Loving New Zealand! The drive up from Christchurch was fabulous passing through twisty mountains at one moment and then along the misty shore with crashing waves.

Blenheim is a nice little town with easy access to the vineyards famous for their Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. I opted for the full day tour and had the guide to myself in the morning. She was able to adjust the tour based on the things I said I had liked. In the afternoon we joined another group of 8, which was also good since it was an opportunity to talk to more people, but followed more of a predefined route. Having started out saying that I preferred red and a Sauvignon Blanc if it had to be white, I ended up buying a nice bottle of Riesling! - but it tasted delicious.

Leaving Blenheim, I stopped at the aviation museum with focuses on First World War planes. I didn't realise that the early planes used wing-warping rather than ailerons for control. Outside they had a Bristol cargo plane with a front opening "mouth" to load cargo.

Yesterday I went on the ferry from Picton to Wellington for the day. It was an early start (5am) to catch the 6am ferry and a 3 hour trip through Queen Charlotte's sound - beautiful. Wellington is a nice sized city with theatres and lots of coffee houses. After grabbing some breakfast, I went to the Te-papa museum then up to the Botanical Gardens. One slight problem was that I found my route by asking my GPS the way to the ventricular cable car. Unfortunately, it found the top end and had me walking up the damned hill! The gardens where nice and included the Carter Observatory and Planetarium. I haven't stopped to really study the night sky, but it is strange to look up and miss all the northern constellations. I went down the hill in the cable car, then stopped by Kirkcaldie & Stains department store to get some nice cheese and biscuits (to go with the wine), before returning on the ferry at 9:30pm. It was a long day, but Wellington was well worth it.

When I speak to folk here (i.e. shop assistants, waiters and waitresses) it seems like a 50/50 chance that I'll be talking to a Kiwi. As likely as not, you'll be chatting to someone from Wales, Scotland, England, Ireland or even Ormskirk. There seems to be a pattern of folk who come to New Zealand for a holiday, but never quite seem to go back. I'm not saying that New Zealand is full of illegal immigrants, but that once people have a taste of it, their heart stays here and they emigrate permanently.

I'm sort of getting used to the camper-van. I normally go to bed with the sun and get up with the sun. The bed is reasonably comfortable and I can either lay on top of it if it is warm, or wrap the duvet around me like a sleeping bag if it is cold. I haven't tried the cooking facilities, but then the camp sites I've visited have been so well equipped, I'm not sure why I would. The only thing missing (as I found out on my first morning) is a mug for my tea, but that is something easily remedied.

Today I'm doing another short hop along the north shore of the South Island to Nelson which is holding its annual arts festival. This weekend is also the Rugby Semifinals. I hope New Zealand stay in since otherwise this place could go in to morning for weeks!