Back Home

Well thanks are due to the Ross family for assorted lifts. We travelled for the best part of 40 hours with over 30 hours flying.

We're cream crackered.

But, now we're back we can reflect and consider what we've done:

- km driven - 3,500
- tyres replaced - 1
- take offs and landings - 4 of each
- photos taken - over 2,000
- hot chocolates drunk - 42
- Monteith's consumed - too many
- Monteith's glasses 'borrowed' - 3
- decent pints - 2

Sidney's (and probably Alice's top 5 Highlights - or things we loved so much we'd do again -
1 - Fly over the Southern Alps to Milford Sound
2 - Swimming with Hector's dolphins
3 - Kayaking in Abel Tasman
4 - Seal Nursery at Oahu Falls
5 - Vineyard tour with Vince Picone.

We've loved it.

New Zealand - Queenstown

I'm writing this Friday night - we've had little access to the internet and it's very pricey! Therefore it's going to be brief...honest!

Overall impression of Queenstown is it's a really nice place at times but can be rowdy at night, has too many 'ski bums' and backpackers looking to jump off anything that stands still and a vast array of things to do which will rapidly empty your wallet - it's all very friendly though!

Day 1 - weather was ropey with wind, heavy cloud, rain and some sleet. We had been advised to visit Glenorchy, 45km up Lake Wakatipu, as it's beautiful. Of course, with such poor conditions it wasn't! Therefore headed the other side to Arrowtown to see if we could find the odd bit of gold lying around. It's on the Shotover river, one of the richest gold producing rivers in history apparently, but to no avail. Instead the only gold to be found was the beer and pie crust at the small Arrowtown Brewery. Pie was excellent, beer good. Arrowtown is really quaint with a lot of commercialised bits and some good history. Good for a visit.

We then headed back and dissolved the credit card at the i-site booking trips.

Dinner at the lovely Bella Cucina across from our backpackers.

Day 2 - man it was early. Collection from the information centre at 07:30am. Bussed off back to Glenorchy again by Jenny and Lisa who were our guides for the day. We donned yet more fetching rubber wear in the form of a wet suit, floral fleece for J9 and little rubber booties. Cool it wasn't in either temperature or look. That did change though when we got on the jet boat and were spirited another 3okm up river. Again, as Queenstown is surrounded by mountains, this was an amazing trip with stunning views. Running through very shallow water, twists, turns and 360's was good fun. We passed Paradise (famous for Wolverine, Lord of the Rings, Narnia) and Isengard while on the Dart and were offloaded with some large rubber boats. These weren't inflated but we were told we needed to warm up so proceeded to inflate the large boats and warm up - all the time being eaten by Sand Flies! We were to coast and paddle the bulk of the way back down.

We had the usual steering difficulties - Sidney's fault again - but managed to ride the relatively placid blue clear waters. We stopped off for a lunch (for the sand flies mainly) and then were off again until we met a boat halfway down. The rest was a 4x4 bus through more 'movie scenery' - apparently K2 is also here for Vertical Limit.

We we back in time for a local institution - Fergburger - before heading to the memorial hall to watch John Brown's Body support the Black Seeds. The dub, funk, reggae (thanks geek Phil) was pretty cool though the clientelle were bigger fans, danced more and seemed to have consumed something which we didn't get on our room service menu!

Day 3 - well after a late night you need a lie in. We opened the curtains to a cloudless sky and went to wait for our taxi. We were met by Matt our pilot who escorted us to our Piper Six 300 - apparently it started as a sea plane - we were pleased it was on wheels as take off could have been messy otherwise.

We were heading for Milford sound - it's either a 12-hour day - 5hr coach, 1hr 3omin cruise, 5hr retrun coach or, you can fly! I didn't think Janine would be up for it but to be honest it's one of the best things we've done. The views of the snow covered southern Alps were so breathtaking it's hard to describe. We took hundreds of photos - so we'll not bore you yet!

The sound itself is a great place for me - dolphins, seals, penguins messing around, amazing ecology, fantastic geology and beautiful waterfalls. The only problem is the procession of boats - of which we were obviously on one - that circumnavigate it and the enormous visitor centre to accommodate those selling the tour tickets. It's a little disappointing but still an amazing place.

After a fabulous flight back and grass landing we had time to head back to town, get the gondola to the top of a big hill, get a ski lift up another bit and luge down - good fun.

So the end of a busy couple of days - amazing experience, stunning scenery and a lively town. Can get a bit much. We're not necessarily looking forward to the long journey back!

There'll be a more detailed update and some other musings if time allows.

See you soon!

New Zealand - Christchurch to Queenstown

We set off from Christchurch with the previous nights rain still continuing. Sidney had to circumnavigate the periphery of the car park on the raised borders to avoid the lake that had appeared where previously only a car park had existed. After, the now customery process of getting a little lost and stopping to get air into the back tyre we were on the highway.

It's initially flat agricultural land again but in the distance were snow topped mountains.

After about 100km we were in what I'd call Carling territory. Carling don't do scenic drives but if they did - this may well be the one they'd use. It's amazing scenery once again. The highlights were the lakes such as Lake Tekapo (spelling to check) which, due to glacial run off and the suspended minerals, (yep GOTD time) were an amazing aquamrine/turquoise colour. There we were just gawking at snow covered mountains then over a rise we were met by this jewel glistening before us. It's so cool. Obviously, by now the sun had come out and we were having an amazing drive.

What's also amazing is the constructed canal which drains huge volumes of waters away to provide drinking water, irrigation water and hydroelectric power for large ranges along route 79. It basically meant there were parched upland areas with aturquise snake through the landscape. Awesome.

