WOW - the phrase I am using the most since my arrival in New Zealand.

The scenery is amazing and on some occasions the roads very windy - that doesn't always make for comfortable driving... it is however great training for my future rally driving career though, so all's good.

I've moved onto the south island & have been amazed that the vistas could bev better than they were on the north island, but they're already rivalling them.

After the ferry on Saturday where I kept bumping into this older Canadian couple I met in Rotarua I drove to Nelson. I had a lovely day wandering around and had a few feijoa ciders (a cross between pear and apple and very tasty indeed) and got ready for a long drive on Sunday up the west coast.

My jaw really did start dropping as I drove down to Greymouth and then up the west coast past the pancake rocks (the cover pic for this post).

The rocks are a natural phenomenon due to erosion and are amazing to see, I spent a good while taking them in before I moved onto Granity to spend the night at my friend Alaine's folks pub and cabins - they're really lovely and it was good to have a home-cooked meal and also be part of a family for a night, I even got mistaken for a Perrott - sorry about that Alaine!

Today I drive to Hanmer springs and had a fab day moving from pool to pool and soaking up some more glorious sunshine (I learnt from my previous mistake and popped on lots of sun screen on today). I also had a great massage but was a little bemused by how low the 'back' massage went.

Again on the drive here it was tough to keep my eyes on the road when the views were so amazing but I'm looking forward to whale watching, visiting glaciers and also queenstown.

In the meantime I've got the Oscars to catch up on and also my VSO online training course.

Have a great start to the week everyone & missing you lots xx