AUS Day 26 - Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015!

02:30 am. Ouch. The alarm goes off and up we get. Christchurch is left behind in a drawn out Jetstar whirlwind, and we touch down in a cloudy but bright Sydney. The airport link train was rather swish (double-decker!) and we arrived in the heart of Sydney at Circular Quay.

The decision here was whether to catch the fast or slow ferry - we opted for the slow ferry and enjoyed the great views across the harbour to Manly, where we were staying. Hotel Steyne is a bar hotel and they were kind enough to let us sort of check in and leave our bags, so we could catch the ferry back across to the quay as soon as possible to reserve our New Years Eve spot. This may sound crazy as it was still only 10am, but unlike embankment, in Sydney it seemed places fill fast!

By the time we were back across (fast ferry this time) it was nearly midday, and there were already three hour queues for viewing points in the city. Discovering this, we opted for a smaller point close to the quay, with a capacity for 3,000 and closing entry at 15:00. We squished ourselves (in a hot-water beach like social situation) into a corner at the very front, and quickly realised that the lack of shade was going to be challenging. Glad if the factor 50, we spent the first few hours cooking in the sun whilst snacking, chatting and doing puzzles. A big highlight was when the shade of a building reached us, and the temperatures went from 'feels like 35' to 'feels like 25'. Good preparation for our outback trip I suppose.

Things got even more exciting a mere six hours later, at 18:00, when there was an air show display. The next few hours brought us more airshows, a fire tug boat, fantastic boat lighting and a few firework displays.

The finale came at midnight (obviously) and everyone surged forward to watch. We had a great spot with views of Harbour Bridge, a couple of firework barges, and Sydney Opera House to our right. The fireworks were set to music and were amazing! I particularly liked the ones that came off the bridge - so much light and smoke at some points that the bridge disappeared from view completely.

Fireworks done we joined the masses in getting to our public transport. We had o find the ferry, which proved difficult! After being misdirected many times by clueless staff, we found ourselves on the first ferry back to Manly. This went very slowly back, due to the number of boats still pottering around the harbour, so we had plenty of time to enjoy the lit up Sydney skyline, and stunning reflections of coloured light on the water.

Once back in Manly, we made the short walk along The Corso back to our hotel, surprised by the large queue of young revellers waiting at a bakery (rather than fast food shop!). I guess bread still solves the issue though, and they must have been doing a great trade.

At the time of writing I've been awake for 24 hours! Having showered off the layers of sun cream that I built up over the day (and discovering I've burnt my back where my t-shirt had an unfortunate hole in the back) it's now time for bed. 02:30 am.

NZ Day 25 - Cantabrians

It's been three days since we played frisbee golf in Queenstown, and I can certainly say I'm still feeling the effects. Frisbee is much more of a workout than I thought, hopefully by the time it stops hurting my wee right biceps will be stacked. Although possibly not as stacked as "Bob the Bender" who we keep hearing about on our favourite radio stations of More FM and The Hits.

I also heard an ad starting "whilst you're busy making sure your front isn't poking out of your jandals..." which doesn't help me fathom out what they are! Possibly more alarmingly are ads asking "Is your Daisy not giving as much milk as she used to? Bring her down to quality pet foods now!". That sort of as just wouldn't happen on Capital FM...

Four hours of increasing temperatures in Wendy later and we made it to Christchurch - our final destination. The journey started very scenic, with Lake Tekapo and the mountain ranges, and was later punctuated by radio ads such as the above, billboards advertising "Ginger with bite" and actual overtaking.

Christchurch - after visiting I kind of think of it as the modern Pompeii. In the CBD many of thy buildings have been demolished, and pop up car parks and other 'gap fillers' are used on the empty plots. The deserted buildings awaiting demolition or retrofitting are slightly eerie, reminding me of Famagusta in Cyprus. However, there are some pretty murals on the sides of these buildings, which have been exposed due to demolition. There was also a 'cardboard cathedral', which was formed out of rolls of card, a bit like the inside of a loo roll...

Also very cool was the Re:START shopping centre, formed largely of shipping containers and a great place to mooch around, which we did. We shopped for a few bits then had a tasty dinner of sushi and then a wood fired lamb pizza.

Next on the agenda was saying goodbye to Wendy! Very sorry to see our reliable friend go, we gave her back to Wendekreisen, who then proceeded to give us a lift back to our hotel in her, which was weird as it was a bit like being a passenger in your own car. Once back, we spent the night (or half of it) in an actual real bed, before taking a taxi to the airport.

NZ Day 24 - The face of Cook

After a night at one of the busiest campsites we've been in, I've noticed a couple of things. Firstly, clear nights here are incredibly full of stars, something that makes the trek to the toilets much more interesting than it should be. Hopefully we'll experience a dark, clear night soon, and be able to enjoy the stars more. My second observation is that Kiwi's quite often talk of things called (or sounding like) 'Jandals'. I would very much like to know what they are - from my research (eavesdropping) I've discovered that they're something you wear as a tired father asked his daughter whether she would like to 'Put her Jandals on'. I got excited by this conversation as I thought I'd imminently discover what they were when she out them on but unfortunately  for me (and her frustrated father) the toddler vey much did *not* want to put her Jandals on, so I'm still none the wiser. Perhaps they are a combination o Jelly shoes and sandals? A croc type thing?

Anyway, we left this campsite o a refreshingly clear and bright morning, and took in some great scenery on the way to Mount Cook (Aoraki), including the Karawaru River gorge road. Rounding the bend to the Aoraki district we were a tad disappointed to see that the peaks were hidden by a strange flat cloud, but noticed that the cloud was very thin so kept our hopes up for the sun burning through. The snow capped glimpses we caught through the cloud later promised great things!

Parked up in the valley, we set of hiking along the Hooker Valley trail. This gradually led upwards to a fabulous glacial lake (at the back of the photo below). With a view of this lake, we munched on our sandwiches and cooked in the sun, now blazing through an impressively clear sky. From this spot we could also see the end of the Mount Cook glacier, as well as its peak, which appeared to have a snow 'face' on it.

After returning down the track (supposedly a 3hr10 trip, took us 2h10!) we were surprised to find ourselves with a lot of day left, so we quickly had refreshments (and a shoe change in my case - to sandals (the super glue boos are holding out well for Peter)) and set off in the Sealy Tarn track.

The description of the Sealy Tarn track promised us incredible views after a steep trek up 2200 steps. This may not sound a huge number, but 700 steps in I realised it was! A very tired Tasha reached the top, having counted 2017 steps (I was being stingy with ambiguous rock/step things). The views were indeed incredible however, with the glaciers spread out before us and a view down the valley to the impressive blue lake around 30km away.

Down was nearly as painful as up, but with the views to break it up, plus a feeling of smugness for every panting person that came past us going up. One possibly German lady even commented how is was cheating because I was wearing sandals not walking boots. This I found quite confusing as I didn't feel better off in sandals (possibly worse off as there was lots of loose gravel about) and I thought that the 15 kg big rucksack she was carrying would be much more of a handicap to her (compared to my single water bottle) as opposed to boots over sandals.

Finally reaching the bottom (in 1h45 as opposed to the suggested 3h30 - New Zealanders must walk *slowly*) and the end of a fantastic day's hiking, we scooped up an also boiling Wendy and went on to the Glentanner Park Centre to enjoy our last night together.

NZ Day 23 - Time to chill

The day started in Te Anau with a sense of excitement for Tasha and trepidation for me, at what we had booked in Queenstown, the adventure capital of New Zealand. But that was in Queenstown and we were not there yet....plenty of time to chill. We set off en route to Queenstown passing through yet more stunning scenery and taking even more photos, therefore increasing the likelihood further of the 15Gb of SD cards we brought with us not being adequate. 

