Last stop

We're now in our final hotel, in Christchurch's Cathedral Square. It was a wet day with very low cloud, so we couldn't see Mount Cook when we woke up even though we were right next to it. So you've got a picture taken yesterday when it was visible.

We drove to Christchurch with just one stop, at Geraldine. This has a wool shop with the world's largest jersey, and a reproduction of the Bayeaux Tapestry created as a mosaic of 2,000,000 pieces of spring steel.

Tomorrow we've got a trip which takes in a 4-wheel drive 'Unimog' (which looks like a coach body stuck on the back of a lorry), a jet boat ride, and a trip on the TransAlpine scenic train through Arthur's Pass.

Mount Cook

(Updated to add picture.)

We left Dunedin and headed north along the coast. We stopped at Moeraki to see the boulders, which really do look like they've put there by hand.

We then drove up the Waitake Valley, which has 3 dams and power stations in a row, and on to Mount Cook Village. Unfortunately there weren't enough people wanting a helicopter trip, so that's the one thing we've missed out on this trip.

We were treated to some fabulous views of the mountains as we approached as it has been a glorious sunny day.

Tomorrow we're off to Christchurch, where we drop off the car before heading to our hotel for the last 2 nights in New Zealand.

Albatrosses and train

This morning we drove up the Otaga Peninsula to the Royal Albatross Centre. We saw 5 Albatrosses on the ground (3 on nests), but none flying. However we did see 4 Spoonbill flying, lots of Stewart Island Shags and a pod of dolphins, so it was a good trip.

This afternoon we went on a trip on the Taieri Gorge Railway. We started from Dunedin Railway Station, which as you can see from the picture is a very impressive building. The train is diesel hauled, with a mixture of modern carriages and heritage coaches, all with open platforms at the ends. Our allocated seats were in one of the new coaches but we moved to the older stock as it was more interesting. In fact we ended up the only 2 people in our bit of the train.

The weather was very good with sun all day and no rain at all. Tomorrow we're off to Mount Cook and we'll have another attempt at getting our helicopter flight.

Southern Scenic Route (part 2)

We travelled the rest of the Southern Scenic Route today, going from Invercargill to Dunedin. This included some driving on our first unpaved (i.e. gravel) main roads which was a bit of an eye-opener. We went to Curio Bay to see the petrified forest, then to the Whistling Frog Cafe for coffee and lunch. Next we stopped at the Purakaunui Falls, then Nugget Point where, in a howling gale, we saw some New Zealand Sea Lions.

Tomorrow we're off to see some Royal Albatross, then we're off for a ride on the Taieri Gorge Railway.

Stewart Island

After a 6:30 breakfast we drove to Invercargill Airport for an 8:00 flight, in an Islander, to Stewart Island. That was a bit bumpy, but the water taxi to Ulva Island made it look tame! We spent two hours on Ulva Island, and saw lots of bird species, including Saddleback, Yellowhead and the pictured Kaka. After an even bumpier ride back to Stewart Island itself we had lunch at the Kai Kart - a fish and chip restaurant in a caravan.

In the afternoon we had a little tour round the island (well, the small part of it that has roads), then the flight back to Invercargill.

The day was wonderful, and we were very lucky with the weather. It was windy all day, but the heavy rain held off until we were returning, and we only suffered a couple of light showers when we were wandering round Ulva Island.

And the highlight of Ulva Island for Karen? The rope swing at Sydney Cove:

Southern Scenic Route

Today's drive round the first half of the Southern Scenic Route, from Te Anau to Invercargill, started fine but the rain came down later. We stopped at the Clifden Suspension Bridge (yes, that is the right spelling). Built in 1899 it was the longest suspension bridge in New Zealand.

We then stopped at McCracken's Rest to eat our sandwiches overlooking a very stormy sea. Then through Invercargill to Bluff and up to the viewpoint there. Unfortunately the rain meant it was hard to see very far.

Tomorrow we're flying to Stewart Island for the day, including a visit to Ulva Island where we hope to see a good selection of birds.

Milford Sound - in the sun

Well, despite the weather forecasts most of our day was dry. We had a heavy shower on the way to Milford Sound, and it rained a bit as we got back to the harbour, but that was all. The boat trip was in sunshine for most of the way - and we saw penguins and seals from the boat, as well as a lot of waterfalls of various sizes. The picture is of Stirling Falls, one of the largest.