After another short drive we were at Mt. Cook lookout - with Mrs. Macs pie in hand - possibly the best picnic site in the world (interesting - and no joke - fact is the Mrs Macs pies are made in Sparrow Fart).


We arrived in Queenstown around 5pm - so roughly 7.5 hours on the road - tiring but such a great journey we didn't mind. We ended in Dux De Lux (brew their own) and had a tasty pizza and entered the quiz...we were one spot out of the prizes finishing fourth. Just the two of us though so we did well!

So we retired to the 'flashpackers' accommodation as Tony has dubbed it and prepared for another fun day.

New Zealand - Christchurch

As we're going to have limited time/internet access when we hit Queenstown, I'm doing a very brief one for Christchurch.

Day 1 - amazing drive again, just fantastic scenery everywhere in this country. Weather largely fine and dry. Park car near Pomeroy's (our hotel) and wander to town. Marvel at the old buildings, laugh at the size of the Cathedral, get entertained by a small child doing ridiculous photo poses in the botanic gardens, coo over little ducklings, gasp at the enormous eel in the River Avon and chuckle at the americans 'let's do that' punting decision. We had intended to go to Riccarton Park for a big Sunday fair they normally do. However, it was bank holiday weekend and there was a proper race meeting - it was very busy so we gave it a miss. We loved Christchurch in the sun. The Arts centre has a cracking weekend market with crafts, food and gifts. For the more juvenile I've taken pictures of Fritz's Weiners and Superb Buns! We finished the day at Pomeroys - a popular pub - which had 16 beers and friendly hosts. We had lovely roast dinners...civilisation!

Day 2 - another fabulous scenic drive to Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula. We had got up to glorious sunshine and blue sky. Therefore we booked onto a dolphin swim. Akaroa Harbour is a very pretty place with a slight French influence. The harbour is surrounded by steep mountains as its actually a crater of a volcano that was filled in by the sea, it makes for safe waters for the rare Hectors Dolphin (which is only found in New Zealand).

We checked in for our swim and donned rather fetching 'does my bum look big in this' wetsuits and boots and after a brief talk we were off, there were only 5 of us swimming on this trip so we were told we would have some good dolphin time! Within 5 minutes of leaving the wharf we spotted some Dolphins swimming towards us, they played around the boat and leaped out of the water (something this type of dolphin are not renowned for).

We pressed on to find a group to swim with and just as we neared the harbour entrance a large group came to play! we jumped in the water and formed a circle as instructed, Janine in the middle playing a little tune with some stones the skipper gave her seemend to work and the dolphins were soon coming to check us out! It was truely magical. Dolphins spinning around as you spin in the water is a pretty amazing experience. They played for about 20 minutes then got bored with the Take That tunes on the stones, so we hopped back in the boat to find some more...10 minutes later we found another group to play with, this time Steve (originally from Wales now living in Christchurch) enticed them with match of the day on the stones! It was just another brilliant day!!

We headed back to Christchurch just in time to arrive at the hotel with rain just starting. After warming up we headed out - it was lashing down. COnfident in the direction we set off to find the Twisted Hop - it was shut and a longer walk than we thought! So we ended up in the Tap Room - another Monteith's place and had a cracking dinner.

So that's it till Queenstown - unless we make a detour. We've found yet more places we'd love to live and great things to do. Of course as it's a driving day today we're delighted to see grey skies and rainfall!

We opted for luxury in our last few nights so went for the wotif 5-star mystery deal - Sofitel here we come!

Just imagine what it would have been like if we'd have written a long one...

New Zealand - Kaikoura

Oh my - there's ice on the windscreen. Have we got enough clothes?

The good news is there's little breeze and the sun is shining - what we couldn't see yesterday, which we can today - is an amazing set of snow covered peaks which apparently provide good skiing. They also make an amazing backdrop to a whale watch experience.

The first thing we did was pop the sea-sickness tablets - better safe than sorry. After hearty whirr, bing microwave porridge we were equipped for the day. Driving down the road looking through a letterbox clear patch wasn't the greatest idea but, traffic was strangely light.

So we checked in at 7:15 to be told that we needed to convene in the briefing room at 7:45 ready for boarding at 8:00. Strangely, the only things open in Kaikoura at that time are the shop and cafe at the Whale Watch building.

We had been warned sea sickness was an issue so having earlier popped or own pills we looked around and placed bets. The favourite was an elderly American gentleman. After a safety video on how to evacuate in the event of the boat oveturning in 1000m of water we were let on board.

Even though the weather was glorious, and the views back towards Kaikoura itself were amazing, there was a little bit of a swell on the ocean. It meant we did undulate in our passage and crashed through the odd wave. It also meant we were confined to cabin.

They locate the whales through experience (they know roughly where the warm tropical and cold antarctic currents meet and therefore where food is best), reports from other spotters and a sonar type device. It therefore wasn't long before we heard 'Whale-Ho' and manned the harpoon...no, that's not right. Anyway, the boat is manouvered into place, everyone rushes out (though I was faffing so we missed it) and try to take a picture. It's interesting to see the Weeeyuls (as they are pronounced on board) and you do get a perspective of the size based on the little part of them you can see.

It seems they dive for an average of 35 to 45 minutes. When this one dived we scooted off to find another. At this point it's also worth throwing in the hilarious comment of: 'the record dive length for a sperm whale is 2hr 17mins - the approximate length of your tour. Let's hope they don't try breaking that today!' The onboard commentary was a little annoying - with the same jokes repeated and the main focus was clearly about making sure everyone got the ubiquitous dive shot where the tail comes up (we did. And as it was such an amazing clear day you can see the snow covered mountains in the back. Alice is good with the camera). They're awesome animals to see up close.

