Hi got here lunchtimeish yesterday and checked into the hotel. Then had to completely empty the campervan - it actually didn't take us too long. Al took it back to the depot, we were sad to see it go! We then went to the National Antartic Centre just down the road, really interesting place we went into an Arctic storm room with real snow and ice! Me and the boys chickened out before the storm started but Al stayed in and it got down to -18 apparently! We also saw...

Hi - we are now in Hamner Springs but not for much longer! Yesterday we woke up in Kaikoura to torrential rain but a slightly brighter day 'cause we could actually see the outline of the mountains. We had to wait till 8am to find if the dolphin trip was on at 8.30. We phoned and amazingly it was so we got wrapped up and hurried down to the place. It was all slightly delayed but we finally got on the bus to go to the boat just after 9. We motored out until the ski...

Ok so we didn't manage to see the dolphins today! We woke to grey skies, really low cloud and incessant drizzle - typical Dineen summer holiday in Cornwall weather! We had a lazy morning round the campsite then wandered out for a coffee, then down to the seal colony again. We had to wait until 12 for the skipper to make a final decision, and unsurprisingly it was a no! We treated ourselves to lunch out then wandered round the shops for a bit. Had a leaflet for a ...

Hi, we are now on South Island. The ferry crossing was fine, it was a bit cloudy and drizzly but the last stretch heading into Picton, South Island was still amazingly picturesque and moody! Unfortunately we couldn't persuade the boys to have a look so Al and I had to take it in turns to go out on deck and look at the scenery and take photos! We then headed down the Island to Kaikoura stopping at a picnic spot for lunch. It was amazing scenery, very mountainous a...

Hi we're now in windy Welly and it certainly has been! Just to fill you in, on Friday we left Napier and visited Splash Planet a huge water park which was great fun for the kids - I managed not to get wet - the water was freezing and I've been so spoiled by all these hot pools so I just had to sunbathe! We headed towards Palmerston North after lunch and met up with Roger, Zoe and Eve at their house. It was lovely to see them and they treated us to a delicious BBQ...