Coming back on the coach we saw Kea (the mountain parrot that eats car wipers) a number of times. They are quite comical and always the centre of attention. The coach was excellent - it's higher at the back than the front so that everyone can see forwards, and has bit windows in the roof so that you can enjoy the peaks towering above you.

Tomorrow we do the first half of the Southern Scenic Route, from Te Anau to Invercargill.

High point

We drove south from Wanaka this morning via the highest public road in New Zealand - the Crown Range road. At the highest point you get a fabulous view down over Queenstown. We didn't actually go into Queenstown (as we're not adventure-seeking types), but we did go to Arrowtown which is a restored gold mining town.

Then we drove to Te Anau to another excellent B&B (with free port in the room). We looked around the town (like Wanaka, it's on a lake), had a tasty Italian meal, then watched 'Ata Whenua - Shadowland' which is a film about the glories of Fiordland.

Tomorrow is our trip on Milford Sound. We are picked up from the B&B at 7.30 in the morning(!) for the coach trip then the boat ride. At the moment the weather looks as if it might be a bit wet but that just means that the waterfalls will be more spectacular (according to the marketing blurb!).

Fox to Wanaka

The weather this morning wasn't good enough for our 8am helicopter flight, but it cleared enough that we did finally get to see Mount Cook. We were also able to have a good view of the higher part of Fox Glacier, so we feel we didn't miss out too much. We might try for a helicopter trip when we get to the other side of Mount Cook.

When the main road reached the coast at Bruce Bay we were greeted by the extraordinary sight of the whole length of the roadside filled with rock and driftwood sculptures, from simple cairns to very elaborate pieces.

We drove through the Haast Pass, then alongside Lake Wanaka, to get to Wanaka itself. As you can see from the picture the weather has been lovely today after the early cloud dispersed. Tomorrow we drive down to Te Anau ready for our Milford Sound trip.

Wetter!

Today has been a bit of a washout. The helicopter trip was cancelled so we walked to the face of Fox Glacier (in the rain). After that we had to go back to the motel to dry out! This afternoon we've stayed in, watching the mountains repeatedly disappear and reappear in the clouds and torrential rain.

We've rebooked the helicopter trip for 8am tomorrow, and the weather forecast looks much better for that. Then we drive down to Wanaka for a night.

Wet!

It's rained all the time we were on the road today, and it's started again. But that's why the west coast of New Zealand is so green, and it's the first fully wet day we've had, so we're not complaining.

Our first stop was the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki, which are an interesting sight even without the blowholes spouting water (which only happens at high tide, which we missed). But we did have a close encounter with a nosy Weka in the car park.

After stopping at Hokitika so that Karen could buy some jade we got to our motel at Fox Glacier. Whilst we were unpacking the clouds cleared a bit and we got to see Mt Tasman and/or Mt Cook (we haven't been able to orient ourselves yet) for a short while.

We are booked on a helicopter flight over the glaciers and Mt Cook tomorrow, but at the moment the weather doesn't look promising.

Coast to coast (again)

We've done another trip from East to West today - but it was a bit longer than the one on the North Island, going from Kaikoura (where we woke up to this glorious view of the snow on the Kaikoura mountains) right across to Westport.

We travelled through lovely scenery via the Lewis Pass and Buller Gorge to Westport, then travelled down the coast a bit to our very out-of-the-way B&B.

Tomorrow is a trip down the coast to Fox Glacier, via the greenstone (jade) capital of Hokitika.

Whales

Today's trip was a whale-watching trip from Kaikoura. The weather was a bit grey and windy so we weren't sure if it would go ahead but fortunately the company decided to run it. After a fast and bumpy run out to where the whales were thought to be we went out onto a swaying deck to look for the whale. And we were treated to some very fine views of a Sperm Whale.

After that whale dived we went looking for another one, and got some good views of him as well. Once he had dived we returned to shore (bumpy again!). We also saw Petrel, Sheerwaters and a few Albatross - so all in all an excellent trip.

After lunch we went to the tip of the Kaikoura peninsula which has another seal colony (there was a seal asleep in one of the parking bays when we arrived), and then up to a viewpoint at the top of the hill with good views over both the North and South bays.

Tomorrow we have a fairly long (but hopefully scenic) drive across to the West coast.

