Today started well and despite having a night of musical beds we managed to get to the boat with 45 minutes to spare. As a result we were able to sit on the wharf to be harassed by sandflies and watch the world go by. There was a little hiccup when we were asked to pay for lunches but that was swiftly sorted out and I did NOT pay for them. Anyway we boarded the Milford Mariner and sat out on the top deck. The view was outstanding, the company not so. Alex sa...

After a poor nights sleep it took some time to get moving. Last night included Elizabeth just not going to sleep and keeping Alex awake. Anyway we managed to check out by 10 and headed on our way. The scenery was very Scottish feeling and lovely with lakes, mountains and pastures. We saw low lying clouds in the distance which we eventually worked out was a steam train, the Kingston Flyer. We passed a small station on our way so we stopped for the girls to se...

A very expensive and busy day today but then we are in Queenstown. We started in a pretty relaxed manner until we thought we might make it to the 10am cruise on the TSS Earnslaw. A spurt of speed on David's part and faith on mine meant we did make it, just ! David returned saying we had missed it as they had pulled in the gang plank but from my observations of yesterday I knew they kept a second one open for much longer so sent him off again. The cruise acros...

Managed to see Mum, Dad, Vicky, Rohan and Yazmin on Skype to have a chat, sadly Mum Spurway was not online. Had a disturbed night as the girls managed to set the alarm off in their bedroom for just past midnight - yuk ! This unsettled them both so David and I ended up in different beds sharing with different children.We were up and away by just after 9. After a chat about the route options we decided to follow SH6 as opposed to the Crown Route. The was a comb...

Bungie! Or Bonkers as alex calls it