Hi blog fans Sorry we havent been on lately as we have been back in Blighty trying to adjust to the freezing temperatures and frantically trying to get ready for the final part of our trip - the cruise round the carribean and then back to SOuthampton. Will keep you posted. We had a fantastic journey and despite not hearing from us since the news of the NZ earthquake in Christchurch we ended our trip there at the beautiful lake Tekapo, cycling and walking in th...

Wine Tasting Our first stop on the South Island had to be wine country so we found ourselves a nice little campsite in Blenhiem, Marlborough. With an on site swimming pool we lazed about our first afternoon relaxing before our full day of wine tasting the following day. Our guide for the day was Jonathon and the tour was courtesy of "Bubbly Grapes", a suitable name i thought. Our first stop and at 10.30am was Lawsons Dry Hills and there we sampled ...

I didnt quite know what to make of Wellington when we first arrived. It was a saturday morning and the sun was shining in the harbour which is just out of the city centre. There were a few people about but in the main shopping area it was less busy and some of the shops were closed which i found odd for a weekend. What I did notice about Wellington though was teenage buskers, quite a few too, from young lads sitting on the floor playing eukelele's to the blon...

Driving from Rotorua to Wellington James likened it to driving through a huge national park. This Volcanic Island came to life showing us its lush, fertile and arable land, its countryside alive with herds of cattle. In the distance we passed a rugged volcano that when we got closer looked to be erupting. The top looked like it had blown off but was propably just lost in clouds. The side of the rock seemed to glow a fiery, red but there was no smoke or panic...

We arrived in New Zealand late afternoon so by the time we secured our van, stocked up on supermarket food and found a site heading north of Aukland, it was gone 8pm. We headed off early the next morning to get to The Bay of Islands and start our trip properly. Driving through the NZ countryside my first impression of NZ was this and i apologise of my overuse of descriptive words. Green, open, low key, neat, tidy and structually small. It seemed like the whol...