South Island

Well, we've said goodbye to the North Island and arrived on the South Island. The ferry crossing was fine despite having to get up at 6am to catch it. We arrived in Picton, picked up the car, and drove to Kaikoura.

On the way we stopped at Ohau Point to look at the colony of New Zealand Fur Seals that lives there, and got some very good views. Then we stopped for crayfish at one of the roadside caravans that sells them.

On the ferry we got very good views of the Kaikoura range of mountains with snow on the top, but by the time we got to Kaikoura the tops were covered by cloud.

Te Papa

We spent the morning at Te Papa Tongarewa, the Museum of New Zealand. We took a guided tour first, which was a good introduction to some of the highlights, then went back to some of the exhibitions later (and had lunch there). It is a superb museum, both in the quality and quantity of the exhibitions it houses. One morning is simply not enough time to do it justice, but we saw a good selection of what they have.

After lunch we walked to the cable car and went up to the Botanical Gardens and the cable car museum. The views from the top were stunning, especially as it's a glorious sunny day today (and is maintaining Wellington's tradition of being windy - the local paper today suggests that adopting a 'windswept' hair style will save effort).

We're now sorting out the luggage so we can pack all the odds and ends we've been carting round (we've had to buy an extra suitcase!). And we have to leave the hotel by 7am to get to the ferry in town.

Windy Wellington

We've got to Wellington, and it's blowing a gale - which is, apparently, fairly typical. It was very gusty for a large part of the way here, which made the driving somewhat interesting as we crossed the hills north of Wellington.

We started with a visit to Otatara Pa - one of the largest and most ancient Maori fort sites in Hawke's Bay. Then we travelled down to Mount Bruce to go to the Pukaha wildlife centre. It was pouring with rain but we did meet a very friendly Kokako that was bred there, and saw Kaka, Tui, Whitehead and NZ Pigeon from the Cafe balcony.

Then we went to Upper Hutt, and searched round for the Silver Stream Railway - a preserved steam railway that runs each Sunday. We eventually found it and discovered they were running an Avonside engine built in Bristol in 1877 - but Karen won't let me post a picture of that so you've got one of the Pa instead.

Wine Tasting

Last night's wine tasting went very well. We were picked up from the hotel, had a tour of the wine-growing area, then went to Vidal Winery for starters and a tasting of 13 different wines. After that we went up to Te Mata Peak (whilst trying to balance a glass of New Zealand fizz on very bumpy roads!) to look at the view and watch the sunset. The picture shows the Craggy Range Winery under a glorious pink sky.

Next we were driven down to Craggy Range's restaurant, Terroir, for our main course - with more wine. Then we went to New Zealand's oldest winery, Mission Estate, for dessert served with a New Zealand ice wine, tea and coffee.

Finally we were driven back to the hotel, and presented with the glasses we had used for the fizz and a bottle of Hawke's Bay wine. All in all an excellent evening.

Art Deco

Karen managed to sort out the ferry and car hire this morning. We're now going on the 8:25am ferry, after giving back the hire car, so we need to get up at the crack of dawn - but we get to the B&B at a sensible time and will have more time to look around.

After that we went on a guided tour of Napier's Art Deco architecture. Napier was hit by a strong earthquake in 1931 and was largely destroyed. So most of the centre was rebuilt in the Art Deco style over the next few years, and has remained largely unchanged since then. As such it is a very attractive city, helped today by glorious sunshine.

We're now waiting to be picked up for our wine and food trip - more about that next time. And tomorrow we drive down to Wellington - our final stop in the North Island.

Wine country

We've now arrived in Napier, the centre of the Hawke's Bay wine-making region. On the way here we stopped at Waipunga waterfall for a couple of pictures (and a lot of fresh air), then went to Lake Tutira to eat our sandwiches. We arrived quite early at the B&B so we've had a walk into Napier and looked around.

Tomorrow we're going on an Art Deco walk of Napier, then a 'progressive 3 course dinner' at some of the wineries (and that's after beer and wine tasting).

We also need to sort out our ferry between the islands. They've cancelled the crossing we had booked, and put us on one 3 and a half hours later, which would mean a late arrival at our accommodation that night. So we're trying to get on the earlier ferry instead, but we have to change both the ferry and hire car arrangements.

Floatplane and Hangi

Sorry it's late, but we went to a Maori Hangi last night so I didn't have time to do a posting.

