Keith50

Getting ready to leave Christchurch, the contrast between my starting and finishing points today was so clear. 'Have a good trip Keith' said the New Zealand airport official as he scanned my boarding card, then 'Seat 46F, on the right sir' added the Singapore Airlines hostess. Absolutely different worlds, and only 11 hours apart. And on this flight, inbetween eating, drinking and watching films, I took the occaisional look out of the window and for around 4 of the 11 hours, a big dry red land mass that is Australia lay below. I hear many good things about Australia, but have to confess that from 40,000 feet, it looked far too hot to be much fun. Talking of heat, Singapore is located near to the equator, so the temperature is always in the high twenties year ... read more

There's no breakfast for the wicked. If you want to swim with the dolphins in Kaikoura, you can either start at 05:30 or 08:30 in the morning. After this, they have a sleep (they sleep in the daytime to save energy), and after that, they are left alone. So, as this is one of my lifetime goals, I’ll make an exception and will get up before 8 o’clock so that I can jump into the cold Pacific Ocean for a swim with these amazing creatures. With just seconds to spare, I park my home near the pick-up point and join the group. Interestingly, the vast majority of swimmers are North European - Danes, Germans and Swedes being the largest groups. There’s a limit to the number of bodies in the water near to the dolphins, so ... read more

Not so much time to write here, so I'll just upload pictures with brief captions. The drive is over 500km on narrow country roads - very pretty drive, but a long day at the wheel.... read more

Today, I am celebrating my half century and have invited the sun the shine all day to make it an unusually warm 21st of January. I’m in Queenstown, and woke in the mobile home to no sound at all. No rain drops on the roof, no winds buffeting the side of the van, and no drunken tourists tripping over my power cable. The showers on the site are 8 minutes for a dollar, so it was a quickie before a cooked breakfast in the open - literally bright enough to sunbathe at 08:00 in the morning. I’d booked into the St Moritz hotel for tonight, so went along to see what time I could check in. As luck would have it, the room was ready, so I took my stuff in and was impressed with the ... read more

Having enjoyed my last power shower, spa bath, and sauna for what could be some time, it's off to Auckland's domestic airport terminal for the internal flight to Christchurch. Again, I am amazed by the smooth and hassle free operation of NZ internal flight check-in procedures. The self service machines scan your passport, give you your boarding card and baggage label, and within 10 minutes and no queues, you are ready to board. I had been warned that the South Island is far wetter than the North, so was not surprised when Auckland's bright 26 degree sunshine was replacved by Christchurch's 16 degrees of complete cloud cover with drizzle. Not to worry - the rain is good for the waterfalls. Ian met me at the airport and took me back to the Affordable Motor Homes depot ... read more