We've had a fantastic second week in New Zealand. We spent most of the week in the Malborough District in the north of South Island. Abel Tasman National Park was our first stop - a beautiful national park on the northern coast. We took a boat trip along the coast and visited a seal colony, then for a hike and the final few hours spent sea kayaking in and out of lovely little beaches and coves.

From there we made our way to the wineries, stopping for mussels in Havelock, which claims to be the world centre for green lipped mussels. They were probably the best mussels we have ever eaten!

We toured the wineries by bike, which was great fun! We had a brilliant day cycling, drinking and eating... definitely the best way to see them!!

Next day we went out on a fishing trip in the Marlborough Sounds which are stunning. We even caught fish - and enough to take back for dinner!! Well actually Dan caught our dinner, all the fish I caught were too small to keep. The catch was mainly blue cod - it was very yummy, especially washed down with some local sauvignon blanc, or savi as they like to call it here...!!

Our final trip was to Kaikoura to swim with wild dolphins... this was a truly amazing experience. There are huge numbers of dolphins off the west coast - they take you out in boats (wearing the thickest wetsuits you have ever seen!!) and once they locate a pod in you go... there were hundres of them all around us, swimming up close and circling us. They are attracted by noise so we were all singing into our snorkels!! Seeing so many dolphins in their natural environment and being in the water with them will have to rate as a highlight of our trip. We also saw royal albatross, who have the widest wingspan of any bird...and believe me they are BIG!

And so our New Zealand adventures come to an end... this is a great place to visit, with lots of activities on offer and spectacular scenery. We didn't make it to the North Island, so we'll have to come back one day (but probably hire a bigger van!).

I am writing this from Auckland airport, where we're waiting for our flight to Chile. Weirdly, it is 12.44pm on 7th June in New Zeland, and although we have a few more hours here and then a 12 hour flight, we arrive in Santiago, Chile at 12.30pm on 7th June... Weird?!?!?!

Lots of love, Shu & Dan xx