Today we walked into Christchurch from our campsite (a 45 minute walk) as the weather was nice and we needed to save the bus fare money! We had a few chores to do before we flew to Australia which included Phil having his hair cut (desperately needed) and posting some souvenirs back to the UK. We spent a couple of hours wondering around the streets and visited the citys beautiful cathedral called Christ Church. In the evening we packed our ruck sacks and cleaned out the campervan ready for return for returning it (the van) and flying to Melbourne the following [View Full Entry]

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Today again was a driving day; and a boring one with not much to stop at on the way. We did stop briefly to look at some old Maori rock drawings but they were faint, small, and not particulary interesting. We eventually found our way to Christchurch where we'll spend some time tomorrow looking around and sorting things out before we return the Campervan and get ready for Australia. We can't believe a month has passed by already - its gone so quick! There is so much more we want to see and do here but we'd need atleast 3 months [View Full Entry]

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After a freezing cold night we reluctantly got out of bed where it was almost warm. Last night required us sleeping in thermals, t-shirts, and fleeces! It was warmer inside the fridge! After a night of rain (at lower levels); we awoke to find the mountains with a much lower snow line - it looked great. The day started with a walk up to Sealy Tarns. It was a good steep climb with a few hands-on sections which was good. We soon ended up above the snowline, and the views were brilliants. We could see (most of) Mt Cook, and Mt [View Full Entry]

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Not a particalury exciting day today - just a shed load of driving; although being new zealand the landscape is constantly changing so keeps things pretty interesting. Late afternoon we finally arrived at Mt Cook National Park where just for a few moments where we lucky enought to see a glimpse of Mt Cook's summit! Then it became shrouded in cloud once more as did most of the other high mountains. The whole area is amazing. As we the region is approached you are greeted by a huge turquoise coloured lake; as you get closer this is replaced by a large [View Full Entry]

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Today we continued to drive along the eastern coastline heading north; which included the Catlins Coast. We started of by visiting the Fossilised Forest at Curio Bay. Interesting for some; not for others! Basically fossiled tree stumps and logs on a rock platform. We also saw some Yellow-Eyed Penguins. After some driving, and having demolished someones mailbox while reversing, we visited Cathedral Caves - huge sea caves created which where only just accessible at the low tide; even then waves crept in while people explored them. After more driving, we stopped at Moeraki Bo [View Full Entry]

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Today was pretty much a driving day and stop where ever we saw something interestering.... Our first stop was at Clifden Caves. We decided to investigate. Having pulled up; we checked out the entrance - it looked easily explorable; not only that but a Clifden Caves information panel actively invited people to explore it! It was 300m long and would take approximately 40 mins to do the through trip; the survey was straight forward and the entire route was marked my reflective badges! We dug out our head torches back at the Campervan, returned and started exploring. After a few squeezes [View Full Entry]

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The weather today was fantastic - blue skies with a little cloud over the mountains; it was warm and sunny. :o) Apparantly 2 out of 3 days in Fiordland consist of rain anc cloud so we were lucky to get another fine day. We were desperate to do some hiking (as we've hardly been able to do any) so today was perfect - plus hiking is nice and cheap! We decided to do two 3hr walks... The first walk was to the top of Key Summit. The track was well made and very easy going; it started off in thick bush [View Full Entry]

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Today was a great day. The weather was sunny and the views were incredible. This IS what we'd been expecting from New Zealands scenary! Having arrived at Te Anua in the morning, we picked up the Milford Road which ziz zagged its way through u-shaped valleys which had been carved out by glaciers (many years ago!). Around us where countless snow capped peaks. The road crossed single-vehicle-width bridges over raging rivers. The most exciting section was driving through a long tunnel with barely any lighting - it was like driving through a mine! Eventually we arrived at Milford Sound, a sea [View Full Entry]

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We spent the morning relaxing at 12 mile delta, next to lake Wakatipu. It was warm and sunny again. In the afternoon it was time for one thing; something we were both nervous about: The Canyon Swing. This is the World's highest swing at 109 metres above the ground, including a 60 meters of free fall as you jump (or step) off ledge. We'd opted for this instead of a bungee jump - as we thought it was a little different; it swung too! ...and it would just be as scary as taking the initial jump from a bungee... Phil's blog... [View Full Entry]

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Thanks everyone for the sky diving comments! We really appreciate it! Its good to know everyone is still out there! Well we didn't do much today - I think lots of driving and be being busy caught up with us! We spent the morning updating our blog and had a stroll around Queenstown in the afternoon. We've just about reached our budget so were pretty gutted that we couldn't afford to do white water rafting, a bungee-type jump, or the rung-way (via ferrata). As the end of the day approached we decided that there was no way we could leave Queenstown [View Full Entry]

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