We arrived in Queenstown at 10am after the 2hr drive, but the activity we had booked wasn't until 1pm......plenty of time to chill. We headed for the frisbee golf course in the gardens, something I had been eyeing up on our last visit to Queenstown a couple of days ago. I guess to be correct I should probably call it disk golf as it is properly named, and as the people who had disk golf branded bags containing pockets for an assortment of frisbees probably nearly exactly the same, and a further pocket for the water bottle would have probably corrected us had they been given the chance. We avoided this group to prevent ourselves looking like fools and proceeded to play with the frisbees we had picked up in Te Anau yesterday, which Tash had insisted would be adequate. We quickly set about completing each par 3 'hole' in about 6 shots, greatly aided by the frisbees' ability to roll as its flying abilities were not up to much. A point demonstrated when after a few collisions with trees my frisbee was reduced to 3/4 of its original size, yet still flew about 85% as far as when it was new but with greatly dimisished rolling capabilities. A severe handicap. A draw was played out thanks to a three shot comeback in the last 3 holes, entirely due to swapping frisbees rather than skill......Time to chill was now severely restricted, and nearly up.

After lunch we hopped into the shuttle van which took us to Coronet Peak, 20 minutes out of Queenstown for our afternoon activity. After a brief weigh in, the pilots clipped on the harness and started unfolding the canopy of the tandom paragliders. At this point I was still pretty chilled, much to my surprise. I'm ok with heights when standing on something tall or in a plane....but I am not ok with heights when trusting my life to a bit of rope, or running off a mountain. Lucky for me these guys were of the 'no faff' variety and organised their tandom paragliders quicky and thoroughly, while explaining the basics regarding take off. This consisted of asking me to "walk when I tell you to walk and run when I tell you to run". I was STILL surprisingly chilled at this point.... Don't get me wrong, chilled is not the way to describe how I felt but surprisingly chilled definitely is. Andreas, my pilot is always third to take off, Tony was second, and had Tasha buckled to him. 

Tash took off, and before Andreas had done his final few checks (or I'd had time to think) she was already 30ft above the take off site, circling with the guy who took off first. I was told to walk, so I walked, although mostly backwards as the canopy inflated, then I was told to run. This was what I had been nervous about, running off a mountain, it turns out I need not have worried because the running bit never really occurred as after 2 further steps forward there was nothing left to run on, we were up! ......Now was really the time to chill. 

We soared around taking in the views of the Remarkables mountain range and lakes for a while, chatting about thermals and the 5hr flight Andreas had managed on his day off earlier in the week. Andreas all the time catching thermals to keep us high, he said he liked the sense of achievement from gliding higher than the take off site. Gradually we decended, well until and Andreas asked if we wanted to some acrobatics, I said yes dispite Tash and I agreeing beforehand we would not do anything so adventurous (turns out Tash also said yes to the same question!).  We quickly lost height in a tight corkscrew, the horrizon turning vertical and beyond. 

As we came into land, via another unexpected corkscrew, I could see a beaming Tasha on the landing field. It looked like we both had a good time! After heading back into Queenstown, we redeemed ourselves on the frisbee golf course managing some of the par 3's in 3 shots, this time with proper frisbees, and then headed to Arrowtown for a bit of an explore and to find the campsite. To top off the day I even offered to write the blog, something Tash has been trying to get me to do all holiday. I imagine this made her day. :-p

Mum and Dad, consider your christmas money well spent. Thanks!

NZ Day 22 - The Mitre Peak

Stumbling out of Wendy this morning I was immediately hit by a big gust of wind, whistling down the sound and to our lodge camp, near a river. The wind was very warm though, and I donned some leggings (sand fly protection and a tshirt) ready for our cruise.

The boat we boarded was a small (65 persons) boat, named the 'Mitre Peak' after one of the peaks in Milford sound, which is shaped like a Bishop's hat, or 'Mitre'. The cruise begin nice and gently, with an exploration into Deep Water Basin to look at the local fishing boats. This done, I was pleased when we turned away from Milford and out into the sound. The sheer rock surfaces to either side were naturally vegetated with trees, which, given thy had little to cling on to, were surprisingly mature.

The frontal weather system coming in gave some super wind and waves once we rounded a headland - holding on was key at points. The swell was particularly large and I was secretly thankful that the captain had pre-decided that we wouldn't be able to make it out to the lighthouse today. I'd just seen a boat turn 250 m or so ahead of us and it was rolling something ridiculous so I was happy to turn back after a 'taste' of the swell.

On the return journey we were given brilliant close-up views of some seals basking on the rocks. We were then dipped into the second-highest waterfall in the region, leaving me nicely sprayed although not completely sodden. Also exciting to see were the waterfalls which weren't even making it to sea-level - the wind was blowing them away before they got there! The wind also blew away someone's cap, with a fellow passenger making a heroic leap to rescue it. The cap victim then decided the best course of action would be to put the cap back on, which I wasn't convinced was sensible.

Back on dry land, we drove out of Milford  and through the still-crude-but-now-soggy Homer Tunnel. After The Divide, the rain drove itself in and stuck with us all the way back to Te Anau. Here we lunched (we're trying to use up food now, so it was an eclectic but tasty meal) and then had a mooch around the shops in Te Anau, purchasing two flying disks (which were not disk shaped) and then playing with them in the park. A bit of tree climbing and shaking was required at one point, which I don't think would have gone down well with the Department of Consevation...

Back at our lakeside camp, the sun began to peak through the clouds, and we used the peaceful evening to catch up on the blog and do some research for tomorrow's activities in Queenstown. For once we have access to free wifi (an hour on each device - we, it turns out, have five devices with us!) which is a rarity here.

NZ Day 21 - Humans have turned Keas into beggars

Queenstown was left behind early this morning as we (Peter, whilst I snoozed) made our way to Te Anau. Here we dipped into the visitor centre to find out the weather (rain, although not surprising as it rains for over 200 days a year in the sound) and headed on to the wildlife centre.

The centre was focused around birds, and the first I saw was a naughty Kaka, which was trying to open a Tupperware box that it apparently wasn't supposed to! The Kaka was navy and red (common bird colours in NZ) and quite parrot-like in shape. A bit bigger but also parrot-like was the greeny-bluey Kea, which had a brilliant orange set of feathers under its wings.

Without knowing that wild Keas would feature in our drive to Milford Sound, we donated to the centre (gold coins only) and set off on the second half of today's drive. From Te Anau we cracked our a good 59 km or so before pausing at 'Mirror Lakes'. These were supposed to reflect the mountains behind, but amusingly a couple of ducks were swimming and rather ruining the effect. We didn't mind as the lake at Fox had been far more impressive than this ever would be, but there were a few forlorn looking people standing around with oversized cameras.

Next up and far better was Chasm Creek, an impressive falls of that same ire blue water we've become accustomed to seeing. Here we met an acquaintance from the Abel Tasman boat stay over, so we swapped 'stories since..' For a bit and then departed for our final destination - Milford Sound! To get there we passed through a very crude tunnel called Homers Tunnel, which looked to me as though it had been carved out of the rock many years ago and not touched since. The road surface was extremely lumpy and the tunnel walls unlined. Relieved to make it out to the other side (I don't like tunnels and this was long, narrow and very dark!) we stopped for a breather and a wild Keas came and said hello. I think it wanted food but it had to be content with perching on Wendy. The next car that came along was obviously more exciting to the Kea than food-free Wendy, so it hopped of its perch towards the car. The female oriental passenger had made the mistake of winding down the window and  the Kea made a great attempt at getting inside the car - to her horror and our stifled amusement.

Milford Sound itself turned out to be very terminus-like, as the road literally just ended in a roundabout at the quayside. We took a wander around, admiring the low cloud over the sound and watching boats drift in and out. Maori legend has it that one o their leaders created place after place, and by the time they got to Milford Sound, they had become such an expert at creation that it became the most beautiful place of them all. This wasn't agreeable to the leader of the Underworld though, who was jealous of the beautiful place belonging to the Maori. To deter more people from experiencing Milford Sound they (and my right ankle and foot can verify this) plagued the sound with sandflies. How lovely.

NZ Day 20 - A Kiwi Christmas

Waking up to a sunny and more importantly, hot Christmas Day is definitely a first for us both. We made a very early start and by 08:30 were climbing Mount Iron in Wanaka. Reaching the summit in the already warm sun, we drank in the 360 degree views before scooting down (the newly super-glued boot was holding together surprisingly well) and began driving the SH89 to Queenstown.

