Today we leave NZ after 4 incredible weeks! We're in the airport waiting to leave & taking advantage of the free internet access - can't put photos on though, so you'll have to wait til we get to the U.S. Since we last wrote we've visited Waitomo caves - another not to be missed experience! We went in through a man-made cave built so as to preserve the original entrance which is sacred to the Maori. We went down a long spiral walkway which ha...

We really enjoyed Napier. The buildings are amazing. The majority in the centre of the city are Art Deco. The reason there are so many is because most of the buildings were destroyed in the enormous earthquake of 1931 & they had the foresight to really plan the new city in a definite style. We spent nearly all of one day walking the city & looking at the wonderful designs - interspersed with copious cups of coffee of course! And I simply had to buy myself...

Well, we've now left the mainland (according to a South Islander) & crossed Cook Strait (a 3 hour crossing) We are in Wellington for a couple of days. We're staying in a really nice 'home stay' (B&B) where we have our own 'unit' with bedroom, bathroom & living room/kitchen. Plus our own garden entrance. We have breakfast delivered to us & never see our hosts! On the ferry we met a couple who came here to live 30 years ago -...

We've just tavelled the west coast road from Hokitika to Nelson, stopping off at Punakaiki to see the pancake rocks - they really do look like giant piles of pancakes! The coastline here is so different from England. We went through Papora National park where what seems like a dense tropical forest grows right into the coves & onto black sandy beaches strewn with enormous fallen rocks. The landscape then changes through the Buller Gorge & becomes more...

We've just tavelled the west coast road from Hokitika to Nelson, stopping off at Punakaiki to see the pancake rocks - they really do look like giant piles of pancakes! The coastline here is so different from England. We went through Papora National park where what seems like a dense tropical forest grows right into the coves & onto black sandy beaches strewn with enormous fallen rocks. The landscape then changes through the Buller Gorge & becomes more...