I've had a great start to my trip to New Zealand. The flight was very routine, with the only odd thing being the change in time zone. As I've been travelling west, my clock has been gradually going back as a chase the sun; the only exception being the leap forwards of 1 day as I crossed the international date line. However, coming west to New Zealand, my clock has gone forwards by an hour. This is because New Zealand is further from the equator and uses a Daylight Saving Time which Fiji doesn't. It can't be many times that you tavel west and the clock goes forwards.

Flying over New Zealand I could see beautiful snow topped peaks and farmed green fields - strong memories of home. I can't wait to start "tramping" (the Kiwi term for hiking).

We all know that Christchurch has been effected by earthquakes, but it really hits you as see the devestated building, particularly the churches. Wandering around you see shells of churches and the whole centre of town is cordoned off. It is a shocking sight. (Oh, and we had a shallow 5.5 magnitude earthquake last night!)

I spent most of the evening in the Rugby Fan Zone where the games (Australia vs South Africa, New Zealand vs Argintina) were being shown to pashonate crowds on huge screens. There was lots of atmosphere and plenty of food choices. It was a great evening (particularly since New Zealand won), though I thought my toes were going to drop off with the cold.

I've decided to try the campervan, with a rough plan of touring around the South Island in an anticlockwise direction. I'll try and post position reports as I go.