L&G took me to Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula for the day. James Cook sighted the peninsula in 1770. Thinking it was an island, he named it after the naturalist Sir Joseph Banks. In 1840 whaling captain Jean Langlois negotiated the purchase of the Banks Peninsula from the local Ngati Toa chief and returned to France to form a trading company. With French government backing, 63 setlers headed for the Banks peninsula. Only days before they arrived panicked Briti...

I spent the morning chilling with L and G. In the afternoon we went for an origination tour of Christchurch by car. So Leigh could point out the main places of interest and how I can get around. I was surprised how much devastration there still is in Christchurch and how the CBD is still a huge building site 4 years after the earthquake. I found it very upsetting and depressing. We drove along the coast and stopped for a coffee at Sumner. Leigh needed to atte...

Overnight on Mt Hutt they had 1.2 metres of snow. Which means there is a high risk of avalanches. All the runs need to be groomed with a piste basher. So the mountain is CLOSED for the day. Being there is so much snow in Methven and with a risk of it all freezing overnight I decide to drive to Christchurch after lunch. Once the snow ploughs had cleared the roads a bit and some had melted. I spoke to someone in Methven who said they only have this much snow every ...

I'd checked the snow conditions at Mount Hutt and decided I had time to fit in a cheeky day's ski-ing before going to stay with my friends in Christchurch. It had rained all night and all morning as I drove towards Ashburton. It was still raining when I stopped for lunch at Ashburton. I went into the information centre and asked about ski-ing and they said drive to Methven. I had driven 5 minues down the road when it changed from rain into snow. All the cars co...

I drove from Dunedin towards Oamatu. I stopped at Shag point in search of seals and penguins. If you look very closely at this photo you can see seal sunning themselves and blending very well into the rocks. As Darren thought and Google confirmed Shags are goose-sized dark long necked birds similar to cormorants. No sign of the elusive penguins though. I then stopped to see the Moeraki boulders. Large round stones just laying randomly on the beach. I went for a...