5 January - Arrived in Kaikoura - now back on the East Coast, hoping to do some whale watching. 6 January - Walked along the coastline where we saw lots of fur seals up close on the rocks. You can walk quite close to them and they don't seem to mind - they just open there eyes, have a quick look and then go back to sleep. Saw lots of bird nesting sights. Climbed up the cliff and walked back along the coastal path hoping to get some good views but all of a sudden...

28 December - Stayed over one night in Haast then moved on to Franz Josef and the glaciers. 29 December - Stopped off at Knights Point and Monro Bay on the way to Franz Josef. We saw dolphins and we think penguins feeding in the bay at Knights Point. At the Fox Glacier we walked as far as was allowed to the base - it was an amazing sight and only a taster of what was to come. 30 December - What an amazing day! We were originally intending to go on one of the hik...

24/25 December - Arrived in Wanaka - decided to stay in accommodation for 4 days over Christmas and for my birthday. Wanaka is a quiet little town, very different to Queenstown. On Christmas Day we set off for Mount Aspiring National Park. Lovely journey through a flat valley - last 20km on a back country road - unmade and stony. Beautiful view of Mt Aspiring - Pat fished the river but again no luck. Had a picnic lunch - a couple of beers and a cheese and onion r...

20 December - Slow drive up to Queenstown which is the adrenalin capital of the World. Arrived early and pitched tent again in beautiful sunshine. Then went to explore the town - decided to book in for a bungy jump (Pat) and white water rafting (both of us). 21 December - Awoke again to a beautiful day - set off for Kawarau Bridge which is the home of the bungy. Watched all the nutters jumping - then it was Pat's turn. He dived off in spectacular fashion and got...

18- December- We decided to do a separate blog just for Milford Sound because it was so outstanding. The drive to Milford Sound took about 2 hrs but it would have taken far longer if we had stopped at every photo opportunity (we decided to try and beat all the tour buses and stop on the way back). The route is 119k from Te Anau and the sun was shining with a clear blue sky (it rains 200 days of the year here so we were very lucky). The only stop we made was at t...