The SH89 turned out to be an incredibly scenic route. Alpine cottages and floral river dales surround us for the majority of the hour long drive, and the descent into Queenstown was magnificent. Our Christmas morning was then blessed with another climb, this time up Queenstowm hill. We were grateful for the bush cover for the lower half, as as soon as we were fully exposed to the sun we were sweaty indeed! Much water and salt was needed at the top, and looking forward to lunch, we made the descent and wandered into Queenstown gardens.

Inside these - which actually are a peninsula into the lake - we found our own private beach bay for Christmas lunch and dipped our feet into the chilly water. Later on, and after the largest ice cream I've ever seen or attempted to eat, we went for an impromptu swim in the same chilly water. This was dual purpose - too cool off and work off some of the ice cream, but unplanned, so we ended up walking back up the hill to the campsite in rather soggy clothes and squelchy flip flops.

Refreshed, we cooked dinner, which consisted of steak and salad for mains, followed by (the apparently traditional  Christmas pudding of) strawberry Pavlova. After pudding pudding consisted of two advent calendar chocolates and a stroll down to the town and lakeside to watch the sunset and listen to the babble of people on the beach, mainly dressed in swimsuits and Santa hats...

NZ Day 19 - The Possum: New Zealand's little speedbumps

Making an early start, with songs on the radio such as "One More Sleep Til Santa" (to the tune of "One Man went to mow") we left Franz Josef for Fox Glacier town, half an hour away. Instead of going to the glacier though, we found a lake a few kilometres away which offered us stunning reflections of the glacier scenery. At sunrise, this was brilliant - although our camera memory cards are now worryingly full.

Today was generally a driving day as we had to make the long trip from Franz Josef to Lake Wanaka. We decided to make plenty of stops on the way, so after the lake, our next stop was a glacier 'Viewpoint', which, compared to the lake, was awful - yet a favourite with the sand flies... Scrapping this, we decided to walk right up to the terminal face of the glacier. Moving swiftly through the multiple 'No stopping' rockfall-probe zones, we rounded a bend and got a good close-up view of the receding ice. 

Leaving the glaciers behind, we made our way to 'Ship Creek', just before Haast. Here we took a short hike in the forest swamp, which was an interesting tea sort of colour. We also did a 'dune walk' which was a bit dune-less for our liking so we popped out onto the beach on the way back. Looking absent-mindedly at the sea we were excited to suddenly see a few find pop out. We'd come across a pod of Hector dolphins! Eager to see more, we chased the pod up and down the beach (easier said than done on a pebbly beach in sandals) and at one point I managed to see for Dolphins at once, being raised by a wave. I didn't manage to capture and of their big leaps on camera, but I do have the odd fin to show for my efforts.

The town of Haast came next, an old mining town with a good visitor centre but notice else to say for for it. Just before Haast however, we happened upon the Curly Wave Whitebait company and I treated myself to a 'whitebait pattie'. This was a dollop of raw whitebait  mixed with some egg, which was plonked onto a hot plate and cooked, and served with white bread and my choice of seasoning, salt, lemon or, weirdly, mint sauce. I went for seasoning and the whole thing was really tasty!

Appetite whetted for lunch, we took a quick bite further along the west coast (made even quicker by the ferocious sand flies who also had a quick bite) and the next spot we found to stop at were the 'Roaring Billy Falls'. I'll say here that my expectations were medium - most of the rivers we have seen have very little water in them compared to the expanse of river bed, I suppose in snow melt season they are raging torrents, but generally in summer they seem quite pathetic. Indeed, we walked over a 50 m or so expanse of dry river bed to get to Billy falls, and they were quite high, but hidden in bush and not partcularly pleasant. The stop in the car had been appreciated though.

The Thunder Falls were next on the agenda, and with expectation set low, we were pleasantly surprised to find a small but tall falls, with a pretty blue pool at the base and a trickling river in from of the pool. More blue pools were to be found at the aptly named 'Blue Pools' hike, further along the Haast Pass. Apparently these pools are sometimes grey due to gravel flow, but thankfully we saw them gorgeously blue and deep (and likely, very cold).

Leaving the Haast pass we came across Lake Hakea, which was stunning, with mountains rising from every bank, if a little exposed and wavy. More appetising was Lake Wanaka next door, at the base of which was the town of Wanaka, our destination for the day. Here we picked up supplies, including some chocolate. Whittaker's chocolate here is delicious, but New Zealand have some brilliant Cadburys Dairy Milk flavours too. The Black Foresy bar has crunchy bits and forest fruits flavoured chewy bits, and better still is the Snack bar, in which each square has a different flavour (strawberry, coconut ice, caramel, pinapple, orange or Turkish delight). I with they'd make these widely available in the UK. There's even a Dairy Milk Energy Bar which I could possibly get away with eating and saying its 'for training'...

NZ Day 18 - The glacier moves at a rate of up to 7m each day

Dressed in matching royal blue jackets, black over trousers and with a delightful red bumbag to carry, we started the day with a helicopter ride to Franz Josef glacier. We were both deemed to tall/heavy to go in the front seats so I had to settle for a window seat at the back, which was still pretty cool. Rising rapidly the landscape spread out before us - a steep glacial valley with a turbulent river flowing across its huge bed. Flying up the valley illuminated more of the glacier to us and we were excited to get on the ice!

A little windswept after disembarking from the helicopter, we strapped on our crampons and set off along the ice. Our guide (called Tom, I was gutted to miss out on a guide called "Sexy Redhead Pete" who had received great reviews on TripAdvisor - I did get a glance at them though) had some interesting tales for us as we hiked, including a legend about how the glacier was really formed from the tears of someone who lost their lover to a blizzard on the top of a mountain. He also told us geographical titbits, such as the fact that the glacier moves at up to 7m a day in some areas, which I found astonishing.

High up, the blue ice was certainly a sight to see. There were mini streams, pools and caves, as well as long tunnels and crevasses, which we hiked through (whilst breathing in in some cases). It was very warm on the glacier as the weather was perfectly clear. I was particularly glad of this as I was able to rid myself of the sexy jacket and very restrictive overtrousers - the sort that are far too baggy around the waist yet too still too short and the crotch was hanging around my knees...

The heli ride back was thrilling, with a sharp rise right next to the glacier followed by a sharp drop (one of those ones you feel in your head) and a fast corner. Once back, and thankfully still with and appetite after the help ride, we drove to Lake Mapourika and had lunch. Still hot from the hiking and driving, we then took a quick dip in the lake to the benefit of the local sandfly population, who seemed to enjoy it as much as I did.

Possibly in an odd order, but right after the swim we hiked to Peter's pools to admire the reflection of the glacier, and then up Sentinel Rock to ogle the glacier again. This interestingly showed a photo montage of how the glacier had changed over the last few years. In the 50s it was massive, where we were standing would have been part of the glacial lake. By 1975 it was significantly reduced although interestingly this trend did not continue consistently as the glacier did actually increase in size in the 80s, before once again reducing to it's current state. By 2100 I doubt if any of it will be visible from where I was standing.

NZ Day 17 - Phone in the waves

Our first stop today was Constant Bay, and we were a little disappointed as it was a small cove and the sea water seemed rather scummy. We therefore continue along the road and came across a huge expanse of beach, with crashing waves and rocks striking up from the sea. This did look impressive, and we had a quick wander along it. I almost lost my phone at this point, messing about climbing up the rocks to and from Wendy.

Next, the delightful SH67 took us uphill and we came across a lookout that gave wonderful views in both directions along the coast - to one side the long bay we'd just come from, and to the other side was a sloping cliff with curious layer or strata marks. The lookout was rather busy with a coach load of 'Pacific Tourists' so we didn't linger and moved on swiftly to the Truman track, 20 minutes or so further along.

