Day 18 24/2/13 Paihia After today we have now been from the bottom of the south island to the top of the north island of NZ. We decided to give a day off to the driver and went on a coach tour with Explore NZ to Cape Reigna and we had an excellent driver Paul. This is the most northern part of NZ and a 416km round trip and where the Tasman Sea (Pacific Ocean) and South Pacific Ocean meet at the Cape Reigna lighthouse, quite amazing to see the two seas cras...

Day 13 19/2/13 Wellington Wow our holiday was nearly ruined when we realised there was a set of scales in the bathroom, so we decided to ignore them and instead went and had a cooked breakfast rather than our cereal and yoghurt! We had a stroll around Lambton Quay which is the main shopping area, the queue for the cable car was extreme, so were glad we had done this the afternoon we arrived. We were told there were two cruise ships docked, which explained wh...

Day 10 16/2/13 Franz Josef to Hanmer Springs We have been so fortunate with the weather and today did not disappoint as it was a beautiful sunny morning so we headed for the Franz Josef Glacier, which is about 4km from the township. This glacier is advancing, which is amazing given Tasman Glacier is retreating. We "tramped" (as the Kiwis say) about 2km across rocks of all shapes and sizes which have come away from the glacier and been crushed and formed by...

Day 7 13/2/13 Te Anau to Milford Sound What a most amazing day, the drive to Milford Sound, the cruise on the waterway and the amazing scenery. It has been 35 years since I was in Milford Sound and while you think you remember it well I was still overwhelmed by its beauty and magnificence. We started early at 7am with the sun just beginning to rise on Lake Te Anau as we wanted to be ahead of the buses and campervans (this is campervan town) based on the advi...

Day 4 10/2/13 Dunedin A leisurely start to the morning and again it was sunny with the promise of a warm day, which it was at 26degrees, perfect for traveling. We had a 9.30am tour at Cadbury Chocolates, a major employer in the town. This was the weekend tour for 45mins and if you answered questions along the way you got lots of chocolate and at the start of the tour you got a goodie bag of chocolates, we ended up with a good kitty. The tour of course ends ...