NEW ZEALAND South Island - 3 weeks So a sad farewell to Sydney and our very kind hosts Joel and Brent on the 17th June But our travels carry on - Onwards to New Zealand. The land of snow capped mountains, land of Lord of the Rings and a place to use our newly bought thermals! What an unbelievable flight into Queenstown. Absolutely breath taking and so very fortunate to have clear skies for landing. The snow had just fallen so everything was beautifully dusted in white. Our friend Mieke has joined us for this leg of our travels - leaving a hot 30 degree Belgium for zero temperatures and a 35hour flight. Mad!!! The last 3 weeks on the South Island have been spectacular and we have been seriously moved by the beauty of this country. We have hired a 4 berth campervan - aptly named Dolly. She is white and hey there are a hell of a lot of sheep here....so. Below we have listed the places that are highlights and hope the pictures we have added to the sight make some sense! • Queenstown This town is a hub for adrenaline junkies, we played it cool for the few days and played in the snow instead, gathered ourselves for the winter ahead (while to date this winter has been the coldest in NZ for the last 50 years!!!!) Great walk up to the gondola, best hot chocolate, fabulous bars with roaring fireplaces. Stunning views of the Remarkable Mountains. From here we arranged our campervan - Dolly, and on the road we went!!! First stop: • Milford Sound The magic scenery along the drive was amazing, forests, lakes, yellow grasslands, snowcapped mountains, moss on the road!! The rather scary Homer Tunnel. We did a fab sea kayaking on Milford sound - certainly the best way to see this spectacular area, however the sea did get a tad rough and even suffered from windburn!!! Great little place, 2 nights spent there. • The Catlins Along the very south of the South Island, a walkers dream. A bit like Wales... Visited the mind blowing Fossil Forest on Curio Bay. So cool. The ruggered coast of Nugget Point, penguin watching from Roaring bay, we saw 4 very rare yellow eyed penguins. Lush and green, rolling hills, we then made our way inland to a tiny town of Clyde which was Absolutely FREEZING!. Sweet old mining town though. Next up to meet our friend we met on our Africa trip - Cuz Andy. • Wanaka Kind Andy entertained us for a few nights, took us skiing at Cardrona. First time for Steve and I, Mieke is a pro compared. What a hoot of a day out, definitely will be doing that activity again. We visited the charming town of Arrowtown and Andy took us on the scariest road ever - Skippers creep. Driving on the edge of cliffs, icy roads, rain falling, thank goodness for a 4wheel drive!!! Adrenalin pumping of note!!! We also met with Boo on our last night in Wanaka and will be meeting up with him again in the North Island. (another Africa friend) Next we drove to the West coast • West Coast Haast Pass - A stunning drive to the famous Fox Glacier. This is where we did our Helihike of the glacier. Amazing and just awesome to be able to explore ice caves, moulins and walking on the bulk of the massive ice mass. Oh yeah and the helicopter flight up was great fun too. We then drove on to the town of Hokitika - famous for the Maori jade, then in Greymouth we watched the terrible game of England vs Portugal in a cold laundramat at 3am.... Last stop on the west coast was Punakaiki - Pancake Rocks. Pretty funky rock that do look like stacks of pancakes.... • Lewis Pass & Hamner Springs Another scenic drive to the hot thermal springs. Rather a weird experience sitting outside in zero degrees in 40 degree water. Only one night there we then moved on to the: • East Coast - Kaikoura, A sleepy little place renowned for Whales and dolphins.. unfortunately it is not season to see these creatures.... Damn! So we moved onto the Winelands - Blenheim, here we did a spot of wine tasting and treated ourselves to a delicious posh meal. Oh how it feels not to be a backpacker for an evening! • Picton, Marlbourgh Sound, Nelson, Able Tasman. The weather unfortunately turned rather wet for the last days on the South Island. But non the less had a wonderful time exploring Able Tasman Reserve on foot. Really is beautiful. The rest of the coast was filled with little crafty spots and cafes. Next up we have a ferry journey to the North Island....