Sorry if you're hoping for some underwater photos with seals, we used our waterproof camera but we think it leaked so we might not have any! Kaikoura is a lovely seaside town on the East Coast of the South Island. Most people come to swim with dolphins, but because it's twice the price and it can be done in loads of places we decided to spend our money on seal swimming instead. Seal swimming can only be done in 4 places in the world and 2 of them (Mexico and Australia) are in dodgy shark-infested waters. The last 2 places, NZ [View Full Entry]

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My Birthday!! In the morning we went to the Antartica Centre. Christchurch is "the Gateway to Antartica" as over 70% of departures leave from here. The centre was cool, we got to experience an Antarctica simulator - a room chilled to -5 C (a mild spring day!!) with the occasional snow storm of -18 C winds! We also got to ride on an amphibious vehicle that is all they use out there - it goes over metre-wide crevasses, climb slopes of over 40 degrees and even floats on water 3m deep!! Next we travelled to a cute little French town on [View Full Entry]

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A long scenic drive next, from the East coast to the West, as we headed for the mountains, and more specifically, the Franz Josef glacier, a giant sloping ice river, where water gradually makes its way to the bottom but 100,000 times slower than a normal river! Our mission: to climb it. So we booked ourselves on a guided tour (that's the only way you're allowed to do them) and donned the appropriate jackets and boots. A bus took us to nearby and we walked for about an hour until we reached the bottom of the ice. Here we put talons [View Full Entry]

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Before getting to Dunedin, we drove along the Southern Scenic Route via the Catlins which is another huge national park. Stopping off along the way, we visited a forest that was 180 million years old, which had fossilised and was now set into the rocks on the beach. At the bay down the road we caught sight of a yellow-eyed penguin, but as we tried to get closer to get a photo it ran off. We later found out that you shouldn't move when you see one, because they're very rare, and really scared of humans and will run off if [View Full Entry]

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Before humans arrived in New Zealand, there were no land mammals (other than the bat). This meant no foxes, dogs, cats, rats, stoats, weasels, possums or in fact any predators, which made the country a paradise for birds. It was so safe here, that some of them (like the kiwi) lost the ability to fly. Then man came (from nearby Polynesian islands) bringing with them a host of bird-munching pets, which found their way into the wild. Enjoying the easy pickings of flightless birds, these predators exploded in population, and wiped out 50% of native bird species within a few years. [View Full Entry]

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Milford Sound is one of the highlights of New Zealand, and the only way to see it is by helicopter, or by cruise. It was formed by a glacier, so it should be called a fjord instead of a sound (apparently!), but it is basically a big body of water, surrounded by enormous, lush green mountains, with waterfalls cascading down from above from every direction. Not the most exciting thing I've ever done, but a perfect sample of the country's outstanding natural beauty. The best thing was the underwater observatory. In only 3 places in the world, there are areas underwater [View Full Entry]

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Queenstown is the adrenaline capital of New Zealand, and the perfect place for us to have a bit of fun!! The Shotover Jet-boat is a famous ride that whizzes you through narrow rocky canyons at hurtling break-neck speeds of up to 85km/h, propelled by a rapid stream of water that the jet engine sucks up from the river below. This unique engine enabled us to experience 360 degree spins on the spot, and even a 540! Needless to say the views were amazing and once we get our waterproof camera developed we'll try and upload some photos. Before we took the [View Full Entry]

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We went to Wanaka a week before schedule in order to find a mechanic and plumber about our water tank problem. After a lot of hassle, turns out our tank isn't 45 litres big, and we're using about 20 litres a day without showers! (Because of the problem we were going to campsites and showering there). Anyway, Wanaka was a pretty town on the lake, but the coolest thing was a little place called Puzzling World. It was an exhibition with some mind-boggling rooms! The first one was tipped at an angle, with objects cleverly positioned so that the snooker ball [View Full Entry]

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Hellloooo! Thanks for all your messages!! And sorry for the long delay in writing, we've been busy! We've put up loads of pictures of our caravan so that you can see the 4 walls and wheels we'll be looking at for the next 31 days! The caravan was a bit daunting (for me, Eric's done it before!) at first, just the thought of everything being within 2 square metres, but it is pretty cool, and I've decorated it with pictures and cards from home. Had loads of lovely cooked meals - we christened the van with chicken fajitas (what else?) and [View Full Entry]

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Today's our last day in South America! Before we get all teary-eyed we should talk about the great city of Santiago. We got here on Tuesday, having spent a lovely 6 hours on the bus re-watching the Matrix 2, Miss Congeniality 2 and half of the Aviator. We wandered round the city that evening and then booked ourselves into a Tango dancing lesson at the YMCA! Yep, that's right the Tango! The lesson was excellent. We didn't quite manage to get to the fiery passionate stuff you see in the movies, but we mastered the basic step which was 8 steps [View Full Entry]

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