We were really sorry to leave the castle and Dunedin and hope to return one day to see the seals, whales and other delights of the Otago peninsula. As it was we spent so long exploring the Castle gardens, we only just had time to follow the winding precipitous road to the Headland and see the Royal albatrosses. We were too early for the hatching and were not lucky enough to see the teenage parties when the youngsters return from time to time. We were impressed by...

Problems with WiFi in the South Island so quite large gaps in the blog. We had a great day in Wanaka taking a trip up the lake to an island nature reserve to see thebuff waka, a brown flightless bird now almost extinct thanks to stoats possums and rats. We did see one lurking under a bush although I think we were more impressed by the bell birds and fantails on the island, not to mention the view across the turquoise lake and the tiny lake nestled at the top of t...

Sorry about the long pause between updates but WiFi in the South island has been hard to locate. The system seems to have been down on the West Coast for a couple of days.We have now reached Wanaka so will try to fill in the gap. We stayed at the Honest Lawyer in Nelson (he seemed to be buried out the back!!) and clearly there are no others left. The first day was rather overcast while the weather recovered from what seems to have been a tremendous storm. We expl...

Hi everyoneRather a long gap I'm afraid and although I am writing this on Sunday Dec 21st it maybe a few days before we can post it on the site.We had a great time in Wellington with some beautiful sunny days to admire the view from Eileen's eyrie high above the city at Khandallah. As she said if they could only get a right of way and a cable car through the Australian Commissioner's garden, they could be at work in a couple of minutes.Saturday evening we were en...

Hi everyoneWe have been computer less for the last few days so we are only just getting you up to date. We enjoyed the luxurious hotel in Taupo especially the warm swimming pool ,and the curious little holes in the flower beds which were steaming. At 5 p.m. the next morning the fire alarm went and as everyone trooped out into the dawn to await the arrival of the fire brigade, both of us wondered whether an even larger hole had been discovered. It seems volcanic a...