Next stop on route was Christchurch, easily the best looking town we have come across (one hesitates to use the word 'city' for anything outside of Auckland). Lovely old colonial buildings which triggered minor pining for home. We were there firstly to meet up with Emma and Regan (who is a very first rate chap by the way, typical Kiwi) over the weekend and then to meet up with Amy's mum and Dad once more (oh no, not the dreaded inlaws I hear you cry!) before they...

What was all the hype about South Island being incredibly beautiful and all that? Ok, they're right. Broadly speaking we drove down the East coast and back up via the west. We started our South Island adventure by visiting Blenheim and hiring bikes to take us around the Marlborough wine region. This area gets pretty much more sun than the rest of NZ all year and the weather was warm but not too hot for tastings at 3 different wineries. The Sauv blanc ...

The next morning we are collected by the rural mailman who was taking us on a trip up the Wanganui valley. We basically accompanied him on his mail run, which in itself was pretty interesting (in particular the array of post boxes people had made - including a milk urn, a canoe and several fridges!!) but also gave us great views of the valley and the river. At Pipiriki he dropped us off to do a jet boat trip up the river to see the Bridge to Nowhere - a c...

We like Hamilton immediately as we managed to find a belgian bar where we enjoyed a few beers and a meal before heading to the cinema. Have a non-sight-seeing day the next day and get loads of chores done, including getting the van looked at as it has been making a shrieking noise! Fortunately it was fixed easily and only cost 38 dollars (about 15 quid!). That night we were treating ourselves to some motel luxury so that we could see the Spurs West Brom ga...

After a long drive north from Auckland we finally make it to Pahia, meaning "it's nice here" - and it was. We meet up with mum & dad again and head over to Russell on the local ferry. We walk up the hill to a famous flagpole and see a great sunset before heading back into town for another great meal. The next day we take a boat trip around the Bay of Islands to see the Hole in the Rock, which we were able to go through in our boat (very exciting!). We als...