We arrived at Mount Cook N.P. on Wednesday (6th) enjoying fantastic views of the magnificent snow-capped Mount Cook as we drove the length (25 km) of Lake Pukaki. We couldn't have wished for better weather in this area that has a high level of rainfall and cloud. We parked at the head of the Hooker Valley along which we walked to reach the glacier terminal and the lake - a return trip taking about three hours. We spent the night here at the campsite with very few...

On Thursday (31st) after taking a look at Fox Glacier we continued on south following the coast for a while, then turning inland entering Mount Aspiring N.P. to drive through the Haast Pass to Lakes Wanaka and Hawea. This was a very picturesque drive which brought us to the town of Wanaka. On Friday (1st Feb) the weather was cloudy but we decided to drive up the Matukituki Valley(on gravel roads) and walk the Rob Roy Track to the glacier. The clouds turned to rai...

Last Friday 25th we had a great drive from Blenheim to Nelson, exploring on foot some of the coast along the inlets of the Marlborough Sound on the way. On Saturday (26th) we set off very early in order to catch the water-taxi up the coast to Torrent Bay so that we could tramp back along the Abel Tasman Track. The walk took all day with one or two stops to take in the coastal scenery and have a swim. Its hard to drag ourselves away from this area but there's a lo...

The Tongariro Crossing certainly lived up to its reputation - it was such a spectacular and varied walk, crossing volcanic rocks and craters, thermal pools and vents, alpine vegetation and finally native forest, all this and panoramic views stretching for miles. On Monday (21st) we headed south and found ourselves in the wine region of Martinborough - wonder how that happened! Spent a pleasant afternoon tasting some great "savvies" as they call them her...

We are still alive and well and in New Zealand! Lack of internet access has prevented us from keeping our blog updated, but we will continue to update as and when we can. We are almost at the end of our two week stay in the North Island. We picked up our "Happy Camper" van on Friday (11th) and travelled north up the west coast to see the magnificent Kauri forests and then across to the east coast to the Bay of Islands. We experienced cloudy weather duri...