The final leg of our trip around the South Island is a 2 hour drive back to Christchurch, our starting point 10 days ago. We left Hamner Springs mid morning after a breakfast at a local cafe. We return to Highway 7 to take us across the Canturbury Plains back into Christchurch. Just a few kms out of Hamner Springs we crossed the Waiau Bridge high above the Waiau River in a deep canyon below. An extreme adventure company operates bungee jumping from a platform in the middle of the bridge, and is renowned for one the best "white water" rafting locations in New Zealand. Ironically the building housing the business hangs precariouly over the edge of the canyon, just to add to the thrills for sale. We returned to the main highway to continue our ... read more

Rain was still falling as we awoke early to a very bleak morning in Reefton. After a quick breakfast, we were on the road bright and early for the four hour long drive to Picton, on the north east coast, where we are taking the afternoon "mail run" cruise on Queen Charlotte Sound. As we left Reefton the evidence of the heavy overnight rain became obvious with minor floods on the road as water flowed from the saturated hills and paddocks. Luckily we allowed ourselves ample time for the trip because this was going to be a real challenge in the conditions and the twisting winding road that were in front of us. After two hours of slow, hard driving through the rugged Victoria Ranges it was a relief to come upon the Buller Gorge Adventure ... read more

Another day, another sub zero morning, this time in Queenstown, a centre for adventure tourism.Queenstown is built around an inlet on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin lake shaped like a staggered lightning bolt, and has spectactular views of nearby mountains. Skiing, jet boating, bungy jumping, mountain biking, tramping and fly fishing are all strong promotional themes. Queenstown is a major centre for snow sports in New Zealand, with people from all over the country and many parts of the world travelling to ski at the four main mountain skifields (Cardrona Alpine Resort, Coronet Peak, The Remarkables and Treble Cone). We are up and about very early as we have lots to cram into our schedule today. It is Sunday morning, freezing cold, but the sun is shining (again), no traffic ( unlike when we arrived last ... read more

Another cold, but beautiful morning greeted us we awoke in Wanaka. After "dumping" the waste from the motorhome, we returned to Ardmore St for breakfast and another look around fabulous Wanaka before we continued our journey. Yesterday afternoon as we drove pass the Wanaka Airport about 10kms out of the town, Brett noticed a "Toy and Transport Museum", he is an avid model car collector, so he pestered me to stop off and take a look today. We planned to spend about half an hour wandering around the museum, but it was so interesting we stayed for nearly two hours, well worth a look. I was more interested in a terrific boutique brewery,"BeerWorks" next door..... not a bad drop!! With our schedule shot to pieces, we finally hit the road for the 50km drive to Cromwell. ... read more

With a beautiful sunrise over the delightful Akaroa, it was disappointing to move on from this piece of paradise. The only way out of Akaroa was to return the same route almost back to Christchurch, with the morning sun glistering on Lake Elesmere with the snow covered Southern Alps as a backdrop it was absolutely stunning.Reaching the outskirts of Christchurch, we turned off to Lincoln and then Rolleston where we turned on to Highway 1 to begin our journey down the east coast to the coastal city, Timaru. We drove only about 35kms before we arrived at the small town, Rakaia, situated near the mouth of the Rakaia River, one of the largest braided rivers in New Zealand. The two bridges crossing the Rakaia River, at the township of Rakaia, are New Zealand's longest road and ... read more