Not just one cruise liner, but three...the Hapag Lloyd Bremen, the Queen Mary and another huge liner ...could not see the name ...but on the radio they said that 8000 people would arrive via the cruise liners. Quite something ! Met up with Lyn and Simon and drove the approx 4.5 hours to Taupo along the desert road. The landscape has changed dramatically from the South Island, but is dramatic in a Karoo type of way, especially the purple heath and the fine black ...

Arrival Wellington Ok...this must be one of the worst campervan spots around BUT it is on the Waterfront of Wellington. It is basically a parking lot with plugs on a main road, with office blocks looking down lon you, no shade and 4 showers and 2 toilets to share amongst about 30 campervans. No other facilities...and it is the most expensive park yet. But...it is in the centre of Wellington and just around the corner from the hotel Lyn and Simon are staying in t...

No blog last night, as we were being treated to a wonderful roast lamb with a very special couple in Nelson. Dirk and Henriette emigrated to New Zealand about 20 years ago, with their 3 children and live in Nelson. They are both Maths teachers at a school in Nelson. Definately Nelson's gain and Kayelitsha's loss (as this is where they were teaching in the late '80s and early '90s. Wonderfully hospitable and passionate people, who now live in the town which was...

Too lazy to write a blog last night. Went for a magic walk in Okarito, just outside Franz Josef Town, before heading up to Punakaiki. Okarito has a windswept beach and huge lagoon and not much else. There is a beatiful walk along a track made in 1860 by a land surveyor to a beacon, with amazing views over the wetlands, lagoon, glaciers and Mount Cook and Mount Tasman, the 2 highest peaks of the Southern Alps. Amazing to see the snowcapped peaks surrounded by dens...

Ice-citing times Another first . Today was our Ice Explorer experience ...helicopter ride up to the middle of the Franz Josef Glacier, then hiking across the glacier with crampons ...marvelling at all the amazing ice sculptures. This is a glacier that moves at least 1.5 meters per day down the valley. Really amazing...it changes all the time, every visit is different due to the rivers created by the melting ice. Such an incredible environment. Again the power of...