Sunday 29th November Christchurch The day dawned dull and grey - perfect for travelling. We drove north around the edge of the harbour and via Governors Bay towards Lyttleton. We stopped in Lyttleton Harbour, a working port inside another collapsed volcanic crater. It was full of cranes and containers but had lovely views across the water to Diamond Bay, with its sparkling water and yachts moored off shore. We planned to stop for coffee but first stopped in a...

Saturday 28th November The Banks Peninsula - Akaroa. The pink light of dawn woke Bill at 5.40 as it illuminated the sky light. The sunrise was spectacular so we raised the blind, admired the sky, photographed it many times.... and went back to sleep! When we woke properly at 7 we were aware that whilst we were parked in a peaceful little grassy spot by ourselves, all the other freedom camping motor homes were squeezed bumper-to-bumper on a patch of gravel 10...

Friday 27th November Central South Island - Tekapo to Banks Peninsula Despite our careful selection of a sheltered spot we were still woken in the night by the van being buffeted and by the noise of rain and thunder. We could see lightning through the skylights above our heads. As expected, we woke to torrential rain. The lake and mountains had disappeared in the grey fog, although we could still see our fir trees and the pebbly beach. We enjoyed a cosy mo...

Thursday 26th November Mount Cook and Tasman Glacier. We continued our journey up to Mount Cook from our river side camp, and, having browsed the DOC information centre and picked up some maps and leaflets, we sat down to breakfast and planned our day. The weather forecast featured heavily in our discussion. Severe gale force winds expected this afternoon, currently 80km/hr rising to 153km/hr later. There was also mention of thunderstorms, heavy rains and even...

Wednesday 25th November Otago Central Rail Trail - Wedderburn to Middlemarch. Waking up in our remote lay-by was a slightly odd experience but passing farmers on tractors and lorry drivers with trailers of timber, paid no attention to us, except to wave cheerily. We were up and off swiftly in any case as we had another big day today. Off to Middlemarch to pick up our tandem and catch the 8.30 shuttle to Wedderburn, in the Maniototo region, under the shadow o...