Hi everyone!

As you probably know, I'm in New Zealand! In my 3rd week here now and I love it - despite the cold (and rain today!)

Just thought I'd give you a quick update on where we've been and what I've done. We arrived in a VERY cold Christchurch on Tues 30th June and picked up our spaceship camper van. They all have a name and ours is called 'Spaceman' - nice and easy compared to some of the Maouri names some of them have. We didn't have a great deal of time to do much by the time we'd picked Spaceman up, been given our briefest of briefs on where everything was and how it worked so we called in for the essential Mcdonalds dinner and did our first Big Shop for grocceries! Once us and our Spaceman were all stocked up we orbitted Christchurch for approximately 2 and a half hours trying to find a cheap camp site!! Eventually we landed for the night and settled into our very compact and cosy bed in the back of the van. Luckily we have a little dvd player and screen in the back and a wee selection on DVD's. We have now watched them all and are watching the re-runs! We also picked up 2 dvd's from the space station when we picked the campervan up and as long as you return it with any 2 dvd's you can swap with fellow astronauts you meet along your travels or at some of the other space stations - wicked!

Our first proper day was spent in a rather grey but very pretty Christchurch. We wandered around the city, watched the vintage trams and walked through the gardens. We then headed down the east coast and stopped at a deserted little camp site in Oamaru. There was just us and a horse in the next field so it was very quiet. I think we watched 2 dvd's that night!! The following day we headed onto the city of Dunedin mainly to visit the Cadbury Chocolate factory! We got tons of free chocolates so we left very happy bunnies! Not a great deal more to do there so we drove on to Portabello via a lovely peninsulla where we stayed the night. At this point we were still paying for unpowered camp sites but were feeling the effects of being so cold. This would not last!

We decided to follow the Southern Scenic Route which is supposed to be fantastic and well...scenic! The weather though was not that great, dark, drizzly and sooo windy so we didn't hang around too much. We stopped at Curio Bay where there is a fossilised forest that has been buried under the sea then re-surfaced from the Jurrasic period. It was quite an odd place, seeing the petrified trees (and no, I am not making this stuff up - honest!) We stayed the night in Invercargill which again, is just another town with not much to offer. We much prefer to see the scenery and surrounding areas to the cities - they're much more interesting to look at! Invercargill had an earthquake lastnight by the way but we had long gone by then, thankfully. Here's a funny story. We got our Spaceship well and truely stuck in the sand on a nature reserve there! We thought we'd take a drive to see the numerous bays that were listed but decided to turn round at the end. In extremely soft sand. Hmph. Now, after getting stuck in the mud and sand in Africa so many times we felt confident in getting ourselves out of this mess but the flippin Spaceship wasn't having any of it and just got stuck further into the sand! We were so lucky an old couple were there. They tried to help us but it wasn't until our Kiwi in shinning armour (a 4x4 to be exact) came to our rescue and towed us out! It took a good 45 minutes to get us out, we'd still be there now if it wasn't for those lovely people so - thank you whoever and wherever you are !! Much appreciated. A much needed warm up by a log fire in the pub next door followed that experience.

We headed to Te Anau which is set on a huge lake and visited the Glowworm Caves by boat at night. This was a magical experience and once we'd been ferried over to the other side of the lake and walked into the cave and climbed into the little boat, we we're dragged through the dark deep into the cave where thousands of Glowworms lit up the ceiling above us. All I can describe it as is like looking into the clearest of skies at night at millions of stars, but having them within touching distance - it was lovely and so peacfull! The following day we had an early start as we went on a day trip to Millford Sound. The trip there was stunning and in some respects, more impressive than the boat cruise on the Sound. Amazing snow capped mountains and Mirror lakes with an earie mist hovering over them. It was bloody cold though and I'll just tell you that by now, we had caved and opted to spend more and have powered sites. It's only a little heater but just enough to keep the frostbite at bay!!

After Milford Sound and our second night in Te Anau we went to Queenstown which I loved!! It is such a beautiful setting with a lake at the end of the main mall and the Remarkable Mountain range right behind topped with snow. I tell you, I have taken so many photos of the scenery here - I just can't stop! We spent 4 nights in Queenstown and Caroline went snowboarding while I tried my hand at Snow Shoeing. This is where we had high-tech snow shoes fitted to our own so we could climb the snow up the Remarkables, past the Ski resort and on further up the mountain to explore the frozen lake, where we sat and ate a gorgeous lunch, and admire the fantastic view. I had such an enjoyable day with the guide (who was actually an ex-brummie thurned kiwi - yes it is possible to escape!) and 2 other girls on the group and Caroline had a blast on the Cardrona Ski resort. All in all, a brilliant time was had in Queenstown.

We continued on through the cute historic Arrowtown, like something out of spaghetti western, onto Wanaka and finally touched down in Jackson Bay, near Haast. We took a little drive and a walk through a small forest area and found the most amazing deserted bay called Ocean Beach, just as the sun was setting. Amazing. The coast lines and beaches here are just stunning. They are so rugged and untouched, they far out do any beach in Australia.

Our next pitstop the following day was Franz Josef. We wanted to climb a glacier and in the end, opted for a half day experience on the Fox Glacier just up the road. Again, it was another early morning and with icy roads and mountains to negotiate, we had a steady drive to Fox! This was another brilliant experience. I have to say that half way through the forest walk and up a zillion steps I wondered if the effort was worth it. But when we reached the ice, strapped on our spikes and donned our poles it was well worth the effort! Walking on this huge ice formation was surreal and great and we only saw the tip of it, some nutters were passing us to head right into the middle of it! After we had defrosted we headed further up the west coast to Punakaiki where we arrived at the beachside campsite just in time for another sunset. It's a hard life here!

Our next destination after a days driving was Kaiteriteri where we wanted to get to in order to do a day trip to the Abel Tasman National Park the following day. Oh my god. I don't think I've ever been so cold in all my life. We took a boat trip up the Abel Tasman NP coast in the bitter wind and got dropped off at one bay to be picked up at another which was a 2 and a half hour walk away. It was an enjoyable walk but to be honest, the hot chocolate in the warm cafe when we got back to Kaiteriteri was the bestest bit!

We decided we'd continue as far north as we could go on the south island and headed to Farwell Spit. We stayed the night at Pohara and explored the isolated north the next morning. We couldn't get to Cape Farwell which is the northern most point of the south island but we went onto Wharaiki Beach. On the way back down we attempted to drive to an area that was featured in the Lord of the Rings films but the roads were too icy and after our sand incident, decided against going much further up the mountain! Lesson learned and all that.

So last night we stayed at Tahunanui, near the city of Nelson and went to see Harry Potter 6! Yes, it had to be done! I was so excited. there were even people dressed as witches and wizzards!! Made my week I tell you! We've headed down to Kaikoura now as there is an abundance of wildlife in this area. Actually just after we'd stopped for lunch, our usual peanut butter sandwiches, we passed hundreds of seals on the rocks. There are dolphin and wales spotting trips here too so we'll look into what we can fit in whilst here! Need to find a place to land our Spaceship for the night first though!

Pretty soon we'll be heading to Picton which is where we'll be getting the ferry over to Wellington in the North Island. Even though the North is not supposed to be as beautiful as the south, I'm looking forward to seeing it. Hopefully it'l be a few degrees warmer up there!

So I think that gives you the gist of what's been happening with me since I last wrote. I hope you're all doing ok. I can't believe my adventure is almost over. Never fear - I'll be back to bore you with my stories and photos before you know it!!

Take care and I'll see you soon.

Lots of love

Nic

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