We met with friends in Blenheim on Sunday morning before driving to Christchurch after lunch. There were many of Joy's relatives that Mum and Dad wanted to meet up with so Monday was spent visiting Ken (Joy's Brother) and Marilyn his wife, Andrew (Joy's nephew), Juline (Joy's adopted daughter) and her family before driving to Geraldine and having a lovely meal with Warren (another of Joy's nephews), his wife Sherrie and children Savannah, Lincoln, Fraser and Luel...

We drove across to the west coast via Arthur's Pass as we had been told it was very scenic. The day we went however it was pouring with rain and visibility was very poor. At a lookout point over the viaduct we could see absolutely nothing!!! Needless to say we saw very little of the scenery. We then drove down the west coast to Franz Josef and did a half day hike on the glacier the next morning. It was pouring with rain (again!) and we could barely see the glacie...

Well, the weather changed as soon as we left the north island, the Wellington to Picton crossing was calm though, which was good as we had been warned that it gets quite rough. We were faced with a wet journey down to Christchurch which was a shame as we were driving along the coast most of the time. We needed to get to Christchurch as we wanted to see Hazel Dixon as she was flying up to the north island the next day and we would miss her otherwise. We saw her fo...

We spent a few days in Rotorua as there is lots to do there. First we took the Gondola up the hill which gives you good views over Rotorua, then we did the Skyswing. This is basically a seat suspended on rope surrounded by a circular metal frame, which you are strapped into, winched up 50m and let go. You reach speeds of up to 150 kilometres an hour as you swing out over a cliff. Next we took the Luge down the hill. This is a concrete track which you hurtle down ...

We flew out of Santiago on the evening of the 24th of November and arrived in Auckland 13 hours later on the morning of the 26th, completely losing a day somewhere in the process as we crossed the international date line. Unsurprisingly we did experience a little jet-lag! We stayed in a B&B in Auckland for the first two nights which was well located, and spent some time exploring the city. The weather was great, we went up the sky tower and had panoramic view...