We are 4 weeks into travelling New Zealand. Since our last Blog we travelled to Wellington and made our way from the North Island to the South Island via the Ferry. The landscape in the South Islands is even more amazing than the North. We have covered quite a large areae now , so far we have clocked around 3500km. No more problems have arisen with the car, our knowledge of car maintenance increases by the day.

When we crossed to the South Islands we arrived in a little harbour called picton, this area is part of the marlborough sounds, lots of islands created by valcanic eruptions. The waters are crystal clear and we were blesed with sunny skys. As we made are way to our little holiday park where we had booked accommodation we realised when it came to Amy getting out to go and pay we were missing something....only my wallet!! Well....tempers flared, we just made the most irresponsibly mistake we could have made. We left the bloomin thing on the ferry!! We zoooomed....back to the ferry and amy darted to it. Luckily it was wedged in between 2 seats and it was still there, even after they cleaned it.

We headed west throgh New Zealands largest wine region heading to Nelson. This was to be our base where we would explore further north of the south islands. We ventured up to Abel Tasman National Park..it was so quite up there and we set along a walking path following the coast. It was nice to finally get good amount of exercise...god knows we needed it. The next day we left Nelson with the plan to head far west and thgen start making our way south heading for Greymouth, then to head east through the mountains all the way to Kaikoura. The plan chnaged soon enough as we realised there wasnt too much to excite us over on the north-west. We about turned but only after visiting New Zealnds longest swing bridge, and we crossed over the Buller Gorge on it. It was raining alot and quite slippy but we managed to face the challange head on. So back to Nelson and book into the same accoomodation we juts left behind. Forgot to mention that when we originally arrived in Nelson st the Holiday Park we noticed that the car was steaming like mad...i had forgot to put the oil cap back on that morning after checking it. What a moron. 140km around steep winding roads, it was still there though, ha. Oil was everywhere! But no damage was done.

We left Nelson the next morning, we had about 3 days straight of rain now but that day it started out pretty good. So we decided to stay a night in Blenheim, the wine region and do a tour. As soon as we arrived it starting to rain again and we were stuck in quite a boring area. Luckily that evening it was the NPC Final so i was looking forward to watching a game of rugby. We met a bloke whilst watching the game at the pub. We chatted to him for a while and he has invited us to come and stay with him and his wife in coromandel peninsula, an area which is where we already planned to visit when we head north on the east coast in the Northlands. Very nice fella.

We headed south to Kaikoura, it was a short drive , about 130km. We followed the coast all the way then we noticed in the distnace the snow capped mountains. As we carried on driving the coast got more amazing, and inthe end we could see black sand, blue seas, green hills and snowy mountains all at the same time. We stopped close to Kaikoura at a scenic lookout point and when we looked down we saw our first New Zealand Furr Seals! It was quite sunny and they were spread out sun bathing. We watched them for a while and moved on only after we saw a cub and a mum have a little kiss...ahhh.

We booked into a Backpackers, a rare thing for us these days. We dont like to be associated with normal travellers so we have been staying in Caravan Parks hanging with the oldies, extreme oldies. The weather turned for the worse but we ventured out of town to view a large seal colony. We never expected to get so close to these creatures. For the next 3 days we stayed in Kaikoura, it is one of our favourite places we have visited since starting our travels. The remainder of our time there we stayed in a holiday park, having free use of the hot tubs and pools whilst looking out onto the mountains. We did a long walk in the sun following along a trail path through farm land, it was the hottest day we have had in N.Z so far..short & t-shirts were donned. We treated ourselves daily to a treat...fudge, cake etc..a replacement for beer. We dined mainly at a little fudge factory restaurant....mostly because Amy had gone back into the backpackers and stole lots of vouchers for freebies there....good girl! For lunch we headed back down near the seal colony for some seafood BBQ from a little stall. The last evening we were there we went to visit a tiny vinery, that produces wine that is only distributed to Kaikoura. We had lots of tastes and a little tour of the underground cellar. Very beautiful.

The urge for more rejuvenation had become necessary after our stint in the hot tubs. We headed straight for Hamner Springs, N.Z's largest natural Hot Springs & mineral pools. It is nestled in the South Island high country, surrounded by mountains, which had the last bit of snow still on them from the winter season. The weather by now was non stop sun, 21-23 most days. We spent 2 parts of the day going into the spa's. We had a wee rest from it to break for a light lunch in the cafe's and then went back for more cleansing. Apart from the springs there wasnt much more to keep you there so we left the next morning and travelled to Akaroa..a French and British settlement long ago. We werent expecting the type of journey that led us there....its confusing when you are about o travel on the main highway but when you get there its a thin road , with sharp turns and huge climbs. Poor car...but..when we reached the summit the forest opened up and you could see the whole Banks Peninsula. We went from top to bottom in neutral...as we are cheap and wanted to save on fuel.

The town was only small but it had its own character...french colonial buildings, lots of small churches, boutique style shops. It was all surrounded by lush green forests and blue seas. Again , the weather...cant complain...sunny & hot. We did some walking here and there, and then stretched out on the cricket lawn eating fudge ( fatties) and reading. Right now I am reading a John Grisham novel and Amy ....well ..its part 1 of Greek Myths. Look at us hey? What have we become..but dont worry we didnt pay for them! We spent 3 days in Akaroa and this morning we travelled to the outskirts of Christchurch, by the coast. We arent there now as it was as nice as Porthcawl!! We left ASAP after visiting the library to use the free net and found out that this was where the young street thugs like to chill? Yeah right...we are out of here! We are now in a nice Holiday Park about 5km north of Christchurch City centre. We are waiting & looking forward to the arriavl of Rob & Emily on the 6th, to join us for Amy's 28th on the 7th. It will be a challenge for me and Amy to handle more than 2 drinks this weekend as we have near enough laid off all booze since arriving in N.Z....apart from a pint of the local black ale here and there.

We look forward to letting you all know if Amy has matured once she hits 28. Congrats to Allie & Dean...i am again a happy uncle! Welcome Sophia.

Catch ya again.