We´d heard that Golden Bay was a bit off the beaten track so to get away from all the other happy or not so happy campers (depending on their choice of van), we headed up to the furthest point of the South Island. And it was sooo cool. Full of hippies and yocal locals.

We explored Farewell Spit (which strangely looks a bit like a Kiwi bird when viewed on the map) and got lost in crazy grey sand dunes. One flat battery later (our first...) and we soon stumbled upon an event taking place - the annual Golden Bay Wood Chopping Contest. Amazing. Big guys in vests hurling axes at bits of tree. Chainsaw races followed. We´re putting that on our list of things to get good at only I don´t think my arm muscles can hack it.

Instead we put our arm muscles to the test with a spot of kayaking in the Abel Tasman National Park. Lovely clear water, great fellow kayakers and a beach called Sandfly Bay and another called Mosquito Bay which we avoided like a sandfly and mosquito plague.

After a flying visit through Nelson (stopping off to steal some fruit from the garden of Ant´s uncle - he told us to...) we headed for Malborough Sounds and a spot called French Pass. Uncle Nick had told us that at about 6am the changing of the tides forces water into "almost biblical" whirlpools through the Pass. It´s not all lie in´s with this travelling stuff you know.