The coach must have a little more power than Wendy as it arrived very shortly after we did. To beat the crowds, we quickly grabbed our belongings and scooted down the track, pleased to arrive to a deserted beach. This beach had pebbly-sand and some overhanging cliffs which had been eaten away by waves below. I climbed down to the beach under this natural 'roof' and paddled a bit in the shallows of the waves. A waterful was sprouting out of the cliff further along, so obviously this had to be investigated too. I was regretting having worn a skirt at this point in the day, as clambering over rocks is not a particularly gracious activity, and by now we had an audience of forty or so Pacific Tourists lurking in the cliff overlooking the beach. 

Waterfall investigated, we made our way back across the beach, stopping to pose for a quick photo in te wake of the foamy waves. Extremely unluckily for me, a particularly huge wave manifested itself at this point, and turning to look I decided there was an imminent need to run up the beach to avoid an impromptu swim, in a skirt, on a 'Too Dangerous to Swim' beach. This I duly did (to the great amusement of the tourists on the cliff), and feeling highly embarrassed we shuffled off back up he track to Wendy. When we opened Wendy I was distressed to realise that I had lost my phone, and had vague memories of hurriedly putting it in my pocket to take to the beach, before the wave shenanigans began. This was a horrible thought, as earlier this morning I had demonstrated that just walking over rocks was enough to send it careering from my pocket onto the sand, let alone dashing away from a wave!

So, and confusing many of the Pacific Tourists now returning up the track, I pessimistically made my way back along the track towards the beach to retrieve my likely-drowned phone. Almost at the beach, I was *incredibly* relieved to come across one of the more switched-on PTs who asked me if I was returning to find a phone, as so-and-sos granddaughter had found one about to be immersed in a wave. Yes! Switching from resenting the many people being around to suddenly being glad there were so many around to find my belongings for me, I gratefully received my phone from the tour leader (who, incidentally, had found my Road ID app lock screen and was already using it to call Peter (or my mother!), a definite plug for that fabulous app).

Incident averted, we waved goodbye to the PTs and drive along to Pancake Rocka. Not really knowing what these were, we parked up Wendy and set off on the circular track. The rocks turned out to be stacks and cliffs formed by uplift and compression, creating curious layers about 50mm thick. These made for some great photos (none will feature in this blog today as I didn't dare take my phone with me!) and we managed to stay  ahead of the PTs which wa an a extra bonus.

Moving on, we took a break from being tourists and headed to Countdown to stock up on food. Greymouth turned out to be as exciting as it sounds, so a petrol fill and five minute wifi stop later (free wifi is lacking in South Island) and we were leaving for more beautiful places.

These were found in the form of Okarito, where we decided to challenge ourselves and halve the time designated to the trig walk (4.2km, 1h 30min). We made good time to the top, getting there in 25 minutes and had a short rest to take in the view of what I would call a spit, which had a lagoon forming behind it and a sky blue glacial river mouth within the lagoon and round the end of the spit. I think we could have made it down in 20 minutes but we took very brief pauses to try to sight a Kiwi (unsurprisingly we didn't see one, but I was frightened by a stunning White Heron) so our total time was 47 minutes. Not bad.

Feeling for food, we carried on right to our campsite in Franz Josef. Here we cooked our stir fry and enjoyed the sunset - the evening feeling particularly long as it must be around the winter solstice here, and the weather was excellent.

NZ Day 16 - How to ruin your hands in 24 hours

What a sunny morning! Waking up to water glimmering through the cabin window, I left my swaying dorm in Joan and had breakfast back in Cat-a-Rac. Soon ready to go, Gorton kindly took us back across to the beach in his launch, where we disembarked (in a rather wet fashion) and made our way to Anchorage Beach Hut.

At the hut I proceeded to do an unusual (for me) amount of faffing, mainly to do with washing my feet and putting my socks and walking boots on in preparation for the 10 mile hike ahead. Peter was already sporting his bright red kayak-sun-burned hands and much-loved boots by the time I was done, so we went to find the entrance to the track. This turned out to be halfway along the beach, which was unfortunate as I immediately got sand in my boots, but it was refreshing to stroll along a deserted beach in the morning.

Across a small bridge we found ourselves on the track, and before long, climbing steeply. At this point, the sole of Peter's walking boot decided to come largely unstuck, attached only at the toe and heel. This was a little worrying as we had only just started the days' hike, but it was apparently walkable (albeit with a bit of a flipping sound) so we continued. At the summit of the climb we were rewarded with stunning vistas of clear blue water, sandy bays and native bush - the Abel Tasman Park really did deliver! Peter's boots however, did not, and less than a mile in, the sole came unattached at the toe, rendering the shoe useless. Between us we now had a pair of flip-flops, a pair of sandals and a pair of walking boots. I very kindly volunteered to wear my sandals so that Petre could wear my walking boots, and also ended up carrying the dead boots. I think I've banked a big favour here...

The rest of the hike passed in increasing temperatures and excellent scenery, and also without further shoe mishap. Back in Marahau for lunch time, I quickly sprinted (literally - rehydrating had gone a bit too well on the walk) for the loo and then began driving Wendy west, towards Westport and the west coast of South Island.

Before arriving on our coastal campsite we picked up some (pricey!) fuel made for the Cape Foulwind seal colony. When we arrived I swiftly realised why 'wind' was party of this rocky coastline's name, shivering slightly in my shorts and tshirt. I followed the Cape Walkway out into the side of the cliff - and sure enough, there were a few seals happily playing on the rocks. Pleased to have had another sighting of seals, we returned to Wendy and to our campsite for the night.

On arrival, Peter decided to spend the first part of his evening super-glue-ing together his boots. We already had the super-glue as I'd previously (and successfully) repaired his sunglasses, so it should have just been a case of sticking sole to shoe. It turned out to be a case of sticking fingers to shoe, and glue to sink, fingers, boots and packet! The previously put away glue had somehow leaked, which wasn't a great start. About to go to bed now, we both have rather glue-y fingers, a glue-y Wendy, and boots that may or may not last another hike. Worth a try I suppose...

NZ Day 15 - Seals, penguins and a sting-ray

This morning we said goodbye to Wendy yet again (I bet she loves the peace and quiet really), prepared our bags and were straight onto another water taxi. This was a bit of a hybrid, as we were loaded onto the boat whilst it was on a trailer on the road. It was a bizarre feeling being pulled along a road whilst sitting in a boat and wearing a buoyancy aid.

Onto the water and feeling less conspicuous, I became increasingly aware of how windy it was! Bouncing through 4 m waves, I was glad I'd had breakfast a while ago. Getting to our destination (feeling rather green), I started to appreciate how beautiful the Abel Tasman National Park looked from the water. Beaches and bays were spelread along the curvy coastline, with bush springing straight from the more Ricky shores.

Bags packed into the double sea-kayak, we took to the water. I found myself in the rather squashed front seat, but enjoying the unobstructed view. To start the day, we battled our way North through the waves and into the headwind to find a surprisingly calm lagoon area. Paddling around here provided brief respite and some great scenery, before we went back out into the waves.

We were rewarded for our efforts by seeing plenty of seals, lounging about on the rocks as well as swimming - even one pretending to be a dolphin and leaping through the air. I felt incredibly lucky to then see a blue penguin swim next to us and give us a wave! 

Enjoying the tailwind we were flying along towards the next island when we realised our companions had become very seasick (I didn't blame them, I was feeling particularly green at this point) so we made a detor to a beach to drop them off. Here we were treated to lunch (which was tasty but I've enjoyed food more when I've not just stepped out of a sea-kayak) before setting off South again.

The weather perked up beautifully and we took to some shallower sheltered coves. By now I'd taken on the steering and expertly (ahem...) steered us through (into) a number of rocks. I will say though, kayaks with a rudder and foot steering are a fabulous invention, if only they'd used those for the Scottish Coast to Coast! At this point, in the clear and sunny shallows, I was about to avoid a big rock and it moved - turned out it was a huge stingray. Apparently stingrays hadn't been seen in the area for weeks, and this specimen was largest our guide had ever seen - at least a meter and a half in diameter.

Watching carefully (stingrays had been known to leap onto kayaks and attach people) we paddled on to Anchorage Bay, our final destination for the day. Quite pleased to be rid of my sea legs, although sorry to leave the kayaks at the same time, I took a stroll along the bay and scouted out tomorrow's walking track.

