Continuing north along highway six, we spend a couple of days hugging the rugged coastline of the West Coast. Here there are long, wide sandy beaches and coves which are lashed by the Tasman sea, maed after the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman who was the first person to spot NZ in 1642. In amongst these coves and caves are seals and sealions and strange rock formations, including the Pancakes which are tall rocks like a plate of pancakes formed by the erosion of the Tasman sea. This area is also Gold Mining country, or at least it was in the gold rush days. In the spirit of this, we visited Shanty Town, a reconstruction of an old mining town where they run an old steam train and have built the town as it would have been in gold rush days. Here, we went goldpanning. It's quite a tricky operation, taking much time. You need to patiently pan the sand out, leaving the heavier gold at the bottom. We were successful, finding some gold flakes, but not enough to retire on! Close by is also NZ's longest swing bridge (350ft), which crosses the Buller Gorge and leads to the epicentre of the 1929 earthquake which hit this region. Of course, in NZ it is not just possible to cross the bridge by foot. Running alongside the bridge is the 'Flying Fox' where you can be harnessed and fly Superman style across the gorge. However after our exploits in Queenstown, it was a bit tame for these two intrepid adventurers!! From here we moved inland and Northwards to Nelson and onto Blenheim in 'wine country'. Here we were able to enjoy a couple of days touring the vineyards which are so numerous in this region. We studied earnestly the Pinots, Sauvignons, Chardonnays and Chenins. By the fifth vineyard we were reeling a little!! With a multitude of tasting notes under our arm, we were happy to park ourselves under a shady tree, with a picnic and 'rest' for a while. From here as we now loop back from the north to the south, we head for Kaikoura where we hope to see some whales.