Another weeeyul was spotted so we were all back to our seats - by this point we'd lost our punt on the old American. It was the Dutch girl in front of us, the old American's wife and another girl who were fighting it out to fill their bags. And to think it said low likelihood of sea sickness. I wouldn't like to be the staff dealing with those bags.

While on board we also saw a fair number of Albatross - there's apparently over 20 species in the area but we were happy just to see one up close. As you can see from the picture, their wingspan is about a third of the height of a mountain.

The second whale needed to get it's breath back a fraction longer so was on the surface longer. It also then dived. By now it was 30 minutes from the first sighted weeeyul so we headed back to where we saw it. Sure enough it popped up again...it's another mad rush to get outside, take pictures, fill sick bags and wait for the dive before all heading back into the cabin s

o we can head back to the other weeeyul. We did eventually find another weeyul so we saw three in the tour and saw five dives. That's apprently good. At other times of year there's a load of other species on their migratory routes. So while we had a great experience (even if it doesn't sound like it from the above) it can get better.

We were also in the presence of a film crew - they didn't want to interview us - but if you ever visit have a look and see if you can see us!!

Having done the tour, we were back on land for 10:30 so were somewhat at a loss as to what to do. As the season's picking up it's not as easy as just signing up to things on the day in Kaikoure - it needs to be the day before!

We therefore walked around the peninsula cliff tops then descended to walk back along the coast past the multitude of fur seals before heading back to base. The evening meal out that evening was probably the worst we'd had in our whole trip.

Kaikoura does now seem to exist for views up to the mountains, whale/dolphin/albatross encounters and the odd walk. This is all very nice but it does mean the small town that may have been quaint once is now just a mass of motels, hotels, bars, backpacker places and liquor stores - the latter being the busier of all the places. Not our favourite place but we loved seeing the weeeyuls so it was worth the trip.

As we were heading to Christchurch the following day we fully expected rain - it was mainly sunny as we set off.

New Zealand - Nelson to Kaikoura

Well we were sorely disappointed to find that the sun was shining on one of our travelling days. We also weren't overly impressed with a further flat tyre antics - we can only assume a slow puncture. So, it was off for more gas and fuel before we set off.

The rough guide describes the journey pretty well - you pass through some cracking mountainous terrain, hit Blenheim with it's lower lying flatter land and expansive vineyards - Montana in particular are doing well - before heading through some more rolling green hills eventually leading onto the coast road.

First stop was Totara Scenic Reserve. A fantastic little gorge with amazing turquoise river flowing through. Bit of a busmans holiday but I do look at the rivers and generally feel impressed!

The road generally hugs the coastline, occasionally dipping through tunnels or criss crossing the trans-scenic railway. The mountains are never far from the coast and the black beaches and rugged coastline makes for some excellent views. By this stage however, we were again experiencing our usual travelling conditions with overcast conditions and rain.

This stretch of coast is reknowned for it's fur seal population - on the road to recovery after mass hunting in the past. There's plenty of stopping points to get a potentially too close and smelly encounter. We stopped off at a couple.

Apart from the amazing scenery, we are continually being astounded by the New Zealand wildlife. On this occasion it was a scenic reserve at Ohau Stream Walk. It's advertised as a walk (10 minutes) to a waterfall. It's literally opposite a big seal colony so most people don't bother. What an experience they miss.

An assumption (by me) is that as the big males are getting aggressive in the mating season, the young and juvenile males need to head somewhere else. Instead of heading down the coast, a number of the enterprising little fellas have headed inland up a rocky stream. It took us 10 minutes to walk it but takes a seal about 20 to climb, drag and slither their way up to a deep pool at the base of a waterfall. When we got there, four of them were messing about while two lounged on the far bank. Another two made the climb from the sea to join them. The constant play fighting, jumping and splashing around was captivating.

That said, it was also raining and cold - when we could bear that no longer we headed back on our journey. The weather picked up but there was still a lot of cloud around. After a brief snack lunch we booked onto a whale watch tour - 07:15 tomorrow - early. We also learnt that for the first time in ages a Southern Right Whale and calf had entered the bay - we couldn't get a really good view but did manage a glimpse. The trip tomorrow should be great. We bought provosions for a night in and retired early for tomorrows trip.

The main thoughts in our heads were those from the dutch couple we met kayaking - not only had they told us about the waterfall, but after 5-minutes on the whale watch tour, the lady was very sea sick. We should check the warnings in the morning before paying! Hmmm...not much beer tonight then!

New Zealand - Nelson

Well, after yesterdays experiences and exertions we decided to make the most of the laid back Kiwi lifestyle and relax a little in our luxury pad in Nelson. It's another small town with access to a cracking beach, decent mountains and Abel Tasman just up the road.

Our first port of call, after a delicious breakfast prepared by Wayne and Val (our hosts) was the World of Wearable Art complex. It's a complex of two very distinct genres - the classic car and some bizarre clothes. The presumption was it's for the women to go one way and men the other - we thought it would be excellent for Kevin and Violet in particular.

There's no photos from in the World of Wearable Art (WoW) as they're not permitted. However, I'd have to say it was actually quite interesting if not a little bizarre. The premise is clothing that is also art - therefore you get things which look like fish costumes or stuff made from rubbish - there's also some 'comedy' sections such as the bizarre bra section - one fine example is effectively a pair of stuffed kiwi's on a bra - very patriotic but not greatly practical. The shoulder mounted cranes for uplift did seem better.

