We arrived in Christchurch and checked into a hotel on the edge of the airport. In the morning we walked across to pick up the camper van of dreams 'The Explorer' or as Mair has named it ......'Bertie'! However, Adam was not about to start taking the mickey as he was in a world of trouble. In the madness of the wedding/packing he forgot his driving license meaning that only Mrs Bull can get behind the wheel! Suddenly deleting all the Africa photos had been balanced out by 3 weeks as a passenger driver.

No worries - Adam could instead be the best map reader ever known to New Zealand. 2 hours outside Christchurch we were faced with two roads with signs stating 'no campervans'! We returned back over the mountain in a gale and snow storm and settled for the night in Akaroa. A sweet place, but not close to anywhere! The next day we (Mair!) drove to Lake Tekapo and parked up the campervan in an amazing spot. The view was a clear blue lake, snow capped mountains and a stunning forest.

The next morning we headed to Queenstown - the adrenalin capital of New Zealand - bungy jumps, sky dives and abseiling all on offer. We instead decided that a trip up in the cable car and a walk around the wood would suffice. We then had a good walk around the town and ended up in a bar in front of the fire and then onto a chocolate cafe for a late night hot chocolate.

Early the next day we drove out to Milford Sound (named after Milford Haven by the Welshman who discovered it) - a fiord created by a retracting glacier several thousand years ago. This is involved driving up a mountain and then through to the other side via a tunnel. There is nothing in Milford sound apart from a campsite and a ferry terminal. So we headed to the ferry terminal and took a two hour cruise through the fiord, taking in waterfalls, penguins, seals and some amazing mountains (Mount Kimberley and Mitre Peak were my favourites). That night we survived a gale and a snow storm and then headed back up the mountain the next morning hoping to get through the tunnel before the road was closed. Why did they only mention about snow chains now?! Luckily we got through and stayed the night in the next town, Te Anau, which was already covered in snow.

We left Te Anau and headed to Wanaka, which is a beautiful small Town on Lake Wanaka. We checked in took a walk around the town along the lake. All the guidebooks talk about an amazing cinema, how good could a cinema be?! It was excellent! 10 sofas, a recliner and a three seater car were the seating arrangements and we ordered food and drinks which we had on a tray on a sofa. It was the most comfortable way to watch a film, which was In Bruges. Today we took a 3 hour walk around Mount Rocky, with spectacular views back over Wanaka and the lakes. Tomorrow we are heading to Franz Josef glacier....the map reader is ready!