The day after we arrived, we jumped on a small plane and flew across the Foveaux Strait to Stewart Island. After landing we were transferred to Oban on Halfmoom Bay and had to walk over to Golden Bay to catch a water taxi to Ulva Island. Ulva Island is about 90% national park with only one private residence on it and well signed walking tracks and wild life but I don't think the rest of the party had done their homework. They were expecting resorts, shops, cafes...

Before leaving the motel in Twizle the manager, Colin, showed us some things to check out on the way to Dunedin. The first part was some pretty lake scenery, followed by fossils, Maori art, and local history but the weather was too rainy so we just kept going.We drove out of the rain by the time we reached the coast and followed the old highway as Colin had suggested. It was beautiful but the best part was we got to see penguins and seals in the wild near Moeraki...

We left the coast today and headed into the mountains for the first time this trip. We stopped at a little village called Cave for a drink. While there we got talking to a local farmer who spent last winter house sitting a friends home in Gladstone of all places - It sure is a small word. Spent some time looking around Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki before heading to Twizle. We checked in at the motel and booked a helicopter flight to the glaciers. Unfortunately by...

We had lunch at a little bistro in a garden centre just outside Ashburton. There are a lot of these little eating places around the countryside and it's worth checking them out. Timaru is an historical coastal town with some great ocean views and colourful gardens. PC While we were there a festival was on for two weeks. Things keep happening to me , lost earrings and of course I chose a hotel with no lift and they put us on the 3rd floor all those stairs!!!!!!...

We picked up our car and took a tour around the centre of Christchurch. The earthquake destruction is still very evident. We then spent the middle of the day shopping around the "container mall" and taking heaps of photos of the ruined buildings. We went to put the photos onto the iPad and found out that the card had broken and all the photos we took of the earthquake damage were lost. PC Picked up a new card and went back and took a few new photos DC