Our visit to Mount Cook was only brief, but for both of us it was one of the highlights of the trip so far. We initially headed north from Wanaka on a three-hour drive to Twizel, where we were going to stay for a night. On the way, we passed the clay cliffs at Omarama which are a set of steep, high pinnacles separated by deep, narrow ravines. Twizel (pronounced Twyzel rather than Twizzle) is nothing to write home about (except we are, of course). It was built i...

We liked Wanaka so much we came back for a few days. Well, it was actually a convenient stop on the way to Lake Tekapo, Lake Pukaki and Mount Cook village where we would hopefully get a glimpse of Mount Cook. However, the weather forecast didn't look that great so we took the opportunity to stay in Wanaka for a few nights. We checked into the campsite we'd previously stayed in. It's not our favourite by a long way, but it's in walking distance of the town , a...

We had originally intended to visit Milford Sound and its nearest town, Te Anau, before Christmas, but rain forced us to change our plans. More than two weeks later, and after a diversion of a few hundred kilometres, we arrived in Te Anau on Friday the 2nd in a torrential downpour. (And they say that New Zealand weather is UNpredictable?) Te Anau is a perfectly respectable little place with a nice main street adorned with restaurants, shops and even a cinema. ...

We are both very competitive and can't resist a pool or crazy golf challenge when we see one. In Queenstown we stumbled across Harry's Pool & Sports bar which has about 8 pool tables. These aren't your ordinary pub pool tables that have a greater slope than a black run. These are dead level and the best we've ever played on. They also worked to my advantage as I like to pot my way to victory, unlike Richard who plays the game very tactically and more like...

'Seen it, done it, bought the t-shirt.' Or, with regard to Katy and bungy jumping, 'Seen it, didn't do it, but still bought the t-shirt'. Her knee still isn't well enough for the potential shock, but she's working up to jumping somewhere in Australia. I'm not planning on doing it anywhere. At all. Ever. On the other hand, we have been jet boating along the Shotover River. This was my birthday trip and involved a short bus ride to the destination before bei...