Consider the finger pointing towards the moon...... don't watch the finger or you'll miss all that heavenly glory - Bruce Lee And that's exactly what we were doing, watching the finger and missing all the heavenly glory that surrounded us. Standing in the centre of some of the worlds most stunning scenery but we couldn't see it, it's not because our eyes were shut, they were open and looking but not seeing. The finger had now become the thorn in our side, pressing hard with its sharp nail, on occasions drawing tears, nothing seems to suppress the poking finger, it dominates most if not all our conversations and all conversations come round to the finger, it was hard to concentrate on anything else. The finger taps our forehead when we're trying to sleep and if we're ... read more

Every Silver Lining Has A Dark Cloud Half the enjoyment and beauty we experience traveling is the journey to each of our destinations, taking us passed or through places that we do not expect to go to or see, these places can throw up a life long memory, whether it is a little café with the best carrot cake, Cosy Nook a weathered old fishing village or Tuatapere the sausage capital of NZ (where we purchased some of their finest beef Bangers!) but with all these delights it's only a matter of time before disappointment rears its ugly head. Invercargill a bleak seaside city with all the fun of the fair with none of the rides working! Boy racers took to the streets early playing with each others exhausts into the wee hours! Our one night ... read more

What a Differences a Day Makes The ice and snow had been cleared from the roads the previous day, a beautiful blue cloudless day and a road sign “No Chains Required”, that was the only sign we needed to see as we wound our way along the narrow roads towards Arthur's Pass, we were told that half the beauty of Arthur's Pass is the journey to Arthur's Pass Village and it didn't disappoint in any shape or form, absolutely Jaw dropping landscapes change with every corner. The further towards the top we got the more dramatic the mountains and the more snowy it became, until we reached the valley where Arthur's Pass village was located. Judging by the amount of snow covering some of the cars that had been parked up we were lucky that the ... read more

Sacre Bleu-stard!!! We start this blog going over old ground, you already knew we were in Wellington, you also knew we arrived in the dark staying in Plimmerton and you already knew we'd seen the All Blacks play the dirty French, we (Rob) say dirty as one of the French players said he was beaten up by a gang of thugs after the game, the whole country was outraged by such an appalling attack. Many police hours later we find out that he was spanked by his own team-mates, now the whole country (Rob) wish he did get that pounding! Jack Frost Nipping At Our Nose! We awoke to the sound of crashing waves outside our window, like excited little kids on Christmas day we ran into the living room, pressed our noses up against the ... read more

We arrived in Rotorua in the driving rain and left in the driving rain and with this driving rain there were more plan changes; with two road closures there were even more changes. After doubling back a few times, going inland when we wanted to be coastal we finally made it up to the Coromandel Peninsula underneath the clearing skies. One thing we feel we need to explain; when in NZ you have to get and pretty quickly into the “Kiwi Way” because if you don't some small things will start to get under your skin, as Rob has discovered! Particularly when they set up a 30km diversion or close a road without any warning or dig up a road while you wait; if you're a proper Kiwi, you get out of your car and talk ... read more