The South Island: Part 1 Our first week on the South Island is quite literally a whirlwind. We take our little camper-van across the Cook Straight, a journey of some 2 and a half hours. It's one of the more beautiful ferry ride you ever likely to experience. We land in Picton, and head for the wine region of Marlborough, famous for its Sauvignon Blanc wines. We spend a day tasting, exercising our "sophisticated" pallets. We spend one wonderful night in the town ...

Sunday the 10th we visit the Wellington Vineyard Church. There we happen to run into our repatriated Kiwi friends Nick and Rose Baty and their two wonderful children, Moses and Isaac. Without hesitation they invite us for a BBQ and offer us a bed for the night. Having endured or camper-van for a few days we jump at the offer. It's a wonderful day in Wellington, we visit the waterfront (very nice) and Nick gives us a tour, showing us Wellington from some pretty sp...

Saturday the 9th we head for a campsite just outside Wellington but not before checking out "Rivendell". It's actually called the Hutt River, a less sexy title, and I find myself wondering how we got into this Lord of the Rings themed tour in the first place. That said this area is beautiful and well worth the visit. In fact this appears a common experience in New Zealand. There are scenic reserves and national parks all over and so you can stop almost anyways al...

Friday the 8th we take a long drive straight down the middle of the North Island. Its another hot and dusty day. This drought seems a serious business. Our goal is to reach Wellington for church on Sunday morning. We stop off in the Mount Holdsworth campsite in Tararua National Park for the night. Nothing special to report although I did enjoy the pasta Ruth made.

Thursday the 7th we head for Tongariro National Park where we continue The Lord of the Rings theme. We spend a day and a half here and visit the Taranaki Falls where I strip down to my boxers (pictures can be purchased from Ruth) and take the coldest shower I've ever had right under the tubbing waterfall. I feel like Kevin Costner in that waterfall scene from "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" We find good vantage points of Mount Doom more accurately named Mount ...