The entrance gallery has a number of manequins dressed up in past and present winning outfits. The WoW event is now a several week spectacle held in Wellington but started in Nelson. Anyone can enter so if you have some random and eccentric relatives who make cracking fancy dress outfits it might be worth a go. There's a 'catwalk of manequins' as well, with simple but clever engineering to make them spin through 360 so you can see the whole outfits. A couple of the outfits were in the car museum so I've posted a picture here so you can see the sort of stuff on view. There was also a UV room with costumes which require special lighting to work and a continuous loop video presentation showing the best of recent competitions. We were particularly amused by the parents leaving two young kids in the front row just in time to see an assortment of bizarre bra's coming on show - classic.

There is a selection of classic and unusual cars in the other exhibition. Now to us, a reliant, rover princess and mini cooper aren't that exciting but there were the odd ferrari, porsche and classic cars from the early 1900's which were great. There was even a sporty number you could sit in. I'd say the finish inside was poor, the windscreen was too low and legroom was crap. I also don't know where the golf clubs would go. Apart from that it seemed like a decent enough car to sit in.

After the trip to the WoW complex, we went to the local beach. It was somewhat windy and cool so we didn't stick around for long.

Instead, we went back into town to watch some doting parents applaud their kids as schools presented assorted forms of entertainment as part of the arts festival - some with more success than others. Then to satisfy my geeky needs, I took Alice (or she took me) to the workshop of the bloke who did the rings for Lord of the Rings. Managed to not buy anything so another succesful trip!

We also caught up on some much needed laundry and Sidney purchased the single most expensive T-short of his life. Is it worth it? Probably not! A quick wander through town and down by the river and we felt very relaxed, though in need of refreshment.

Now one or two - or one in particular - commentator has suggested that there is too much beer talk in this blog. Never mind. We found New Zealand Beer Nirvana in the form of the Free House in Nelson. It actually has three beers on hand pumps - proper beers served only slightly below room temperature. They only opened in April but I do hope they are successful - best pint in the country to date! They also had seven other decent beers on.

Sprig and Fern had a ginger lager which was like Canada Dry - we couldn't help but think of Ian - and a selection of other beers but the singer was a little too much. We headed back to the Monteith's Plan B to have an enlightening overheard history of Britain from some numpty Mancunian who'd effectively come to the conclusion Queenstown is the centre of the universe. If he read this blog he'd know different...

Tomorow we leave our luxury pad (we got it at $130 rather than $350) and head down the East coast to Kaikoura.

New Zealand - Abel Tasman

Oh my...what a day. That was so cool we want to do it again and again...well maybe if the aching stops!

We were up and on the road for 07:00 to drive to the base of The Sea Kayak Company based in Motueka. There we were asked to fill in a disclaimer making sure we were aware it is potentially dangerous and we might get wet, drown or be eaten by marine mammals and so long as we were happy with that then please sign-here. We did. We met our guide for the day - Kim. She's been guiding for them for 2-years and has a relaxed friendly approach to life...doing her job I can see why.

From Motueka we headed to Marahau - this is the launch spot for the water taxis. Short of walking for days the only way to get into te park is by boat. You have to book in advance and it's therefore a complicated system - it also incorporates retrieval of kayaks as well as people so it's pretty slick to manage it all. We met our other tour members - Jordi, Shjona and Mike (I'll check that spelling as well!) and boarded the boat...which was on a trailer...which was towed behind a tractor. The shallow bays and low tides mean boats need to be dragged out to see to be launched. Quite a bizarre experience. We were then wisked the 12km to Onetahuti beach where our kayaking would start. Starting here meant we missed the 'mad mile' but also Split Apple Rock - maybe next time!

The Sea Kayak Company are one of only two companies with permission to head to Tonga Island Seal Colony within the marine reserve. We set off from the beach across the bay to see plenty of seals. There's a number of juveniles from last years breeding still being fed by mothers and others who are just plain playful. We weren't allowed within 20m of the island but the seals didn't really respect that and came to see us. They seemed to love nipping fingers, chewing paddles of swimming upside down under the boats and getting a stroke. They were brilliant. We just drifted for ages watching them play around us. The picture of the seal here is when he was chewing the back of our kayak!

As we headed off (eventually) we passed lots of seals but also saw some blue penguins running (well waddling really) for cover on the island - they're very shy. At this point I spotted a pod of dolphins (turned out to be dusky dolphins) ahead of us and we paddled off towards them. They were somewhat quicker than us but seemed to enjoy playing in the wakes of the water taxis. When the taxis had gone they were still around and did come quite close. By this stage we were getting really giddy! The rock of Spotted Shags, Australasian Egret and swimming Blue Penguins afterwards just rounded off the trip from a wildlife perspective.

The kayaking itself was fun and good exercise. It was a twin kayak and as I was given the back seat I had to drive. There's pedals to operate a rudder. Alice wasn't impressed with my steering but in my defence it isn't the easiest thing to just pick up. We didn't do too badly though and made it to Bark Bay in time for lunch. All along the coast there's beautiful beaches, coves and inlets - some only accessible by water. We had sunshine and relatively calm seas so had perfect conditions. The views were breathtaking.

Regretably so was the massive steep slope we had to hike through in the afternoon. We waved goodbye to the others and headed on the undulating 9km bush walk from Bark Bay to Torrent Bay. We had good conditions, amazing views and just enough time. We were getting the last water taxi of the day so didn't want to miss it! In hindsight, we might have preferred to kayak more but we were tired! Ultimately it was all absolutely briliant. Just wish we could have had time to do two or three days doing it. Really is beautiful and just great fun - it's also peaceful in a kayak (except the water taxis) so really a great way to explore.

