We leave Motueka on this glorious Monday morning and head for Nelson to stay with old friends Pat and Vicky. The drive is a short hop and an enjoyable and picturesque trip. So Nelson is or base for the next 6 days, with the great warmth and hospitality of Vicky and Pat. I admit that a lot of the warmth also came in the shape of a bottle with red liquid and the delish Indian home-delivered dinner! We relished the snugly fine polar fleece sheets in a very comfy ...

A beautiful morning to set off from Collingwood, back to Motueka for the night. It really is a different journey going back on the same road. Everything seems to change.A third of the way up the Takaka Hill we pull off the road and drive about 3.5km down till we reach the Te Waikoropupu (affectionately known as Pupu Springs) walk. They discharge 14,000 ltr of water a second. There are eight vents in the main pool where the water is the clearest, freshest water ...

2 degrees overnight in Motueka. Bill decided the day before, that we were now in the tropics (because he got out in the sun in boardies and no shirt) and packed his cold weather clothes away. After freezing overnight in bed, he conceded he was a bit premature with the tropic thing.No matter the temperature, there was mostly blue skies and sunshine although cloud was certainly around.  Today we head off, over the Takaka Hill, to Collingwood, check into the lo...

A clear but cool morning, with everything soggy underfoot.   We get away by 7:45am and head for the hills; literally.  Still cloaked in cloud and mist, the hills, the paddocks and the bush-clad road cuttings are green, green, green and luscious. The odd splash of autumn colour, pops the the green of the bush as one tree stands out.   We are following the Buller River.   It is a really big river, in size and volume and even more so today after the heavy rains....

To say it rained all night in Moana is an understatement. It fairly bucketed down and this morning it wasn't any better.  We are to meet Denis, an ex-cop colleague, from way back when ......., at Punakaiki Pancake Rocks. Denis lives in Westport and had kindly set aside his day to be our very own local guide. Unless the weather picked up, the only thing we would be doing today is finding a dry spot to park up for the night.The trip between Greymouth to P...