Once done, we stood on the beach and looked over at our accommodation for the night - a houseboat on the water. Whilst we were wondering how to actually get there, a man on the boat jumped in his launch and scooted over to collect us (apparently they look through their binoculars for confused-looking people and then go and collect them). Our bedroom turned out to be on an adjoining houseboat and our be had a couple of cute circular windows looking right out over the water's surface. 

Once settled and showered we could smell the meat BBQing - our first BBQ of the tip and it was on a boat! The seagulls here were just as interested in juicy bits o meat as I was by the time it was finally eating time, and so I had to guard my meat well whilst eating. Most of the seagulls here are red-billed at her than yellow-billed and have a curious red eyeliner-type marking around there eyes which makes them look decidedly untrustworthy.

Dinner successful saved from the evil eye, we enjoyed our evening on 'Cat-a-Rac' as the boat was called, chatting to other tourists of a variety of nationalities , and sharing holiday moments.

NZ Day 14 - "The door is now locked. You have 10 minutes."

This morning we awoke to glorious sunshine in the batch. The glow-worms had meant quite a late night, and we were not used to sleeping in a room with real curtains, so when I enquires as to the time and was told it was "08:39" I was pleased by my deep and very long sleep.

The others weren't yet awake so we headed out into the garden for some croquet. Six games later and I was officially the champion of the two of us, having easily won five of them. Bored of croquet after an hour or so playing, I strolled up behind the batch to try to find a track up the hill. This quickly proved not to be a flip-flop task so I ambled back and got myself some breakfast. Thinking to myself that the others do indeed rise late (we had been warned), I grabbed my phone to take some photos outside as my camera was in charge. Imagine my surprise therefore, when I went to the U lock screen and the time read "07:50". Given I'd supposedly gotten up at 08:30 and done a couple of hours activity I realised that something fishy was going on (aside from ester at evening's activities) and once again enquires about the one. "08:30" I was told! 

It appears that *somebody's* watch had stopped working at 08:30 last night - and rather than the leisurely get-up I'd hoped for, I instead had done some crack-of-dawn croquet! Anyway, not much I could now do about this, and as the others were still largely asleep we took the kayaks out into the bay for an hour-long paddle which was fresh and fun. The water was once again a stunning blue, and the groups of jellyfish made for a scenic paddle (I made sure I didn't do any accidental "scoop" strokes..).

Back at the batch and with the others awake, I had a yummy breakfast of fresh bread and lemon curd before being hooked up the hill to admire the view from the top. I had been correct in thinking that this was a substantial shoe walk as some areas were slippery, but the view from the main track at the top was totally worh the climb and descent, and I was pleased to be rewarded with banana cake and cheese scones, also fresh out of the oven.

As soon as these had been devoured (who said New Zealanders enjoy a relaxed pace of life?), I was persuaded to try "jetty jumping". This is exactly as it sounds and involved running down the jetty and jumping off - superb fun (and we had pre-checked the water for jellyfish). 

A few goes of jumping later and it was time for lunch - Ed had kindly caught some mussels the previous day, which we enjoyed in a soup. Our time in the batch then drew to a close with the arrival of the water taxi, and we were soon speeding and bumping our way  back to Picton.

After all that bobbing about on the water I was keen for a quick loo trip before rejoining Wendy. The nearest public loos were handily on the quay, and an experience like no other. Upon locking the door with snazzy illuminated buttons, I was treated to some instructions "Welcolme to Pictin public toilets. The door is now locked. You have 10 minutes after which the door will be unlocked". Fairly sure that this was plenty of time for me, I sat down and was treated to some calming music as I did so. How nice. Even the loo roll had an automatic spin!

Anyway, not wanting to linger on the subject of loos any longer, I'll say that we went on to continue our journey (or in my case, nap) all the way to Marahau, a delightful little hamlet on the Southern border of Abel Tasman National Park.

NZ Day 13 - Crossing the Strait

In Wellington we visited the Te Papa museum, which had free admission to guests and was a welcome way to spent the morning whilst waiting for our ferry report time. Whilst there I learned some interesting things about Maori history, the Haka chant, the evolution of New Zealand and most importantly, "Shrek the Sheep".

Reporting for the ferry in a timely fashion, we found ourselves in a queue of very similarly sized campers, for an hour or so.  Once loaded onto the ship, Wendy had a scenic albeit wet spot out on deck towards the rear. We headed inside to some cosy seats where I may have had a short nap...

Three hours later we noticed land either side of us, and with the sun shining we went out on deck to enjoy the view that Wendy was enjoying. Tory Channel and Queen Charlotte Sound were both spectacular - with tiny fishing bays and multiple batches, all only accessible by boat.

An hour later we arrived in Picton, which is rather quaint for what is basically a port town. Here we were met by my Uncle Ian and Auntie Jan, ho whisked us straight onto a water taxi. This is exactly how it sounds - a New York cab type boat. We bounced across the sound to Lochmara bay, in the West of which was a large batch housing nine of my extended family - soon to be made eleven with our arrival. 

Walking along the small wooden jetty we were inspired by the beauty and tranquility of the bay. The water was perfectly flat and the batch right in the grassy shore. We were greeted by my Uncle's brothers Clive and Robert, Clive's wife Ullah (spelling tbc!), Robert's daughter Naomi, her husband Andrew, and children Ed and Kate.

Ed soon commandeered us for a quick fishing trip and we found ourselves casting out off the end of the jetty with the rod, line and squid bait. My first few attempts were unsuccessful but Peter had more luck, catching on his second attempt. A couple more casts and I had also caught a (slightly bigger) fish! 

Feeling pleased with our catches we sat down to a big family dinner, enjoying the food and wine. I met a rather cute labra-doodle called Charlie, whose curly hair was much softer than mine. Jealous.

After dinner we played Dobble, a game where there are 52 cards, each with 8 of a selection of 50 symbols on them. Any two cards will have at least one matching symbol on them and to play you do variants of games to find these matching symbols. Sort of like a stressful version o snap - especially as some of the symbols are fairly hard to describe, like "Green blob" or difficult to say quickly, like "No entry sign". I'm also yet to work out the maths behind there always being a matching symbol on each card.

By now it was dark and we put on our shoes and trekked up to a mini bridge over a stream. Switching off our torches, the dark valley was illuminated by glow worms. These produced a fairy-light effect, which was stunning in the dark, I found it hard to believe it was a natural phenomenon.

NZ Day 12 - Washout

Yesterday's exertions made for a good nights sleep albeit with an early rise. The heavy rain we awoke to did nothing to motivate us to get up, so snoozing and a lazy breakfast eventually followed. 

Today's journey took us from Taupo to Whanganui (or Wanganui, o haven't worked out which) via a number of pit stops. The first was the eagerly anticipated 'Pillars of Hervules' which had been noted out on our map as a place to see. I started to feel a little dubious about this scenic stop when we had to follow a side road for 4km, followed by a not-quite-sealed road for 3km more. At this point we ditched Wendy and proceeded on foot, for fear that we wouldn't get her back up the steep hill that ensued. At the bottom of the hill we were directed to the Pillars viewpoint, which took the form of a bridge (maximum load 15 persons - 150% of the usual...). From this delightfully wobbly bridge we could see, well, nothing! Highly disappointing - I'm going to look up what the Pillars are as soon as I can, hopefully we weren't being stupid and just missed them.

Leaving our disappointment and thankfully the rain behind, we drove beyond the Tongariro area that we'd hiked yesterday and entered the Whanganui district via SH4. This pried to be a scenic, hilly and petrol heavy road. Odd things cropped up - like more of the stacks of beehive boxes, and a fence where each of the hundred or so posts had an old pair of shoes hung off it. We were surprised to come across a "washout", where half of the road appeared to have been undermined by a stream and had dropped down the sheer slope. This demanded the first set of temporary traffic lights I have seen in New Zealand.

There was also a distinct lack of petrol stations, so spurred on by multiple radio ads ("until midday tomorrow we've slashed 20 cents per litre off all our prices" - it was true, we watched a Gull station go from 188.9 to 168.9 overnight!) we made a pit stop in he town for some petrol. We also got some grocery items from Countdown, and I was pleased to see them pack our shopping into bags, although they still did the awkward trolley thing.