We drove back via Rewaka hoping to get to the Monkey Wizard Brewery but it only opens Thursday to Sunday so we couldn't go in. They were looking for staff if you're thinking of a part time job Tony?!

Alice made a bee-line for the bath and I passed out. We'd had such a good day. Dinner at The Vic (Mac's Brewery) bar was enormous - we could have shared J9's meal - two lamb shanks plus a heap of vegetables - plus free pavlova pudding.

What can we say - Awesome!

New Zealand - Island Hopping

Do we not like that - getting up and leaving the hotel for 06:30 - it's supposed to be a holiday. Still, we once again marvelled at our luck at the weather - day of travel = rain. Bad news was this was accompanied by wind and lumpy seas.

We were on board the 08:35 ferry and set sail. The tannoy reassuringly stated the sea conditions in the Cook Strait (exposed bit between the islands) was 'moderate' and he hoped 'we didn't have too unpleasant a journey'. Alice was doped up on travel sickness pills and I was suffering from cask ale stomach...didn't help watching everyone walking around like drunkards and dashing for the white bags conveniently located around the ship. Feeling less than perfect I tried the sun deck on deck-10.


Having recovered from the sensation of having my eyes forced through the back of my head from the front I decided to try the viewing decks on the side - there are a whole range of pictures on board with pond like seas and beautiful views - we got lumpy seas and limited visibility. The trip through Marlborough Sound was still beautiful but not at its best. We did manage to catch a view of some dolphins messing about as well - though not sure the attached photo shows them clearly! What I also forgot - or more accurately didn't listen to, was that it's necessary to fill up the car with petrol before you get to Picton. We did get petrol but it was a little steeper in price - though still cheaper than UK prices by a mile. The friendly chap escorted me into the shop to pay (they had a tank full of aquatic turtles) and informed me it's the worst winter/spring he can ever remember. That's a nice and positive welcome!


Northern South Island has much in common with the South of the North. Flat fruit growing areas and mountainous terrain. We saw fantastic rivers, snow covered peaks and undulating fields of vines. It was a somewhat twisty road again but was great views. About ninety minutes after docking we arrived in Nelson. It's a lovely little town - two chocolate shops - plenty of eateries and also in the midst of an Arts Festival. We've managed to miss most of the events with the timing of our visit but loads of shops have displays of local artwork in their windows. It looks great. We wandered into town and found the resident Monteith's place - Plan B. Excellent lunch, beer and service - as we have come to expect. We then visited the i-site (the information centres here are bleeding amazing and incredibly helpful) to book ourselves onto a kayaking tour for tomorrow. We also managed to track down a bead shop - which was pretty impressive again - and more beads were purchased!

We got to check into our accommodation after four. Val and Wayne were out but had left a key for the neighbours. We have hit the proverbial jackpot with this place. Our room has a little office to one side (from where I am updating this), a fantastic wooden floor, massive bed, balcony with views across Nelson towards the sea and a claw foot bath. Can you imagine how excited Alice was! Everything is fantastic and so beautifully decorated/furnished. In fact, I felt the need to shave so as not to sully the place and was embarrassed to meet the owners and other guests without an ironed shirt!

Dinner out that evening was a cook it yourself on a hot stone kind of place - indeed the raw chicken presented to the American lady next to us was sent back to be cooked - she missed the point but then I had the chicken as well and was a little concerned about cooking on my plate! It was then over the road to the Ale House where Richard the quizmaster from Preston was entertaining the locals - it was Barry the owners 49th Birthday so the place had been adorned with balloons and banners as a surprise for him. Very pleasant range of beers but I had a Tui - as hadn't had one previously - similar to lots of other NZ beer - cool, refreshing, fizzy but rather tasteless! Quiz was tricky mind. Then it was back to base for a much needed rest before another early start.

New Zealand - Wellington

Wellington - the Capital - has more of an artistic feel than Auckland - or so the books say. It's also fair to say it's mostly walkable. Addam's family chambers to the waterfront was less than 15 minutes. It's also obviously got a University in the centre and has far too many 'bohemian' types walking around for it to actually be taken seriously.

We were again amazingly fortunate to find our only full day scheduled here was blue sky and sunshine. Not t-shirt and shorts weather but only one coat needed!

There's some pretty funky art and buildings around the Civic Centre but we didn't have enough time to visit everything. We spent the bulk of the morning at Te Papa - the Museum of New Zealand.

Now one of the things you find in NZ is that most towns exist for some reason associated with forestry, farming, gold, gum or some other commodity that was found back in the 1800's. Consequently, there were pioneer types ripping out trees left right and centre and farming for the great British Empire. Sadly this removed most of the natural vegetation but these pioneers faced pretty grim conditions. Nearly every town we've been through has had some minor museum tracking it's history. With the exception on the Kauri museum we'd not stopped - therefore Te Papa was a really interesting place.

Firstly, it's great for kids - so I really enjoyed it. There's loads of hands on stuff, things to try and lots to see. We watched a cool 3D short animated film about hw the preserved giant squid on display came to be at the museum, saw assorted stuffed animals (and skeletons e.g. pygmy blue whale hung from the ceiling). Which, by the way, reminds me that on the way to Wellington we did pass the museum of taxidermy. We tried to get in but it was stuffed inside.

There's things on natural history - a roll call of extinct species and currently endangered, loads on tectonics including a house that vibrates like in a quake and a platform you have to jump on to be rated as an earthquake...after a poor first effort I managed a scale 6! No idea what it meant but I got to jump around a lot.

