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...

Hi now in Napier. Great campsite with ocean veiws keep looking for dolphins but haven't seen any yet. Got here yesterday afternoon after a nearly 3 hour journey, headed straight into the town which is famous for its 'art deco' buildngs (it was rebuilt after an earthquake in 1931). Stopped for lunch overlooking the sea then headed to Marineland which said in our guide book had dolphin and sealion shows, we'd given it quite a build up for the kids only to find when...

Just a quick one before I run out of money! Spent another night here in Taupo and yeasterday - our first overcast day we got in the van and drove to the Tangiriro National park. Basically Al wanted to see some real mountains so we decided to grit our teeth and do it. There was nothing for the boys to do so we just drove there looked at the amazing scenery took photos, had lunch then drove back! Let them play on the camsite for the rest of the afternoon so everyon...