The floatplane trip was fantastic. It was bright, sunny, and calm, and the views from the plane were superb. We even managed to see Mt Ruapehu which we didn't get to see the day before. And we got good views of the dormant volcano Mt Tarawera (pictured) and many of the lakes round Rotorua.

Then in the evening we went to a Maori cultural performance and hangi meal. The performance was fascinating, explaining a lot about the history and culture. Afterwards we had a walk through the wildlife park at night, including a kiwi house where we saw (and heard!) them at close quarters.

Rotten eggs

We've arrived at Rotorua, which is a volcanic area with hot springs and an all-pervading smell of rotten eggs. You do get used to it very quickly, and it's fascinating to see pools of water bubbling away with steam coming off.

We were planning to go via the Tongariro National Park to see the tall mountains in the middle of the North island (including 'Lord of the Rings's 'Mount Doom'). But as we are doing less miles than planned we decided to go straight to Lake Taupo - and as the weather was overcast and showery we probably wouldn't have seen much anyway.

We did see the very impressive Huka Falls (pictured) as well as assorted geothermal activity between Taupo and Rotorua.

Tomorrow we have a trip in a floatplane - something we've always fancied since we saw them in Canada many years ago.

Yesterday

Sorry there was no entry yesterday, we were at a romantic secluded cottage which didn't have internet access. The weather was nice all day, and the stars after dark were glorious - being in the middle of nowhere meant no light pollution and fantastic views.

After joining the Auckland commuters for the slow journey on the motorway system (we survived, Heather) and over the harbour bridge we went down to Waitomo for a walk and boat ride through the caves which are full of glowworms. Then we went to the Kiwi House and Aviary at Otorohanga before going to the B&B.

Coast to coast

This morning we travelled from one side of New Zealand to the other - east coast at Paihia to west coast at Omapere. The weather was a very varied mixture of sunshine and showers, some of which were rather heavy.

Then we travelled through the Waipoua Forest and saw the largest tree in New Zealand - a 1200-year old Kauri tree (in the rain). Now we're just north of Auckland at Orewa - ready to tackle the Auckland motorway system tomorrow morning.

We might have to re-think the driving plan (especially the long day on Wednesday) as we don't seem to be doing the mileage (kilometerage?) that we thought we would.

Bay of Islands cruise

Well, no whales, but dolphins, one seal and lots of birds - including a rare sighting of a Giant Petrel. The cruise was excellent - 7 hours on the boat with great views and an informative commentary - and the trip through the Hole in the Rock. We were very lucky with the weather - partly cloudy but no rain, and the sea was not at all rough.

I now need to sort through 300 pictures to find the very few which actually show dolphins rather than just sea.

Up to Bay of Islands

Down at breakfast at 6:30 - aren't we supposed to be on holiday? Picked up the car and drove out of Auckland - only getting lost once! Now we're up at Paihia on the Bay of Islands having looked at some very odd public toilets at Kawakawa and then visited the Treaty House at Waitanga.

Tomorrow we have an all-day cruise around the Bay of Islands - there have been a lot of whale sightings over the last few days so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Auckland

Today we took a bus tour of Auckland and stopped off at Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter and Undersea World, The Auckland Museum and Mt Eden.

Then we went up the Sky Tower for superb views over the city on a nice sunny day.

Tomorrow we pick up the car and drive up to Bay of Islands.

We've arrived

I'm sitting at the desk in our suite at the SkyCity Hotel in Auckland. We upgraded when we arrived as that was the only way to get a room straight away. We really wanted to get a shower and a clean set of clothes after 25 hours on the plane.

The flights were fine - the food and drink was excellent, and the seats/lie flat beds were roomy. But a plane bouncing along in turbulence isn't the most restful of places so whilst we got some sleep, it wasn't a good long rest.

There's lots of fireworks going off outside, so we plan to watch some of those then go to sleep - and see how many hours we can get.

Checked in

Well, we're now checked in at Heathrow sitting in the Star Alliance lounge with coffee and biscuits and working out what to have for tea.

We had an interesting journey - the M25 had hour-long queues so our taxi driver took us through Watford and Rickmansworth (and lots of other places we didn't identify) to avoid that. It took over 2 hours (instead of the expected 90 minutes) but we had allowed plenty of time.

3 hours until take off...