Bizarrely, there was a corporate event on as well - it was the New Zealand Orthopaedic Association - we could see the De Puy stand just inside the door. I tried to get Alice to go in so we could claim flights on the company but there was nothing happening.

Big chunks of the museum were devoted to Maori culture while another equally large focussed on all the other migrants that have come and gone - tracing the Scottish, Irish, English, Indian, Australian etc immigrants as they came for new lives. All in all, a pretty fun museum with some great stuff - including Alice's best hot chocolate to date!

After lunch we managed to get our tyre looked at at Tony's Tyres (coincidence - nothing to do with our Tony). Twenty minutes later we had a shiny new valve, inflated tyres and swapped spare. Cracking service and for free - which is even better as the rental company told us they would charge us and we'd have to claim on the insurance.

In the afternoon we took the cable car up to the botanic gardens (or technically we were taken up in it - I hoped you'd know what I meant). Actualy a tram like thing similar to that which took us up Victoria Peak in Hong Kong but an infinitely more pleasurable experience. The Botanic Garden was in good colour but was somewhat steep in places. Hard work!

We therefore rewarded ourselves with tea in a pub called the Malthouse. It had a beer menu...with 15 pages of beers...roughly ten per page...though only about 24 were on draft. I had a cracking IPA (not the Brew Dog stuff - in stock but what was the point?). Closest thing to a real ale pub I'd found. Out of defference to one of my staff I tried the Townsend No. 9 Stout - it should have been a half pint - but a full pinta was ordered. It was allegedly cask conditioned - this meant it was the barrel sat on the bar which they lifted to tip forward to get beer out - it was very black...more so than Guinness and let no light through. I didn't finish it - we have a ferry crossing to contend with the following day and I was concerned that could unsettle me!

New Zealand - Wellington

Well guess what...another day on the road, another gloomy and wet day. Pretty miserable again.

The guide book suggests there's not much of merit between Napier and Wellington. But for a first timer it is still pretty amazing. You start with flat land covered with vineyards again and gradually move to orchards and then pasture followed by a mixture of plantation forestry and native bush. Some pretty impressive views on the latter half of the journey - but only after the wipers cleared the windscreen.

We stopped for lunch and a walk around at Mount Bruce Scenic Reserve. It's named after a conservationist who started using his land to protect rare and endangered species - particularly birds. Bad weather meant we were again not equipped for a full walk but we managed a few kilometres and saw some endangered birds, the feeding of some pretty large eels and also got to see a real live Kiwi - as in the flightless bird, not a local - admittedly, it was in an enclosure but it's still pretty cool to see one. Also saw some Hiti, Kaka, Kakariki amongst others. Enjoyable stop off point for the geek of the group!

We continued our drive through Middle Earth - Helms Deep, Lothlorien and a few other film locations were passed - we didn't stop - and arrived into Wellington late afternoon. At this point tension rose as I had miswritten the hotel address - Lane/Street - what's the difference?! We got to our hotel eventually and were greeted by the Addams family. We did get some free bubbles (fizzy white wine) but we've not drunk it yet. Waiting for the right moment!

What we also found about Wellington is that it's bleeding cold compared to Napier. Wind and rain were in evidence as I marched Alice on a random exploration of the City - always nice to get your bearings. Montheith's brewery pub the General Practitioner was our preferred hostelry for dinner and drinks! After a couple we thought one for the road would be good but Tony had informed us Mac's brewery was in town. We got directions and headed down. As it was a Sunday night we were about the only ones in there by 8pm and the bar staff were trying to clean down. Janine's wheat beer and my Mac's Black were good but we only had the one.

Minor argument ensued after I randomly wandered off to see stuff while Alice was shivering - not a happy bunny! Never mind - our earlier exploration had put us in good stead to find our way back to the hotel.

New Zealand - Napier

Napier - As the Kiwi's might say 'Awesome'.

On the other hand, we did once again find that Kiwi Friday nights are somewhat rowdy - even in a remote motel whooping and hollering can be heard until silly o'clock. At least everyone was enjoying themselves!

Lovely day, sun was shining, the sky was blue and we found a parking spot on the sea front no problem. Trust me though, it's no Scarborough. Beautiful landscaped gardens in bloom, fountains and an enormous gravel beach with meandering pathway which is populated by cyclists and runners. All of this moments from the city centre and the fantastic buildings - it was all too much for us so we did our usual and sat in apavement cafe savouring a cooked breakfast and taking in the views. Everone knew each other, it's Saturday but no shops open till ten, and it's peaceful. Lovely breakfast followed by a brief shopping excursion - there is a fabulous bead shop where Alice made a purchase or two! Napier as a town is beautiful. Destroyed partially in 1930's with an earthquake (7.6 Richter) it was largely rebuilt in an art-deco style. Buidlings are amazing, streets are wide and airy, nothings over a handful of floors high. Even the bollards and street lamps are decorative and art deco in design. Would recomment it too anyone!

After that it was back to the sea front for a fairly challenging 18-holes. We called it a draw but actually struggled to finish some holes - it was treachorous and hilly with plenty of hazards and out of bounds. That was supposed to be the fun family course as well. The accompanying photo shows the sheer delight of Alice after somehow securing our only hole in one.


When we arrived back at the motel. Alice (always been a sickly child) wasn't feeling so great and we had to deliberate about whether we should or shouldn't do the wine tour. A few pills later and it was on - we sat outside and awaited Vince Picone. We were the first in the bus so had the pick of the seats and a good chance to chat. Vince it seems, knows the whole of Napier and in particular those associated with the wine tours. To be expected. He's been doing them 18-years.



