Hey all,

We got up super early on Sunday morning and grabbed a taxi to Sydney airport. We passed some time at the airport before our flight then jumped on the plane to New Zealand. The flight went really fast and we arrived at Christchurch mid afternoon. After clearing customs and quarantine to stop us bringing muddy shoes and bugs into the country we went to collect our new orange home. We were quite lucky as we'd been upgraded to a hybrid engine spaceship which was fairly new, our new home was called "Ironhide". We headed to the supermarket, filled up with food then found a nice campsite and settled down for the evening. It's a bit nippy here in comparison to Australia!!

After a good nights sleep we had a slow start in the morning; Hol forgot that we'd moved time zones so the alarm didn't go off until 2 hours later than needed, doh! When we finally rose we made our way to the Antarctic Centre where we learnt about all things cold! Its adjacent to the major base that is used to forward supplies and people to the Antarctic. We learnt about the research that goes on at Scott Base, experienced a wind blizzard in the snow and ice room, watched some rescued fairy penguins been fed and learnt about their rescue stories, then we went for a little off road drive in a Hagglung (a snow mobile). The off road course was pretty intense; we sat in a 3 meter deep pond in it, crossed a 1.2 meter crevice and climbed hills the size of a two story building! It was pretty cool. In the afternoon we went into Christchurch for a mooch around. We walked by the River Avon, past pretty cathedrals and old buildings then on to find some warm clothes from the shops! We headed back to the same campsite for the evening and tried to get some sleep despite the cold!

On Tuesday we popped to the local shops in search of more warm clothes before heading out of Christchurch to Mount Cook. We drove for a while, stopping long the way at various scenic points to take it all in. We were greeted into the Southern Alps by the most stunning mountains and bright blue (almost turquoise) lakes! We drove down the very long dirt track road to our campsite for the evening which sat right at the base of Mount Cook. We attempted to cook dinner but it was so windy that the pans kept blowing over and the chairs kept blowing away! We went to bed pretty shattered from all the days' excitement.

On Wednesday we drove around Mount Cook township soaking in the amazing scenery. We went to the visitor centre and read up on the history and geography of the mountains. We also watched a mountain rescue video which was really interesting. We decided to do a couple of short walks; to The Tasman Glacier and The Blue Lakes. We headed back to the township and had a cup of tea by the log fire in the homely cafe! We were blown over by the views, they were truly amazing! We had to hit the road again before long, stopping at viewpoints as usual! We drove through a geological fault line which was pretty amazing; surrounded by cliffs randomly in the middle of fields with huge boulder rocks scattered along the roadsides. We drove to a town called Omaru and found a campsite for the evening.

On Thursday we began a long day of driving with a whistle stop tour of Omaru. It was a strange day; first we saw an advert in the supermarket which read no more than "Donkey Wanted" and a telephone number.. The we saw a lady dressed like a dog, walking her dog... We decided not to hang around too long - did some food and camp shopping, took a brief tour around town then started the long drive to Dunedin. We stopped at the Moeraki Boulders; some perfectly round boulders sat on the beach that were formed thousands of years ago in the cliff but due to erosion they've dropped out onto the beach! We had lunch by a little gorge which was pretty then we visited the Royal Albatross Colony; the only mainland colony in the world! We were too late for a proper tour so one of the guide staff gave us a 15 minute power tour for a small cash fee!! We saw some mahoosive albatross just soaring with the wind! It was a lovely day all in all and on the way to find a campsite we saw a sign advertising "overnight parking" outside someone's house.... we pulled in, paid some money and parked in their back garden for the evening! We went for a short walk along the beachfront and bay then chilled out in our van.

Next update soon.

Hol and Pete

xXx