Wellington was looking pretty grey when pulled back our little curtains but after a strong cup of Nescafé I felt ready to get into the thick of it. As the wind threatened to blow the few remaining hair follicles that I had left from my head, we decided that an indoor excursion was probably best. With that set as the terms of our day we made our way to Te Papa, Wellington's museum. I have to say it had one of the best museum exhibitions I have ever seen. It was ...

Picton was an idyllic spot which seemed transient thanks to its two huge ferry docks that seemed to have endured since tourism began in NZ. With time to kill before our ferry departed we dived into the local aquarium. The staff there were lovely and full of enthusiasm for their jobs which is always great/unusual to see! With a discounted entry we got to see a wide manner of sea life and reptiles - the star of the show was a penguin with an ear infection called ...

Recently I have been spending my time in libraries due to the need for research and internet. I would consider myself a reasonable authority on the wonderful libraries of NZ and am keen to share my insights regarding their inner sanctums and chambers. A library has a very eclectic and dynamic swarm of people buzzing around within it and I have managed to scientifically categorise everyone (painstakingly) into the following groups: You always get two types of li...

Blenheim is the most populous town in the Marlborough District and seems relatively small and easy going (I stopped myself saying 'dull' there but I feel that way a lot regarding first impressions with most NZ towns. I think this is to do with some subliminal association of 'fun' with compact looking areas, like Cardiff or London. With their high and jagged skylines they look full of everything you could desire. NZ towns are quite large but are built out rather t...

To state the obvious, Abel Tasman is beautiful; the place, not the Dutch explorer that first landed here - he was okay looking for a guy in a ruff necked collar I guess but he wasn't anything special. Good old Abel first discovered Tasmania before sailing over to the Northern tip of NZ's South Island, Golden Bay. It was a brief visit however as he was quickly sent on his way again by some unfriendly Maori tribes and went onto Fiji. To look at on a map Abel Tasma...