Location, location North of the South Island is a beautiful place to be. We started this morning in a Department of Conservation (DOC) hut in the Abel Tasman National Park - pretty basic and lots of snoring dorm sharers but less than a minute from the beach and next to the bush. We tramped back to civilisation through lush forest, beautiful bays and scenic, hill viewpoints. Followed up with one of the most scenic drives in NZ up and over Takaka Hill, and really...

Wonderful Wellington Normally known as Windy Welly, the weather has been keen to disprove the stereotype. We've had beautiful sun and a lovely, light cooling breeze to temper the heat. It's been great to have another day in this lovely city. We enjoyed our self-guided art and art deco tours, popping into all sorts of lobbies to admire what we found. The Te Papa museum is as large and interesting as the hype. After a few hours we had to call it quits though a...

As we are half way through the New Zealand leg of our trip and we have a good idea of what we are doing along the west coast of the US, time to draw our attention to the details of the South American section. What better time than on the ferry to the South Island, a good three hour stint. LZ

Au revoir It was with mixed emotions that we dropped out car off this morning. It really had no acceleration up the hills but it has been our trusty steed across the north island. Also we have so much stuff that carting it across on the ferry will not be fun. However it saves us a chunk of money and we have a new one waiting for us in Picton. LZ

As we left Napier this morning, we couldn't resist a detour up to Te Mata. We were rewarded with a twisting, steep drive up to some breathtaking views. Beautiful! Leah