Crikey - I'm in Aus! But before I get to that, I should finish with New Zealand. Dunedin was probably one of the larger cities in New Zealand, and it was quite nice to get back to a place which real people lived and worked in. I had a lovely meal at the Scotia restaurant. (I was surprised that much of New Zealand seems to have stronger ties to Scotland than to England, though this is probably me just being a bit blinkered.) I also had a nice drive around th...

Back in Christchurch. Transalpine railway tomorrow. Now a cup of tea and a biscuit.

I've now reached Dunedin, and have sometime to catch my breath and gather my wits. Last Wednesday, based on the weather forecast, I decided to stick to the West Coast. This turned out to be a good choice in that Christchurch (on the East Coast) subsequently suffered flooding from the heavy rains! On the West Coast,the first stop was Fox Glacier. I arrived late afternoon, so booked myself a days hike for Thursday, and used the rest of the day to do a stroll ...

New Zealand just had a 9.0 earthquake - from very happy Kiwis cheering!

. When I grow up, I want to be a jet boat driver!!