I chose where to go after Wellington on the basis of the 10 day weather forecasts. Napier is further north, on the east coast in Hawke's Bay and it is known for its art deco architecture. In 1931 a massive earthquake and subsequent fires destroyed most of the city so they rebuilt it in the predominant architectural style of the time, art deco. To be honest, the art deco wasn't enough of a draw on its own for me, but the forecast looked good. I was getting frustra...

I am now in Wellington, New Zealand. I've been here nearly a week now. I'm in an actual house and have a comfortable bed in a room of my own. I've been catching up on sleep after being very busy for the past six weeks or so. I've also had various tasks to do like going to the opticians, opening a bank account and registering with a doctor. I am now waiting for a debit card to come in the post and a call telling me my new glasses are ready so I think I will wait u...

My week in Sydney involved too much rain and not enough sleep. The flight there was delayed, first by the plane being an hour late to arrive at Adelaide, and then as we were coming into Sydney the pilot aborted the first landing attempt without warning. He explained that it was because a plane taking off had sadly hit a flock of bats and the runway needed to be checked before we could land. We circled above Sydney for a while and the turbulence was pretty bad. ...

On the way back from the Coorong I stayed the night in a town called Murray Bridge, which had the first bridge over the River Murray. It was very hot, the temperature hit 37 degrees that afternoon. I left Murray Bridge in the morning and it was 38 degrees at 10am but windy. The temperature dropped rapidly, to 23 degrees by midday and 16 degrees by late afternoon. I drove to the coastal town of Goolwa, on the Fleurieu peninsula. From there I drove across the br...

In my research about South Australia, I read that the Coorong National Park was a great birdwatching site. The morning after arriving back from Kangaroo Island, I hired a car in Adelaide and drove down to the Coorong. Driving around central Adelaide was confusing but once I got out of the city, driving was easy and smooth. After I passed through the small town of Tailem Bend on the Murray River, the landscape changed. I stopped at a viewing point that had a lake ...