We were due to meet up with Mark and Jo, from Africa, in Blenheim, but as we were earlier than expected, we carried on driving up to Picton and the Marlborough Sounds. We started to drive along the Queen Charlotte Drive, which is supposed to give a good impression of the Sounds, without having to do the 4 day tramp! As we pulled in to the first lookout, the clouds closed in and it started to pour with rain, so we couldn't see a thing! At least the van didn't leak...

After packing up the van, we set off for Kaikoura, driving through the mountains and along the coast. We arrived in time to be impressed by the town's setting - awesome coastline backed by steep snow-capped mountains, and to organise a whale watching trip the next day. We turned up at the 'Whaleway Station' the next morning to be told our boat was going to sail but there were severe sea sickness warnings. After changing his mind a few times, Andrew decided to...

We met up again in Christchurch, and although I was still in recovery from my last couple of days in Australia, we spent a day going up the gondola which overlooks Lyttleton Harbour. The scenery was pretty fantastic, steep mountains surrounding the harbour, which was formed when the sea flowed in to the crater of an old erupted volcano. We had a bit of a wander around before heading back down and doing a drive through the city so I could see the main sights! We t...