- FOOD: Lunch with the sandflies (don't eat outside here!) - AREA: Wonderful drive to Milford Sound on the most scenic (and not at all dodgy) road. 2 hour boat trip to view the beautiful scenery of the Sounds. - PEOPLE: All pointing their cameras in the same direction at the same time. The usual friendliness of NZers in a different pub. - WEATHER: After rain and avalanches recently, we had sun all day! Wed 17th: After everyone telling us the road to Milford Sound was difficult and dodgy to drive on and after discovering it had been shut the last [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: A scrummy Indian Birthday treat meal - AREA: Gorgeous Wanaka with it's gorgeous lake and gorgeous mountains. Puzzling World to do your head in. Difficult drive to Queenstown. Ghost town of Te Anau. - PEOPLE: Snow boarders everywhere. Miserable staff in Te Anau (a first for NZ) - WEATHER: Sun for us in Wanaka, rain for us in Queenstown. Aug 15th: Lou stayed in a very nice ski lodge type hostel called the Purple Cow - it has a good reputation of being one of the best places to stay in and rightfully so. She had a room in [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: Lunch sitting on the glacier. Another headlit dinner in a car park. - AREA: Walking (or rather mountaineering) the astounding Franz Josef glacier, squeezing through it's narrow blue caves and jumping crevaces. - PEOPLE: Mountaineering guides who knew what they were doing. Slow (and scared) people in our group. - WEATHER: Blue sky shining on this mass of ice. Sun 14th Aug: Franz Josef glacier is truly amazing. It's Maori name is Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere which means 'Tears of the Avalanche Girl'. Such an enchanting name coming from the girl who lost her lover whilst climb [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: Restaurant serving roadkill such as possum pie (it was closed though) - AREA: Westport town - a long straight road. Seals at Tauranga Bay. Eye catching Pancake Rocks and excellent waves gushing through the blow holes. Pukekura town run by a family of possum haters. - PEOPLE: Laura and Lou and Tongarua the van Sat 13th Aug: Westport wasn't all that great - the typical lay out of a small NZ town - one long, straight road with some shops coming off it. So we drove around the coast where there were some good waves and some seals at [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: Some damn fine pub grub. - AREA: Pretty coastal walk in Abel Tasman National Park. Watching a cow (almost) give birth. - PEOPLE: Sweet local boys but awful chat up lines. A man telling us off for our highly illegal parking. No-one but us and some oyster catcher birds in the park. - WEATHER: Singing in the rain... and the mist... and the wind. Oh, and the sun eventually. Thur 11th Aug: After 3 hours on the ferry we arrived at Picton where we found the nearest car park and slept more. It was raining heavily as we drove [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: Home made casserole and chocolate muffins - more tasty family cooking. Chicken, brie and cranberry pizza. My first (and only) try of Vegemite. - AREA: Stunning Tongariro National park in the snow. Long drive to Wellington. Big night out. Kaitoke Regional Park where some of Lord of the Rings was filmed. Ferry to the South Island - PEOPLE: My third cousin twice removed (or something like that) Aunty Sheila who made us feel VERY welcome. - WEATHER: Snow falling on the magnificent mountain range. Oh, and more rain of course. Tue 9th Aug: Cor blimey guv - WHAT a [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: Kiwi wine, famous NZ sausage roll with ketchup, Manuka honey flavoured ice cream - PEOPLE: Skydive instructors that tease you the whole way up. Goodbye to Mary - AREA: Second near brake down due to shortage of petrol (and petrol stations). Waitomo Caves walk and boat trip to see the very pretty glow worms. Huka waterfalls, prawn farm and honey shop near Lake Taupo. SKYDIVE over Lake Taupo (absolute highlight). Craters of the Moon (more steam and mud) - WEATHER: Heavy rain that cleared enough eventually for the skydive. Freezing in the National Park. Sat 6th: The mad supe [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: More good NZ pies - AREA: Lovely park with a sulphur lake which becomes gay prostitution and drug dealer area by night. Te Whakarewarewa - fake Maori village with free concert of dancing and singing, kiwi house, geysers and mud pools. Ohinemutu village with a church with a stained glass window where it looks like Christ is walking on water. - PEOPLE: Anal and jobsworthy 'Superloo' woman and lady on hostel reception. Tattooed Maoris performing hongi and kapa haka - WEATHER: Sunshine Fri 5th: We woke and took in the glory of the park we were in. Huge with [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: Pizza place at Mission Bay with far too much choice of toppings. Ice cream parlour at Mission Bay with far too much choice of flavours. - AREA: Lovely long stretch of deserted beach. Ocean meets lake - what a sight. Te Matua Ngahere - huge Kaori tree. Sky Tower with mad Sky jumpers and good views of Auckland. Smelly Rotorua with sulphur fumes coming up through the drains. - PEOPLE: More Escape van tourists to chat to. Nice local man who towed us as we'd run the battery flat! Sad goodbyes to Stuart and his family. My friend Louise [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: A bit of pub grub but otherwise, heated up soup on our gas stove. - PEOPLE: Chatty ferry man to Russell Island, hardly anyone else on Russell Island, mad fisherman at Ninety Mile Beach. - AREA: Beautiful bays and waterfall on the way to the Bay of Islands. NZ's oldest church (so very modern!) on the pretty (and deserted) Russell Island. Ninety Mile Beach - just us and another Escape van ignoring the 'No Camping' signs. - WEATHER: Had been nice until we arrived and it rained. Mon 1st August: We left the nice lifestyle to get back in [View Full Entry]

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