Vern: The rising sun popped out of the ocean, lit up the green slopes and beamed through the east-facing window of Simon and Kelly's farm house. After a quick breakfast we bundled into the car and caught a ride with Kelly out to Mount Cook National Park. Mount Cook is the highest peak in NZ and was one of the many peaks summited by local, Edmund Hillary, before he went on to climb Everest. The Maori name for the mountain is Aoraki which means 'cloud-piercer' and ...

Vern: We started our day in the little town of Twizel using the free WiFi at the community library. It was quite busy with young mothers who'd brought their toddlers in for the weekly story-time and who gave us suspicious looks for being there sans-children. The stories were great though; with single-thread plots and alliteration character names, my curious little mind was kept stimulated way after my iPhone battery died. We finished up there and continued north...

Vern: Back in Queenstown, the weather was still terrible and we spent almost a full day in McDonalds using the free WiFi to research, plan and make bookings for the Australian leg of our round the world adventure. Andrea tried the 'Kiwi Burger' which is a quarter-pounder with egg and beetroot (or just 'beet' in the US) but concluded that the Kiwi Burger at Gourmet Burger Kitchen back in London is superior as it also comprises a pineapple slice. We slept at a lak...

Vern: To visit the much less accessible sound, Doubtful Sound, we had to book a tour. This starts with pick-up from one's accommodation, which of course is our car, so we settled on waiting outside some phone-boxes on the main street. The small bus found us and took us off to Manapouri where we transferred to a comfortable little boat with big windows which puttered across Lake Manapouri. It's another of New Zealand's gorgeous lakes surrounded by mountains cover...

Andrea: The next morning it was off to Te Anau--the jumping off point for Milford Sound. All Kiwis tell visitors that they have to go to Milford Sound, even if they've never been themselves! It's one of those places. We listened to the one station that came through on the drive, the Christian station. I guess prayer can move mountains...right out of the way of the radio reception! We arrived in Te Anau and spent a good 30 minutes deciding the next plan of action...