We drove around the north of the south island to Nelson for a couple of days and then down to Greymouth for a couple more. Unfortunately it has done nothing but rain here on the west coast so we haven't had much to do really. Have been to a few art galleries but that is about it - sorry!

As we flew down to Christchurch the pilot told us over the intercom that it was pretty foggy on the ground and not to worry if we couldn't land after two attempts, we'd still have enough fuel to get to another airport. This didn't sound overly promising. Fortunately we got down fine and promptly recieved the shock of our lives - it was freezing! We'd lost our tolerance for cold in Africa and Oz and so have now become complete wimps. There's actual snow here! We ...

We arrived in Auckland on Tuesday afternoon and after dumping our stuff met up with Helen, who cooked us an amazing roast dinner with real yorkshire puds, yum! Her lovely boyfriend came over too, and we caught up on the last few months. The next day we finally manages to sell our boards, and headed up the Sky Tower to get a great view of the city. That night Helen met us for Mexican food and chocolate fondue, and we said goodbye for the meantime, as the next day ...