Oamaru and the Penguins Tuesday 16th December 2008 Oamaru, on the south east coast of the South Island, between Dunedin and Christchurch, is a most surprising town. It was once, in the mid 19th century, the largest and richest town in New Zealand, until, in 1868, a huge storm destroyed three cargo ships in one night and the town’s fortunes went down with the vessels. What was left behind, was a small town full of large Victorian civic buildings, a testament to its prior wealth and pride; built of local white stone, these grand banks, council offices and wharfs have been [View Full Entry]

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Dunedin Sunday 14th December 2008 Originally called New Edinburgh, Dunedin, whilst retaining many Scottish traditions, is nothing like Scotland’s capital city. Dunedin is just as beautiful as Edinburgh, but architecturally very different; it is a Mecca for aficionados of Victoriana as opposed to stately Georgian grey stone. The climate is very similar and today, walking down Dunedin’s Princes Street, reminded me so much of shopping trips to it‘s Scottish namesake, when we lived in Fife many years ago; the wind blew steadily in our faces as we trudged uphill. Scott [View Full Entry]

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Hobbit Land; Queenstown and Central Otago District Saturday 13th December 2008 Those Hobbits knew a good thing when they saw it! “Middle Earth”, mostly filmed around Queenstown and the Lake Wakatipu district is something special. I’ve run out of adjectives to describe all of the beautiful scenery in New Zealand, so I’ll just sum it up, in “Lord of the Rings” style by saying “Precious”! We left Makarora early yesterday morning in mist and rain, however, as soon as we got to Lake Wanaka the sun came out and the sky was blue; it has s [View Full Entry]

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Fox Glacier to Makarora Thursday 11th December 2008 NOTE: Have just realised that I have put the dates as “November’ instead of “December’ on the last two blogs so need to edit them if possible. Sorry for any confusion! It’s an age thing! We woke up this morning to mist and rain and it was impossible to see either Fox Glacier or Mounts Cook and Tasman beyond. Access to the glacier was closed due to the big landslide so we decided to “hit the road”, not literally of course, we leave that to the poor possum, colloquially called “Road Pizz [View Full Entry]

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Across the mountains from Hanmer Springs to Greymouth and the Southern Alps Monday 8th December 2008 We left Kaikoura on Saturday morning and drove across the Kaikoura Range to Hanmer Springs a thermal resort on the Waiau River. When we arrived there were campervans and backpackers everywhere and we didn’t like it much, bit “touristy” and crowded. It seemed such a contrast to the Kaikoura coast, which is really unspoilt. Found a nice campsite, out of town, went shopping and then cooked the best lamb chops we’ve eaten in years! The EEC has a lot to an [View Full Entry]

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The ferry to South Island Thursday 4th November 2008 The ferry crossing was everything it was promised to be! It wasn’t just a journey; it was a destination in itself. The day started cloudy but brightened up and by the time we were halfway across the Cook Straight the visibility was better, providing us with an unforgettable trip through the Queen Charlotte Sound to the South Island harbour at Picton. The inter-island ferries are quite small compared to cross-channel ferries between England and France, despite the journey being three times the length and so, when we saw a pod of do [View Full Entry]

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We should have worn Wellington boots! Wednesday 3rd December 2008 On Monday 1st December we left Lake Taupo and travelled east to Napier. On the way we spent some time in the nice little town of Taupo by the lake and then stopped to see the beautiful Waipunga Falls. We found a lovely camp site by a black beach just north of Napier, in the wine-growing region of Hawke’s Bay. The next morning we set off for the long drive south to Wellington, 333 kilometres in pretty awful windy conditions (the weather has changed again) but through gorgeous countryside. We got [View Full Entry]

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Remarkable Rotorua! Saturday 29th November 2008 Yesterday we arrived in Rotorua. It is true what the guide books say and that is that you can smell Rotorua long before you reach it. The strong sulphuric gasses give the air a potent smell like rotten eggs but one quickly adapts and after several hours cease to notice it. Our campsite was right near Te Puia geothermal park and the Pohutu geyser so the smell was all-encompassing! What is surprising is that, unlike in Hawaii, where the fumes are considered to be dangerous to one’s health (especially if asthmatic), the Maori have alway [View Full Entry]

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Wet and windy Whangarei to sunny Shelly Bay: Coromandel Peninsula Wednesday 26th November 2008 Every other Kiwi male has a moustache! That’s because they call this month Movember and grow moustaches for charity donations. We’re wondering whether they will all be shaved off next week on 1st December or kept for Christmas. Yesterday’s journey from Whangarei down to the Coromandel Peninsula was one of complementary colours, red and green; green lush sub-tropical vegetation and red road cones. New Zealanders have the English habit of leaving miles of red cones restr [View Full Entry]

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Auckland, City of Sails Thursday 20th November 2008 This is our third night in Auckland and our verdict is that it’s a great city. Leaving Fiji with its bure huts, coral beaches and simple lifestyle and then just three hours later arriving in such a vibrant modern city, has been quite a surreal experience. We arrived at lunchtime on Tuesday and spent over two hours between landing and getting outside of the airport, mostly standing in long queues, to clear the rigid customs and security inspections; we even had our boots disinfected! Although tedious, the whole process was done in [View Full Entry]

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