Thanks everyone for the compliments on the fotos- especailly from you Colleen cos I know your fotos are stunning, and its great the way people who havent met are talking to each other via the comments... I havent seen any cannabis here, Jocelyne - is it that you are the expert !!!! Bob and Prill are bravely cycling around the South Island - I think they are on the Otago trail rght now - They will only have a few days in the North - doing Tongaririo Xing...will send you their UK mobile number that they have with them. Suzanne H- new car indeed - wot kind??- good luck to Kate for Melbourne. Wilma - miss all you girls and you watch out for the kookaburras down there at the beach. So this was written yesterday ... read more

Written Christchurch 13 Feb. 11 {Less of the complaining, Bob, about me doing quickie blogs -don't let all the pies go to your head!!! Is Prill letting you eat 'em...I have never had so many pies in my life.} AS you can see from the fotos I had picked the best side of the plane to sit on the flight from Wellington to Christchurch – so if anyone does it sit on the right side of the plane for stunning vies of the South Isalnd coast as you fly in just 45 mins to the South Island. The Christchurch airport is a bit chaotic at the mo as they are obviously building new bits to prepare for the Rugby World Cup later this year –so there are temporary exits ( Marilyn and Terry we will have ... read more

I am getting lazy - no blogging this week....so before you start to get withdrawal symptons I better get up dated. So a week in Wellington has gone something like this- Monday - Zealandia. Teenage Ben took me to this place which is a 500 year project ( thats long term planning!!!) to restore a valley to its original state. (BEFORE HUMANS INVADED) so they have fenced it off to exclude any nasties like cats, ferrets , rabbits and they are introducing native widlife - birds and reptiles and planting native bush - getting rid of weeds and introduced species. So we saw some lovely birds , sweet little lizards etc and how nice there are no snakes here to watch out for as we trotted around. There is an interesting exhibition too and it's a ... read more

Thursday Morning I wish the Kiwis had named their Islands something different cos it gets confusing driving South in the North and going North in the South - I am sure they could have come up with a couple of good Maori names. Or maybe I am getting travel fatigue as you say , Janice!! My Suzanne has gone off on the Ferry from Wellingotn to Picton this morning to begin her adventure on her own in the South Island. I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will have some good weather as she has a very tight schedule so no time to hang around waiting for the sun to shine. But she has planned it well and now has an emergency poncho to wear in case it rains heavily - not exactly a fashion ... read more

Written on Saturday - posted Tuesday - just to confuse me!! We arrived at our next home exchange yesterday – Friday. It is a lovely cottage at Okere Falls overlooking Lake Rotoiti…we are in the Rotorua area which is well known for thermal activity…there are many places where you can experience boiling streams, steam and gas vents ( fumaroles) and geysers, bubbling mud pools and all sorts of other volcanic activity going on…and a chemistry lesson in minerals being deposited. So "steamy" does not refer to any "goings on" none of that likely I'm afraid - but everywher you look there is steam coming up out of cracks in the earth - and boiling streams and lakes. And although it is smelly in places it is not too bad without a peg on the nose too. ... read more