After a beautiful drive, leaving the Mount Cook National Park behind and heading into Wanaka, we stopped at the much awaited 'Stuart Landsborough's Puzzling World'. I came across this in a tourist magazine quite by chance and Rob hasn't stopped talking about it since! It's a tourist attraction for puzzle dweebs and children, with a 3D maze, special effects rooms and lots of puzzles. We dragged Phil along and the 3D maze soon turned into a frantic competition of w...

We've been in South Island for about a week now and have covered a lot of ground. The journey across from Wellington to Picton was very scenic, through Marlborough Sounds, and we think we may even have seen a penguin in the water. Picton had a pretty quay so we stopped for lunch on an old sailing boat, before driving off to Cloudy Bay vineyard for a quick tasting or two. We stayed in Pohara, in Golden Bay, just short of the Abel Tasman National Park, where we pla...

I write this sweltering in 26 degree heat! Not your average Christmas holiday, that's for sure! We've spent the last few days in Greytown, South Wairarapa, about an hour north of Wellington with my Dad and Sue. Apparently they've not had a sunny Christmas since they moved here over 3 years ago. Well that's changed! It's been beautiful here. Greytown, population 2000, is extremely pretty and although a lot of people drive straight through on the way to Wellington...

Happy Christmas everyone! We awake the day after the Tongariro Crossing with aching joints but happy souls! We spent three nights in Taupo, hoping to achieve this, one of the best day hikes in New Zealand, as well as doing a skydive, and after 48 hours of waiting for bad weather to pass, it all came together and we've completed both! Biding our time with horse riding on the first day turned out to be a great morning out - neither of us had ever been on anything...

Kia Ora people! (I bet everyone starts their New Zealand blog that way - it means hello/welcome) We've already been in North Island for nearly a week, and have packed in a lot. Our first night here was in Auckland and a bit strange. Going from city to city can be a little disorientating and we felt as though we could still be in Melbourne; weather was the same, high rise buildings, lots of restaurants, etc. We decided to go to the Minus 5 bar - so named for its ...