The Whanganui River Road awaited us, and we were glad to be running on full as this was a hefty climb too. There are plenty of loaded-up touring cyclists here and I've not once yet wanted to swap! From the river road we did a quick viewpoint walk (supposedly 2hrs but only took 40 minutes as the path ended abruptly in a horse bush) before going into our riverside campsite. Plenty of scullers were out enjoying the beautiful hot evening and flat watee - I was a little jealous.

NZ Day 11 - You are now entering a highly active volcanic zone. Move through quickly and without stopping

Tongariro Alpine Crossing

This morning we were rudely woken by our alarms at the unsociable hour of 04:15! A quick unplug of the power cable later (important to do this before you drive off...) and we were headed towards Tongariro, being treated to a fabulous sunrise on the way. Unfortunately we were also treated to a lorry speeding in the other direction over a patch of road with loose top surface (temporary speed limit said 30km/h, they were doing at least 70km/h) the consequence of which was a huge chip in Wendy's windscreen. Unable to do anything about it for now, we continued on to the 'Security Car Park' I had booked. This turned out to be just a clearing in a wooded area, with the 'Office' being an old bus parked up in the 'car park'. Bleary-eyed, we gulped some breakfast and visited the 'Office' to pay for tickets on the Mountain Shuttle - exciting! (But literally freezing - the first clear night we've had here and my God was it cold)

At 6:30 prompt the Mountain Shuttle picked us up and took us to the other end of the crossing - by 7:05, we were off! I think we were one of the first on the track - the sun was still rising behind the volcano and despite the cold night and shade, the air here was rather warm - an odd volcanic activity thing I suppose. This continued along the first valley, which soon rose into a steep stepped climb. Truly gut-busting, I was greatly resenting the big hill we'd tackled on the mountain bikes yesterday. Making it to the saddle was a relief, and a flat patch next to the South crater provided welcome respite before the climb up to the 9km mark.

At this point we took a 3km detour to summit Mount Tongariro. Although painful on our tired legs, it was certainly worth it. From the top we could see the Blue Lake as well as Mount N and some snow-capped peaks. The descent from this summit was enjoyable as it was punctuated with a 10am lunch. Next, we were back on the slightly busier (as later busses / slower people arrived) main track from which we could then see Red Crater, which has been suitably if unoriginally named. A sandy descent followed, from which we could see the Emerald Lakes shimmering below. I even perched near them to empty my boots of sand and gravel a they really were pretty.

The track led us on to the side of Blue Lake (again, very literally named) before an ascent onto a ridge before the final descent into the opposite valley. From here we could see the 'car park' and the preceding bush, so w're a little confused as to how 9km remained! Turns out the path down weaved a great deal, but the train was easy and covers with the first flora and fauna we'd seen all day. At this point the sun was rather strong as it was midday and in hindsight this is where I should have sun creamed my neck *properly*. Owch. By the time we reached the bush, 4km from the end, we were glad of its cover! However, we were still enjoying the tramping and finished six and a half hours after starting, covering 16 miles in total.

I think Wendy was pleased to see us as she was absolutely sweltering, and we took her straight back to Taupo to get her windscreen fixed. I'm amazed that they managed to repair chips that are so large in windscreens. I actually really wanted to watch the guy do it to see how it worked, but felt that because I was older than about ten, I couldn't legitimately ask to do so, very unsatisfying!

To tip off a fabulous day, we wandered along some warm grey sand at the edge of Lake Taupo, and had a mini paddle. This didn't turn into a full blown swim as my paddles often do for two reasons: the water was very chilly, made to feel colder by the heat of the day, and more importantly there was a 'No Swimming' sign...

I'd just like to end by thanking mother nature for such fantastic weather today.  I'm sure it will not continue, but this was a crucial day and boy did you deliver!

NZ Day 10 - Recommended wheel size: 29"

Today was one of those days (which normally come after a full day of heavy rain) where you *do not* take dry weather for granted!

To make the most of this, we rose early and drove to Redwoods forest where we hired a pair of mountain bikes. Helmet-ed up and ready to go on my Large hardtail bike, I picked a trail that would lead us to a view of the lake. Now I haven't been mountain-biking for the sake of it before, and I did find the abundance of tree roots and gullies fairly nerve-racking - to start with at least! Not wanting to add to the scars on my legs I was quite wary, glad that my route had us doing the huge climb on a non-texhnical stretch. I say huge, it was only 600ft, but on 60psi and 6cm dia tyres it felt truly epic. I now have a little more sympathy with Wendy's sluggish climbing, the poor girl is on fat tyres and 40 psi...

The top of Tokorangipa gave us stunning views over the green lakes - and even better, the only way from here was down! Gritting my teeth, I tackled the 'Advanced' section which started the only sensible descent, and then gladly turned off onto an 'Intermediate' route. I know I sound like a real wimp, but some of the terrain (roots, stumps, rocks, drop-offs, bends) was quite terrifying! Let's just say I was glad I was not clipped in.

Four hours later, and after some tough technical climbs, speedy ramps and getting stuck on what seemed to be a circular 'Beginner' route in a forest, we handed back the bikes. My new sympathy for Wendy lasted until her fridge door decided to swing open of its own accord an hour down the road on a not-particularly-sharp corner. We managed to rescue the majority of the food, with the mango and coconut cake sustaining the brunt of the damage.

Huka Falls was our next calling point - the river here was an incredible blue. The falls (pictured) weren't too bad either, just a bit commercialised. Because of this, we didn't hang around, and a trip to the supermarket beckoned in preparation for the next day.

Visiting our second "Pak'n'save" illustrated to me an oddity (aside from the trolleys that have only two wheels on castors, not four, making them a proper mission to steer) that I had previously thought may be an Auckland thing, but appears to be New Zealand-wide. When you reach the till you unpack onto the conveyor as normal. By the time you get to the front of the queue, another trolley has magically appeared where you would naturally want to put your trolley. This alone causes trolley mayhem in the narrow bit beyond the till (you know - the bit where old people generally fumble with their purses and get in the way). Whilst you're feeling anxious about how to rid yourself of your trolley, the cashier has meanwhile begun scanning and throwing your items into the other trolley. Feeling awkward at having to stand by and watch this (rather than busy myself with packing) I tried to fathom a reason for this inefficient system, but failed. It takes longer for the cashier to scan and "pack" rather than just scan, and it was a big waste of my time having to repack the thrown items into bags afterwards... I think they should rename it "Repack and waste time" as no "Pak'n'Save" occurs.

NZ Day 9 - "Please feed the ducks - it helps with their toilet training"

This morning I dreamt of rain. Unfortunately this seems to have been inspired, as dreams often are, by reality, and I awoke to the sound of rain battering against Wendy. This noise also prompting a loo trip, I stepped out and was immediately battered by what was more than just a 'sea breeze' - I was very wide awake pretty quickly!

We shortly left the campsite and coast, going inland for some shelter. Stopping off at McDonalds for some free wifi, I soon learned that I should listen to my aunt. Her single piece of advice before I left was: "Make sure you go to Burger King for wifi, McDonalds' is rubbish". And it really was. Half an hour later and having struggled to load more than two webpages, we left, bound for Kiwi 360.

Described as 'New Zealand's top (only) Kiwi Experience', their own leaflet had not managed to entice us into their Kiwi train tour. However, we were keen to have a gander at some actual kiwi plants so we parked up and had a nosey. To me, kiwi plants largely resemble mass  production vineyards, with the fruits hanging in bunches.

Leaving the site, past the giant kiwi slice which is visible from a fair distance around, we aimed ourselves for Okere Falls. The ambience of these was slightly ruined by the whoops and screams of multiple white-water rafters, but there were some impressive falls to be seen nonetheless. We walked right up to the trout pools at the top, where, adequately soaked, we turned and gratefully returned to Wendy.

