10 hours on a bus, I'd be expecting all 7 wonders of the wor...

Well we've stepped up the adrenalin levels quite a bit since last we spoke. We left you in a sleepy ski resort just outside Kaikoura and since then we've been up and down mountains in every conceivable fashion. We drove across to the west coast over the spine of the country. It was very wet and the roads had quite a few rockfalls and the occasional landslide which made for an interesting detour or two. We got to Greymouth but realised there wasn't a lot to do the...

So here we are in the sunny/cloudy/rainy/cold/hot/summery/wintery South Island. The ferry over from the North to the South island was early in the day and a bit choppy but there was a blues band in the bar and we fought off seasickness by sharing a macaroni cheese lunch.The South island is noticably quieter than the North but beautiful. We drove through the Marlborough wine region en route to Kaikoura which is where we currently are. Yesterday we went on a boat t...

Kia-ora and Welcome to New Zealand, Landed in Auckland, had a Burger King and watched a tramp licking beer off the floor after someone had smashed a glass bottle on the pavement. Nice to be back in Western society!!! However, after this bad start Aotearoa (Maori name for NZ) has been great to us. We stayed a few days with some family friends which was great fun. Kids i used to babysit are now grown up with jobs. How old does that make me i hear you ask?? Very, a...