Wednesday 1st October What a night! At 0300 we were woken by strong winds, heavy rain, occasional lightning with the accompanying thunder. The van was buffeted by the strong winds and rain and we dozed fitfully, expecting to wake up with water all around the van and having problems getting out. No worries, daylight brought a few puddles and no hassle driving out. Rags battled the wind gusts which hammered the van, and was happy to take a break in Invercargill, where we found a Countdown store. There was a New World store there but Judy wanted to see if they [View Full Entry]

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Thursday 25th September We were picked up by our airport transfer, Luxury Airport Shuttle, just after 1130 and by 1400 we were at the Auckland International Airport. It was a smooth flight to Christchurch and we were picked up and taken to the nearby Sudima Hotel a few minutes after advising them of our arrival. We were quite impressed with our room, large, modern, well worth what we paid. Hotel.com does give you a good bargain. We caught the bus into Christchurch, walking one stop further than the one outside the hotel on the advice of a local, saving us $5 [View Full Entry]

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Sunday 28th September Great nightʼs sleep but very cold when we awoke. Judy risked it and went for a jog up the beach for an hour or so. Rags meanwhile had a couple of hot coffees whilst watching the local birdlife and scanning the beach. Sometimes having an injury has advantages! Moeraki Boulders was our first stop, quite different but still a bit disappointing from what we had been led to believe. From here we continued to Shag Point where the road in was lined with beach huts of all descriptions. Most of them were tiny, either the families who stayed [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday 24th September Yesterday was a day of recovery, both tired and Rags' foot painful. We did go for quite a long walk around the neighbourhood in the morning, especially alongside the estuary. In the afternoon we went to Fernland Spa where we soaked in hot mineral waters for about 30 mins before both having a deep tissue massage. This was most enjoyable and we felt much better afterwards. Today was a day of preparation as we leave for the North Island tomorrow. Besides washing and packing we set about the task of cleaning both the house and the car. [View Full Entry]

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Friday 19th September Today we set off on what will probably be the last section of our exploring of the North Island. Just before we reached Rotorua we visited the Kiwi Encounter facility which is a working hatchery and nursery, kiwis being hatched and nurtured here until they are old enough to be released into the wild where they came from. The eggs are actually taken from the nests of wild birds. This is done as the survival rate otherwise is very low. It was an interesting hour or so, we being shown eggs hatching as well as live animals in [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday, 17th September Waihi was the destination for today, about 40kms north of here. This pastoral town was brought back to life by the reopening of the Martha goldmine by Newmont Mining in 1987 after being closed in 1952. About 6 mine shafts were taken by a huge open cut mine. This hole will reach a depth of 250m before they stop mining, allowing it gradually fill with water to form a lake. Natural filling will take an estimated 23 years but by diverting the local rivers at their peak it should be full within 5. The town itself was attractive, [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday 16th September This was to be a day of rest! After a couple of loads of washing, an hour or so of Judy dusting and vacuum cleaning we were on the road again. This time our objective was to climb Mt Maunganui, an extinct volcano near Tauranga. Last week when we were there it was covered in haze as was the surrounding countryside. Today was the perfect day with hardly a cloud in the sky, no wind and the temperature in the low 20s. We set off on the ocean side of the mountain, up steps from the beach. We [View Full Entry]

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Monday 15th September Today we spent the day exploring part of Rotorua. We arrived at the i site where we collected many pamphlets on what is in the area. Unfortunately most of these pamphlets are produced by the commercial businesses and are therefore very biased on what they provide. We settled on Whakarewarewa, often shortened to Whaka by the locals which is a geothermal area on the edge of Rotorua. This living Maori village houses an actual community of Maoris and has the locals performing and running the shops in the centre. After a performance of dancing and singin [View Full Entry]

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Thursday 11th September Off this morning at about 0900 to travel north and see some more of this beautiful country. First stop was about 100kms north at Whangmata. When pronouncing this name remember that wh is pronounced as ph as in f. ;-). This is a neat little town with a great information office, very willing to help point out the best spots to see. The town itself is on an estuary and there is much concern of a marina presently being built there. Apparently many feel approval was pushed through council too quickly, not enough of the locals being given [View Full Entry]

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Friday - Sunday 5th - 7th September We're on our way again, this time on an home exchange for 3 weeks in the North Island then off to the South Island for another 3 weeks. After picking up our exchangees, Bill & Betty, at the International terminal at 1800hrs and settling them into our home we went to the domestic terminal for our flight to Sydney leaving at 00.15. Our flight was delayed coming into Sydney due to bad weather and because of this we missed the connecting flight to Auckland. Four hours later we were on our way again, arriving [View Full Entry]

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