After the disastrous McDonalds trip earlier, our next stop was the 'i-Site', or tourist information centre as I know it, in Rotorua. Leaving Wendy expertly parked outside, we entered the i-Site. It was very busy, given it was a Sunday, but most of the other people there looked as sodden as we did, so I suppose it may have been a sort of refuge for those unlucky enough not to have their own Wendy-type home. The wifi here was actually usable, and after a quick spot of research we decided the next stop would be the Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland. 

From its name and my initial research, I had thought this was a place where kids might meet Father Christmas - but actually it was an intriguing and very smelly scenic geothermal reserve. Colourful pools, caves and waterfalls could be found in abundance, and plumes of steam littered the landscape. Particularly cool were a fluorescent yello sulphur pool, and a bubbling pool of blue water underlain by bright orange rock. We also poked our noses (before holding them) near some mud pools, which made the slightly gruesome sound you'd expect of a bubbling viscous fluid.

Back in our dry haven aka Wendy, we were glad to head to our campsite and the chance to be more permanently dry. This was not to be however, as the owner proudly told us of the kayaks that were freely available for our use. The campsite itself was based next to a pretty stream, fished for trout, and very close to a lake. I couldn't resist the opportunity to take a kayak along the stream all the way to the lake, watching the locals feed ducks as I paddled by (to help with their toilet training, apparently...). The rain finally decided to let off too, making way for a happy evening in Waihiti.

NZ Day 8 - "Maximum load: 10 people"

Wow, I can't believe we're over a week in already! So I know that time flies when you're having fun and all that, but it certainly doesn't fly when you're flying long-haul...

We set off at a fairly sociable 8am after our first breakfast with Wendy and before long were stopping off at Mount Paku. This was one of my many 'off the beaten track' ideas, some of which were to prove less off the track than others. Mount Paku turned out to be one of the good ones - a detour off the S25 and a short climb on foot gave us views over Tairua harbour and beach. Out to sea we could see Rabbit island and a quick chat with a local on the summit enabled us to see more things - such as disturbed areas of seawater which were actually shoals of fish.

Next stop was Opotoure, which I thought was a beach so was surprised to turn up to what looked like an estuary and wooded reserve. Nonetheless we strolled off through the nature reserve to the songs of many birds. One bird in particular (I don't know what it is I'm afraid!) sounded to me very much like a London Midland cross-city train leaving the station - a combination of beeps and hisses - very odd to hear! The path through the delightful bush in fact did lead to yet another gorgeous deserted beach, where I made the age-old mistake of paddling just a tad too far in and getting caught put by an uncommonly huge wave. Cue wet-arse for the next sting of driving! The wave must have been holding am awful lot of sand in suspension as I was covered in it - not pleasant for myself or poor Wendy.

As we headed onwards we came across the first queue of cars I've seen since leaving Auckland. Coming quickly to the front of the queue it was distressingly obvious that a very serious collision had very recently occurred. A passenger in Wendy at the time myself it was sobering to see that each of the three cars involved still had passengers inside. I do hope they end up ok and commend the traffic officers on their efficient of getting traffic through - in the UK an accident of that magnitude would have the road shut for at least half a day.

Carrying on, we filled up with petrol at Waihi, commiserating the fact that we'd been travelling a day and already used a full tank! We then continued on to Karahangauke where a gorge walk Kay ahead of us. This was the site of an old gold and silver mine, so the structural remains of the mine workings were interestingly spread about the area. Caves, fixings and pipes were to be found along the gorge, and old railway bridges spanned the river, in addition to new very wobbly ones, limited to 10 people at a time. After the penultimate river crossing on our walk we were presented with a 1 km rail runnel through the rock. Far from being exciting, this was dark, wet and rather chilly. Imagine Edgbaston canal tunnel, just ten times longer and with fewer lights. We also (similar to Edgbaston) frequently ran the risk of getting run over by cyclists as the tunnel was fairly narrow.

Pleased to be out of the tunnel, and our eyes still adjusting to the light again, we set off in Wendy for the final leg of today's drive. This was punctuated only by a scenic lunch stop on a peninsula, where we successfully tried out the foldout table and even remembered to fold it back up and secure it before setting off again.

NZ Day 7 - Slow vehicle bypass lane

Today we were introduced to Wendy, our camper van! Wendy is our rented 2+1 berth Wenderkreisen campervan, which we picked up in Auckland. Going straight out onto Auckland roads was a bit traumatic, but I soon got used to doubling my usual braking distances, and having a blind spot the size of a lorry. Less easy to get accustomed to was the constant rattling, being overtaken and going to 2nd for any hill above 5%, but so far we're generally pleased with Wendy's performance.

Leaving Auckland we headed straight for an identified Pak'n'Save in Auckland, where we stocked up on plenty of food (cake). We'd forgotten to take bags so we nipped into Warehouse (not a young trend ladies clothes shop) and grabbed five sturdy looking bag-for-life bags for about 45p. On the way out we set of the security alarms - it turns out that in New Zealand they see fit security tags to these bags and are also incapable of removing them. I think its absurd to bother with this for such low value items - I'm sure the labour time cost for the multiple shop assistants required to deactivate the things must come to far more than the $4.95 we paid for them.

Also purchased were some snazzy Christmas decorations for Wendy and an advent calendar featuring Santa in board shorts alongside a Kiwi bird.

Heading north out of Thames the dual carriageway quickly turned into a very twisty but very scenic coastal road. The ocean was mirror flat and being just a few rocks away from it made for a stunning view. Coromandel town itself was as far up the Coromandel Peninsula as we were intending to go so we made a right turn across the spine. This meant a huge incline, on the summit of which would have been some great views but instead gave us a taste of driving through a cloud. A bit of a shame, but once below cloud level Whangapoua Harbour (apparently "wh" is pronounced "f" here) was spread magnificently before us. A necessary pull-in to a 'Slow vehicle bypass lane" allowed us extra time to enjoy it too.

Once we met the Eastern coast we drove through a mixture of agricultural, coastal and bush land to our final destination for the day: Hot Water Beach. This had been described to us as "a beach where, for 2 hours either side of low tide, you can dig your own spa pool as hot springs bubble-up".

This sounded fairly appealing after a long drive so we hired a spade and hastened down to the beach. We'd arrived at low tide exactly so knew we had 2 hours of dig left. Having seen many deserted beaches on the way, and knowing Hot Water Beach was larger, we were expecting to dig a peaceful spa for two in a lonely spot. The beach was indeed deserted, apart from two 10m square areas hosting well over a hundred people!

Nevertheless, we sauntered over with our spade and quickly assessing the situation from a cool distance, naively decided to start digging quite near but not too near the existing sizeable holes. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the water that seeped through the bottom was freezing! Even more irritatingly, after just 5 mins of digging a small child came over and asked me  " Can I play with your spade?". I tried in vain for a whole minute to ignore him and carry on digging my freezing hole (I've just paid $5 for this spade, I'm bloody well going to use it!) but then his mother and a few others started watching so I had to relent and give up the spade.

Turns out this was a genius move as little boy promptly took my spade into an attractive looking *warm* pool where he proceeded to not do any digging. This was my in! Conquering the awkward social nature of it all I plonked myself into the pool with seven or so strangers, using the plausible excuse that I needed to watch my spade (I'd paid a $20 deposit on it, it wasn't leaving my sight). The pool was lukewarm to warm but infinitely better than my freezing hole next door. The situation improved even more a few minutes later when it was little boy's bedtime and everyone else vacated the pool - this was now *my* spa! A pair of Swiss cyclist girls joined me fairly imminently but I didn't mind - they were good diggers (constant hole maintenance was requires - plus the further you dug, the hotter it was, to the point where it was burning hot) plus they'd had the grace to look as awkward about the social situation as I'd initially felt before taking ownership. Another German girl joined us too, we took pity on her having to wait whilst her Dutch other half tried as unsuccessfully as I had to dig next door.

In the end I spent a happy couple of hours in my hot pool, chatting to strangers and watching the boy fail to DIY their own spa. The tide eventually washed us out (at which point I realised that I'd forgotten to take a towel) and we headed back to Wendy and to bed.

