Friday 17th Queenstown Walked around the Jubilee Park along the shoreline. Watched some locals playing a form of golf with frisbees! There were metal baskets set up all around the park amongst the trees and the idea is to get the frisbee in the basket in the lowest number of throws. Each hole has a "tee" and a number of throws for par. It is very popular. The highlight of the park was a black labrador that adopted anyone who was prepared to pick up the...

Tuesday 14th. A wash out. Rained all day on our drive South down the west coast. We planned to visit Franz Josef Glacier. No chance. We could not even see the mountains around us let alone a glacier. Wednesday 15th. The sun was shining Drove across the Haast Pass through to Lake Wanaka and Queenstown. Civilisation again after some days in the wilderness! We took a gondola ride to the top of the mountain that overlooks Queenstown. Some great views. We wandered a...

We have crossed to The South Island.First stop was Kaikoura where we went whale spotting. A 9 mile trip out to sea on a fast, bucking catamaran took us out to the 1600 metre deep chasm where the whales live and feed. It took a while but in the end we did see a 70 ton sperm whale as it came up for air. What a great sight. Our next stop was at Springfield for an overnight stop at what can best be described as a pub with a few rooms. It was clean enough and fine fo...

Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th February Two excellent days in Rotorua, once you get used to the underlying smell of sulphur in the air! http://photobucket.com/albums/w452/paulnharris1954/Paul and Jen on tour/Rotorua

Sunday 5th February - Waitangi Day We could not have chosen a better weekend to be where we were staying, which was close to the place where the treaty was signed between the British and the Maori on this day in 1840. Lots going on, including the local Maori re-enacting the tribes arriving in their Kawa (war canoes). We were treated to the Haka which was pretty convincing!. Photos athttp://photobucket.com/albums/w452/paulnharris1954/Paul and Jen on tour/Waitang...