We started with Askerne (named after the Yorkshire home town of the owner's wife). At this point, and to confirm Yorkshire at the sentre of the world, it's worth pointing out that the other six people on board the bus were a pair of young women from Utrecht in Holland, an American couple now living in Harrogate and a couple from Sessay who moved to New Zealand four years since. So, in one way or another 75% were from Yorkshire! We were also really lucky it was a Saturday. It's the only day of the week that Gideon works - if you need to know anything about wine he's your man. He guided us through Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewurtzaminer (I need to check the spelling...), Rose, Merlot, Merlot/Cabernet/Malbec blend, Pinot Noir, Syrah and a couple of special wines including a dessert wine. (Gideon's number plate was K Syrah which we found amusing). Naturally it wasn't a full glass of each but it was a good start. We also acted as support group to a Lady Hedonist who'd tragically lost her husband (through illness) so had come to see Gideon for company. That must tell you something! We walked away with dessert wine - I never drink it normally.


So we continued on our merry way, through beautiful counbtryside, populated with wineries, vineyards, orchards and the odd small town. Havelock North looked very exclusive - we will need to go back. We visited Salvare second (the picture of me which Alice thinks is hilarious is actually there but only the second glass at the second tasting - it was going to be a long day!). Recently the cellar man had won a national competition so it was unusually busy. We had cracking wines, breads and olive oils! Naturally we purchased vinegarette!

Third was Nganakawe (or something like that). Again, will check when we find the notes! Frank our host gave us similar wines and also told us of some work to halt the appearance of aging he's involved with - the women in the group were suddenly very attentive! Strangely - and it's strange because we normally don't like it - we walked (swayed a little) away with a Chardonnay.


The final one's name currently escapes me (Moana Park) but we were welcomed by two friendly boxers and the owner Kayleigh. Lovely boutique winery. This time it was an ice wine. Something to do with a fungus on the grapes which makes them very sweet and almost raisin like on the vine. They're not frequent therefore it's a limited production every year. It happened to be in a small bottle like a dessert wine as a result so we kind of had to buy it. We're currently working out what we don't need to bring home to stick to our luggage allowance or, considering whether wearing all our clothes on the plane is just silly!


We felt the need for a quiet night after all that - short walk into West Quay's night spot area and a well deserved tea! Long drive to the south tip of North Island awaits us tomorrow so early to bed.

New Zealand - Rotarua to Napier

Well, after a lashing down on the night before we managed to get some good weather again. We left Rotarua and headed for a 'Thermal Wonderland' and Wai-O-Taupo. It was excellent. There was deep caves, coloured pools, squelching and belching mud and a soap fuelled gueyser.

Lady Knox didn't live up to her name entiely. Started off all aloof with a little smoke but given some soap and and an audience she ended up all bubbly and spouting off - typical really! Apparently, the soap is a surfactant which breaks down a surface tension barrier between two pockets of water - hot and cold. In so doing, the pressure is released and the gueyser goes off. Apparently Lady Knox has been soaped since the 1930's - that's got to be longer than Ramsey Street?!

At the park there was also the artists pallete and devils pools. Some bizarre and amazing scenery. Colourful and warm while at the same time very smelly in places and thoroughly entertaining. On the way out we stopped at the mud pools. J9 took some awesome photographs. We also bumped into a 'Kiwi' from Chester-Le-Street. Reckons we'd get jobs here ok!

We continued on toward Taupo but were sidetracked by Shawn the Prawn. A set of pools where a geothermal power station discharges warm water into pools. You are equipped with finely diced steaks and a cane with some fish line and hook attached. The rest should be easy. In the end, J9 was the Prawn Star and caught five - I mustered a paultry two. I also took the prize for most pathetic male and was chastised by a six year old girl for not unhooking the prawn like a man. I was trying to be humane! So I shrieked and squealed like a girl - so what!

Having had so much fun, and burnt J9's wrist in the sun, we headed on towards Napier. It meant we couldn't stop at Lake Taupo. We would if we could. It looked great and there's loads to do. Instead we left the Thermal Explorers Highway and went through some fairly mundane straight roads (which in NZ terms are a novelty) through working forestry. We soon left this behind and had some stunning mountain scenery. It's genuinely breathtaking at times. J9 managed to get a shot of a rainbow at our level. Yes - it was raining agin. We seem to have been lucky so far and got the rain in the car (not literally)...hoping that continues.

Tony and Sheila had done the prawn fishing so it seems only fair we stay in the same Motel - At The Rocks. Very nice. Short walk from West Quay, where we had ane excellent dinner. No Monteith's in the offing so I resorted to Speight's. Tried around five types and confirmed that even the tasty ones are a little too cold and rather too gassy! I could get away with it in Rotarua...

Tomorrow (Saturday) has a wine tour in store - and, prior to that we hope to see Art Deco Napier and visit a bead shop. Should be a good day!

New Zealand - Rotarua

Long day ahead of us so what you need is a good nights kip. Around about 3am, the thunder and rain sounded somewhat like the Edinburgh Tattoo but with the pipes faded out. Man alive, we had about 14 hours of very heavy rain. Chris and Helen had said they'd heard it was the worst spring for 20 something years but we hadn't really appreciated how generally wet it can be. So, for the next section you will see the words: rain, wet, stinky rather a lot.

Having deposited a fair selection of deep fried fish in a plastic bin we left the stinky motel room and headed back down the Coromandel Peninsula. We followed the same route down but I drove this time - thankfully, it was so wet I had to go dead slow and it didn't make either of us want to throw up our Uncle Toby's Cheerios! We passed through Wilson's Bay but didn't stop for the obvious photo gag - we've had plenty of other opportunities.