NZ Day 6 - Take only photos, leave only footprints

This morning I tried a Golden Kiwi! Personally I thought it tasted horrid, a bit like when pears go overripe and grainy, but other seem to like them...

Another Kiwi first for me this morning was the express bus into Auckland. This cost me a similar amount to the train fare into central Birmingham (£8ish) but was worlds apart from the smelly, slow Birmingham bus experience. For my £8 I was granted very necessary bus lanes on the motorway as well as a lovely clean bus. Next on my Kiwi transport agenda was a Fullers ferry, which took me to the volcanic Rangitoto Island.

Before embarking onto Rangitoto we were warned to "Take only photos and leave only footprints", yet another reminder of the New Zealand obsession with biosecurity. Rangitoto is a volcanic island, formed during an eruption 600 years ago which has never since been repeated. It is one of few 'pest free' islands around Auckland and was hence littered with empty traps, in a similar way to the Okura bush yesterday. My research tells me that these are for rats, stoats and hedgehogs - so I wasn't going to find any of these on Rangitoto! The island was also eerily devoid of bush birds and living things in general...

...apart from kids, of which there were *many*. Having experienced a rather noisy ferry rise we quickly tramped up to the crater summit to enjoy the views ahead of the noise. Unfortunately we also managed to beat the sun through the clouds so after a rather wet and eventually noisy summit we decided to descend to explore the currently child-free lava caves. These were interesting shapes, and even lacking a torch (we had four torches in our luggage, just not with us!) I managed to crawl through one.

Covered in cobwebs but looking optimistically at the slightly brighter clouds, we returned to the summit to find a beautiful view spread before us. The 360 vista of islands, mainland, water and boats was worth going back for. After spending some time enjoying it we headed down the volcano to a lighthouse on its coast, then around a third of its circumference and back to the ferry. On this walk we encountered a few pretty little beaches and even fewer children - very enjoyable.

NZ Day 5 - Feet that stay on the path are welcome feet

Rising early, we decided that today was the day to stay local to Torbay (in a rather less poetic way than that sentence came out). We hopped into Jane's car, which I've named Euan, and drove for ten minutes or so to the Okura Reserve.

A bridge crossing over the estuary river quickly led us into a very humid bush. There were fronds of fern as well as palm trees and hanging vines - a brilliant mix of green hues which were enchanting to walk through. The "20 minute easy climb" was a bit of a beast but the scenery was good enough to provide a distraction from the fact that we were completely overdressed for what was basically an outdoor botanical garden.

Puzzling to me were the many animal traps set out. These were white tubes within which were some bait (cheese-like nibbke, or in some cases a chicken's egg) and a fairly traditional mousetrap thing. I'm still wondering what these are aiming to catch - to this end we rather sinisterly looked inside nearly every one, but to no avail - so I may do a spot of research (aka Googling) later.

We eventually made it over the final hill, resenting this slightly as there was a flat "low tide" option but quite clearly the tide was as high as it could possibly be, and came upon a delightful little bay (pictured). Here we admired the view, devoured a kitkat and lamented the fact that we'd only brought 750 ml water due to Brunei security stealing our other bottle, before heading back along the track. At the end of the track we made good use of the boot washing facilities to ensure we weren't spreading Maori dieback.

Our next stop was Long Bay, via "Pak'n'Save" (or Pak'n'Spend when you're used to Tesco UK prices!) which was a delightful long beach just the other side of Okura esturay. Here we did a little beachcombing, finding some pretty black and pink shells which I rather think will resemble ourselves by the end of our travels if temperatures stay as they are. We also investigated Waiake bay which is just a short walk from Jane's house - it must be amazing to have such scenic spots right on your doorstep. I do love Sutton Park, but still, it's no idyllyc beach...

AUS Day 4 - "Three Quantas flights have made emergency landings in thepast 24 hours"

Yesterday I exceeded my expectations and managed to keep myself awake until 18:45 Melbourne time, meaning I woke up very early this morning, but at least it felt like morning! A leisurely breakfast of cereal-from-a-mug was welcome and whilst I ate I made the unfortunate decision to watch the Victoria equivalent of "Daybreak". This was a truly awful programme, but more disturbing was the story of three Quantas planes having had to make emergency landings in the last 24 hours. One of these had dropped 20,000 feet in just a few minutes - I bet there were some painful ears on that one!

With this in mind we packed and got back on the Skybus ready for our Quantas/Jetstar flight. The airport procedures seemed incredibly stringent, with outgoing immigration cards and passport checks required. I'd sort of forgotten by this point that short-haul flights existed and hence once through the checks there was an immediate requirement to source food - which we obtained from 'Hungry Jacks', the local equivalent of Burger King.

The flight itself was an Easyjet-style experience of three and a half hours, and before long we were making a (non-emergemcy) landing in Auckland. Again, immigration procedures were stringent and it took an hour and fifteen minutes to get through. Thankfully we had been warned not to take fresh food and to clean our boots thoroughly - but waiting half an hour for someone to glance at your boots and say "they're fine" was slightly annoying.

Also annoying was that our prearranged taxi man was not there! We had to literally "dial-a-cab" to locate him, and once in the car he asked us whether we knew the hour-long route, or was he going to have to use GPS? GPS of course, we said, and so he promptly handed over his phone for us to get it set-up!

Jane's house, when we eventually arrived (turns out even GPS wasn't enough) was very welcome. It is gorgeous blue/grey split level building, boasting a terrace with a great view of the green valley. It's hillier than I had anticipated here - due to the volcanic history, and I am looking forward to exploring the area.

AUS Day 3 - Caution: We have hot juicy filling in our Bao!

So after seemingly endless hours of flying, I was incredibly relieved to land in Melbourne. My first glance of the airport was indeed a glance as the cloud was extremely low, but I was soon off the plane and declaring my squeaky clean walking boots to be allowed out of custom!s. I was highly amused by the girl in front of me who'd felt the need to declare a cereal bar...

Next stop - SkyBus! At $30 return this was hardly a bargain, but, provided an easy route into the city centre with bonus free WiFi - not something I've come across before on a bus. 

After disembarking from the SkyBus we found our hotel and gladly rolled up to reception, pleased with the prospect of a real bed later that evening. Instead we were met with the prospect that I am more stupid than I thought. Instead of booking for 8th-9th December I must have had a blonde moment and ended up booking for 8th-9th January! There must many things you don't want to discover after two days of travelling; I don't want to discover many more of these, but the fact that you have no room for the night is certainly one of them. The receptionist kindly helped my frame of mind by telling me that the only room left for tonight was the "most expensive room".

Some flapping later, we ended up with a better room, available immediately (rather than having to wait 5 hours to check-in) for the small excess sum of $20. *cue relieved face*

Plane clothes ditched we set out to explore Melbourne, starting by the lovely river. It wasn't long before we spotted some rowers - some turning rapidly to many. Along with the cyclists, runners and weight-pumpers, the rowers made me wonder whether anyone in Melbourne actually has a full time job - where do they find time to enjoy the river at 10am on a Monday? Jealous.

Our stomachs rumbling for lunch (plane breakfast had consisted of two crackers) we headed into the city. Melbourne is much more of a skyscraper city than I had anticipated. Its eclectic mix of building colours, shapes and sizes does indeed keep the eye entertained but made for far too many photos of buildings for my new "I shall not take more than 100 photos a day" mantra. It was probably a good thing therefore that we headed to Chinatown for lunch as the buildings here were unremarkable. The food however, was great! We spent a minimal amount in Juicy Bao, getting ourselves some of their special pan fried juicy Bao dumplings and some thick stir fried rice noodles. The Bao came with the warning "Caution: we have hot juicy filling in our Bao" which I misinterpreted to mean that there would be a nice level of spice to the pork filling. A tasty burst of sauce and a burned tongue later soon shattered this misconception, but I enjoyed my Bao nonetheless.

Walking off the Bao took us to the free city tram which in turn very very slowly took us to the harbour and federation square. Both newly developed sites, these were interesting to walk around, with extra added interest from oversized Christmas decorations. Day 3 is apparently too early for me to be used to experiencing 20 degree temperature simultaneously with festive decor, but I'm sure this will change.