The Devil'a Punchbowl Falls The drive from Christchurch to the west coast over Arthur's pass is rightly considered to be one of the most scenic drives in NZ. The Alps are amazing and the different views, as we drove up and through, used up a lot of camera battery! Just past Arthur's Pass Village at the top, we took a little walk to these beautiful falls. They were amazing from the viewing platform but as we scrambled over the fence and up the rocky almost path,...

On our last day in Christchurch we went back out to the Banks Peninsula that we visited during our cruise. Last time we went for a 5 hour walk and got a little sunburnt. This time however we were more sensible and just drove round the viewpoints in our lovely little white car. The pleasures of being a flashpacker!!!!! Unfortunately driving requires some map-reading and we accidentally took a detour and ended up driving down an unsealed road for an hour, by the e...

Yum! I had been really craving fish and chips for a while now, partly as NZ has a strong English heritage and so much coast that they are fairly ubiquitous. Today in Akaroa I decided to cave in to the deep fried goodness and I was not disappointed. The cafe claimed to have the best fish and chips in NZ and although it looked like a greasy spoon I decided to give it a go. The batter was light and crisp, the chips chunky and salty and the fish was melt in your m...

No tour of the winelands of New Zealand would be complete without a visit to Cloudy Bay. It was all very touristy and over priced but in true DW and LZ style we took the cheap option and sampled the free wine. I wanted to half-inch a deck chair until LZ pointed out that it wouldn't fit in our backpacks, so we settled for a postcard and this pic. DW

In honour of our time in Vietnam we made our own spring rolls. This time there was no confusion as to their contents - in Hanoi Leah asked in a restaurant if they contained seafood or meat - after being assured they contained neither they arrived with both pork and prawns - but thankfully Dann the food taster was on hand to avert a disaster. Our homemade ones were 100% vegetarian and just as yummy - although they cost 5 times as much!!!!! Oh how I miss Asia an...