The intent was a walk around the Karangahake Gorge - an old mining establishment with assorted remnant left over including the conversion of the old mining bridges and tunnels into a walkway. Regretably our visit coincided with the 14 hour torrential downpour. We did about twenty minutes of getting thoroughly soaked before deciding we were totally ill-equipped for this kind of nonsense. We therefore set off in an increasingly misted up Green Machine.

While on the roads in New Zealand we have found a number of things: if a junction can be put on a concealed bend - it will be, the Green Machine's 4th gear is worthless on hills, roadworks require a 4x4 to circumnavigate the terrain they offer as an alternative, surfaces are designed to be slippery in the majority of conditions and in general you're never driving quick enough. That aside, the roads are really quiet at this time of year. We can't believe the choice and freedom in accommodation we can have as we're a little early.

Anyway, as we were wet through we continued to Rotarua - it genuinely stinks. Imagine rotten eggs or a stink bomb - imagine it city wide...you're almost there. The town itself is somewhere we gave little time to. There's the museum we should have visited and apparently it's a mecca for mountain bikers. Instead we went to the Polynesian Spa. Once there, it was a choice of venues dependent on ailments. J9 and I weren't willing to confess too much so went for the Lake Pools. A series of lakeside open air pools of 36 - 38 - 40 - 42 degrees. It is apparently very relaxing and to be fair, once you'd overcome the aroma it was like an extended bath - though stinky. We emerged sometime later with glowing skin! After this it was a case of J9 fighting for a shower space and me picking myslef up after getting concussion again from another wall mounted shower head.

The next stage was simply a drive to the hotel. However, we had discerned a somewhat ropey performance on the roads in the wet and found it was due to a flat tyre and not entirely my bad driving. After purchasing a fruit-fest for tea we headed to a garage to get some air. The psi gauge said 7...only 25 below ideal. We pumped it up only for an audible hiss to be heard - think it's a goner. Therefore had to change a tyre for the first time ever. It seemed to go alright so I hope we make it to Napier.

New Zealand - Coromandel

So, off we went towards Coromandel. Much of the route was the same as when we had headed North - but we took the quicker route down the East Coast. Basically lots of pasture, cows and as recorded by Tony, sheep dyed red at Sheep World. We didn't go - Welsh ancestry rumour quashed! We stopped to change drivers only in a Le Mans 24hr stylee. That meant I'd left the really sinuous cliff top route to Alice! It was pretty much raining on and off all day but just after we arrived the sun popped out and we had a beautiful evening. You might just notice that we're selective with the photo's - the sun always shines!

It was today we finally realised that Yorkshire is actually the centre of the Universe. Not only did the Kauri museum lady say she'd waited 47 years to holiday abroad, she then told us she was going to York Minster and to see Snickelways. Also, Rachel (the bar manager's sister from Auckland) is moving to Leeds and, when we checked in today we found Angela used to work in Leeds and her sister now lives in Wharfedale. I don't know why we left!!

To continue the theme of drinking Monteith's, we headed to the Star and Garter. Quality idea. A pub but, with menus from the two restaurants next door. You order, they bring it to the pub. The stack of ribs I had were amazing while J9's half a cow steak was pretty good too! Coromandel town is really quite small but very nice. The bad news is the bead shop - yes there is one - was closed as the owner's in hospital. Disappointing. Another disappointment is that the much recommended Tangarriro Crossing is snow and ice covered - therefore suited to Alpine experienced climbers. We reckoned that as Frodo did Mount Doom in bare feet we could try but then it must have been summer. We'll have to add it to the 'next time' list.

First and only full day was through another tortuous twisty mountainous road. The good news was that I did ask the man at the petrol station - who based on stature and beard looked suspiciously like he'd been at the Coromandel Bikers Club meeting in the pub the night before - whether the famed route 309 should be attempted. I felt the disdain for the Green Machine might have been masked better but he suggested the main road. I reckon the mighty Corolla could have done the unpaved mountain terrain.

So we set off to hot water beach - thankfully in beautiful sunshine. Bad news was we'd misjudged the tide. We didn't have time to dig a pool for ourselves but still managed to scald feet and hands exploring the beach and digging a little. It's basically two lovely beaches seperated by a rocky headland - the point at which several hot water springs emerge. We saw the bubbling water coming through the sand and had a quick paddle. Amusing watching the punters in their holes desperately trying to shore the defences and stay warm before the cold high tide waters came in.

Just down the coast was a lovely walk from a car park to Cathedral Cove - nice walk through woodland to a natural arch through a headland. Sunshine was rapidly fading behing the clouds but we enjoyed the walk and the views. We headed back to Coromandel and finally found the bakery - why had we waited so long? Self-serve cakes and bread and pies which I quote 'tastes better than Greggs' - a bold claim I know but I can support it - tasty. We also found the liquor store - now that had a fridge. You think they've no beer but in fact it's a full on chiller room requiring gloves, goggles and parker jacket just to go in safely. To justify the pies and beers we went for another little walk through a local walk with coastal views and Kauri trees before heading back to the motel.

Had a luxury tea of fish and chips or for me a 'fish basket'. By all accounts the snapper and chips did surpass the famous Monganui chippy but my fish basket was interesting! Crab stick, squid rings, fish pieces, scallops, mussells and chips. All deep fried and of mixed levels of customer satisfaction. I went on the basis if I could cut it with a knife it was probably alright. I should comment that there was salad included so it was a balanced meal. Ate this while watching Kiwi Rugby League team beat Tonga. Getting into the local way of life!