Arrived in Sydney yesterday, got from the airport to the hotel in less than one hour and it was rich hour. Trains were very efficient and it was only a short walk to the hotel. It's in a really great position literally two minutes to the ferry and a boat ride to Central Sydney which takes about five minutes. Decided to take the ferry across, arrived at Central Wharf which is where all the ferries run from in Sydney harbour. Walked round to the Opera house which is five minutes from the ferry terminal, was hoping to find something to go and see there but there wasn't much on this week. The roof of the Opera House which was designed by the Danish architect Jorn Utzon was tiled much to my amazement. Fantastic piece of architecture. ... read more

After leaving Nelson I made my way to Marlborough Sound and Picton. I decided to take a trip on the mail boat which travels to different destinations withing the Sound to deliver the mail as most places are not accessible by road so water is the only way they can get mail. A lot of the children who live in these remote places are often schooled at home as access to schools is difficult. We visited about ten different places which included the bay where Capt. Cook landed. The whole area is very beautiful, a lot of the homes there are holiday homes and can only be reached by boat. The sun shone most of the day, on the way back everyone was out on the water, people taking part in small yacht races, sailing, jet ... read more

After a beautiful day in the Abel Tasman National Park I headed for Takaka to see the Pupu Springs which are springs that permeate the porous rock then when they get to the granite it flows along almost horizontally until it reaches Takaka where it flows out. Appox forty square meters of water are released which is supposed to be the purist water and sacred to the Maori people. Couldn't remember whether it was forty square meters a minute or second??? Senile dementia setting in. What I hadn't bargained for was driving through the clouds!!! To get there A rather steep and windy road to get to Takaka both up and down, anyway I made it but it was a bit stressy for someone like me who doesn't like driving on roads with a sheer drop ... read more

Arrived in Nelson after a flight from Queenstown to Christchurch then a flight from Christchurch to Nelson. there was only a twenty minute gap between flights so it meant a quick sprint from one gate to another, pretty tight I have to say. Picked up a car in Nelson and just drove for about half an hour to a little place called Ruby Bay. It was beautiful, there was a restaurant called the boatshed right on the entrance to the river, it was a really still evening the sea was like a mill pond and a bit misty. Across the river were some pine trees and beyond that a creek with a few boats. I ordered belly of pork, followed by a lemon posset which was superb washed down with a couple of glasses of cider, ... read more

Have tried to do a few firsts whilst I have been travelling and today was my first jet boat ride. We're out for about three hours with Brent who was driving the boat and the trip also included a walk in the wilderness. There were only three of us on the afternoon trip which was great, myself and a couple from Australia. The boat travels up the river which is very low most of the time, the water was no more than about two to five inches deep. We whizzes up the river taking sharp turns and occasionally scraping the river bottom which is mostly pebbles. Did quite a few 360Degree turns which was great fun, we did get quite wet but it was a very hot day so it didn't really matter. GREAT FUN if ... read more