Emma writes - The West Coast of the South Island is no stranger to rain. So to get away from the shockingly bad weather we booked onto the Monteiths Brewery Tour, which apart from drinking the stuff, it seems it's the only thing to do in Greymouth. $15 each got us a tour of the brewery and processes and more importantly a tasting. But somehow it was my turn to do the driving. Brew, shmew... onto the taste tests and we had a huge group of American teenagers on our tour who were really only interested in the later of the [View Full Entry]

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Matt Writes- We hit good fortune as we arrive in Wellington, chancing our arm at the ferry terminal we get put on a standby list and with our names called we are on the Ferry to the South Island. As with tradition on these things, a horn is sounded and observing on the top deck, we leave Wellington majestically, in the timeless fashion that you can't help but feel on a large ship, leaving a city port bound for open seas. A middle-aged group of bikers "Road Hogs and Saucy Sows" as their uniform black tee shirts pronounced, would be crossing [View Full Entry]

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Matt writes - The Tongariro crossing is one of the most spetacular walks that can be done in New Zealand. The range of mountains containing over 12 volcanic cones recently one best actor in the Lord of the Rings trilogy - starring role Mount Doom. With fires stoked (sorry) from what we had seen in South America we couldn't resist a little fix of siesmic landscape as we passed the active slopes of volcanoes Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Tongariro. Up at six to catch our bus that will take us to the start of our all day trek. The sky is [View Full Entry]

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Matt Writes: 7am and we are off along a dirt road, following a creek. The canopy is dusted with sunlight as we cross the Coromandel Range and its corresponding forest park. Our destination, the idylic beach of Hahei, where we prepare a great breakfast of cereal, bacon sarnies, fruit and tea. I can't help but notice the envious glares of the 4 surfers cramped into an estate (probably where they had spent the night). Enjoying the warmth of the rising sun we watch early morning dippers out for a swim before work, a jogger writing footprints the length of the bay [View Full Entry]

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To our dear Nephews and Nieces, Travels have been going well for Auntie Em and I, and now we are in New Zealand which is very very far away. So far away in fact that the sun shines here while you are still tucked up in bed. The other day we got on a real pirate ship with ropes creaking and 3 big sails flapping. The ship's cook had scraggy hair, a scruffy beard and ran around shouting at people in his bare feet and jeans torn away at the knees but then he made us all a cup of tea [View Full Entry]

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Emma writes - Firstly, we must apologise for the lack on content over the past few weeks. This is mainly due to internet costing an incredible 5 pounds an hour in some places in New Zealand. When we look back to some of the places we visited in South America, with their satellite links working marvels through the bad weather, but where we only paid around 20 pence an hour, it does make you wonder how on earth it can cost so much here. Rant over. We're in New Zealand and it's nothing but stunningly beautiful. We're driving around in this [View Full Entry]

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We were lured into today's activity by a beautiful website: bikesandwines.com have a fantastic logo of a man on a bicycle with glass of wine in hand. So with visions of wobbly cycling home we got ourselves on the 171 bus to Maipú, a wine producing giant of Argentina. Here, we were promised, you can hire a cruiser bike and, well, cruise around the tree lined avenues, visiting various vineyards and bodegas, have tours and most importantly taste the produce. But, a quick glance at the bikes when we arrived showed no such interesting bikes on offer, only a few [View Full Entry]

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Emma writes - We had options to go north today, and knowing we didn't fancy spending much time in Perito Moreno we booked a trip to see the Cueva de las Manos and the night bus to Bariloche. Much rather this than sit on the same stinking bus as yesterday, with no aircon, during the heat of the day, in the middle of the deserted landscape around us. *Shudder* The Cave of Hands, as it translates, gets its name from the painting of hundreds of hands made by the people of the area over 9000 years ago. It's found in the [View Full Entry]

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Matt Writes - And so we leave Calafate slightly burnt from the tourist pricing but still overwhelmed by the sight of the Glacier Perito Moreno. We now start on our first leg of Route 40 inspired by our previous visit to Cuba and the legendary tales of Che Guevara. We longed to make this journey under our own steam but with car rental prices in excess of $1000 for 3 days our dreams of following this visionary's tire tracks were compromised by taking a bus. At least we would be enjoying the view while someone else worried about navigating this rugged [View Full Entry]

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Matt Writes - Sad to leave Buenos Aires we fly due south into Patagonia. El Calafate is close to 3000km south of the capital, deep in Patagonia and almost the end of the inhabited Earth. The town itself was not particuarly charming, its existance now purely for tourism/overpricing and the constant gale blowing off Lake Argentina. However, it was the place to plan trips to the infamous Perito Moreno Glacier - the reason we had come this far, one of only two Glaciers left on the planet that are still advancing and not vanishing up global warming's arse along with with [View Full Entry]

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