Day 81 (Friday 10/07/09, NJJ) Left Arrowtown about 9am for drive to Wanaka. Very frosty morning but very pretty. Had to take the long route as the short route required snow chains which we didn't hire. We still saw the remnants of three road traffic accidents due to the snow and ice. When we got to Wanaka we were disappointed, because the weather was not good, although we imagine it is fantastic to visit in the summer. Wandered around town. Drove to another LOTR location near Three Cones Ski Resort. They keep the main roads very clear over here. Drove through [View Full Entry]

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Day 80 (Thursday 09/07/09, NJJ) Heard air raid sirens going off this morning. These are used when the emergency service volunteers are needed. There was an accident on the Milford Road due to the ice and snow and a person on a tourist bus was killed, understandably the road was closed for a time. We consider ourselves lucky to have done the trip yesterday. Drove on to Queenstown stopping along the way to take photos. Had lunch in back of van. Walked around town. As we're travelling on a budget, and J has a bad back (and a million other things [View Full Entry]

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Day 79 (Wednesday 08/07/09, NJJ) Up at 7.30am. Picked up at 8.10am for our day trip to Milford Sound. The scenery on the journey along the Milford Road, from Te Anau to Milford Sound, was stunning. We passed through tussock country, native bush, alpine mountains and the Homer Tunnel. It was very frosty for the early part of the journey and this made the view even more beautiful. We thought Te Anau Downs and Mirror Lakes were amazing but we were told the best was yet to come. We arrived at Milford Sound by 11am in time to board the Milford [View Full Entry]

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Day 78 (Tuesday 07/07/09, NJJ) I was awake early this morning but it doesn't get light until after 8am - it's winter in the southern hemisphere. Drove from Invercargill to Te Anau. Saw Lake Manapouri (NZ's second deepest lake) on the way. Passed some locations from the Lord of the Rings movies (as per our atlas) but as the sites are not signposted we couldn't make out for certain where they were. Got to Te Anau around 2pm. Had lunch. Checked into a Top 10 Holiday Park across the road from Lake Te Anau (NZ South Island's largest lake). Walked into [View Full Entry]

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Day 77 (Monday 06/07/09, NJJ) Drove into town for a walk around Dunedin. The weather has not been good since we arrived in NZ, it's constantly been dull, grey and rainy which sapped our motivation to do anything. Did our usual wandering around shops. From Dunedin we took the scenic route to Invercargill via Kaka Point and Nugget Point. Had sandwiches in the back of the van for lunch (ham, cheese and mustard sandwiches are now the usual lunch option). Had fish and chips for dinner and checked in to Lorneville camp site. [View Full Entry]

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Day 76 (Sunday 05/07/09, NJJ) Good night sleep for the first night in this van. The heater we hired kept us nice and snug bug rug. We drove through Ashburton, on to Oamaru for an hour and then on down to Dunedin. We picked holiday park from our guide book and drove there to stay the night. We cooked beef tacos in the camp kitchen then watched TV for remainder of evening. [View Full Entry]

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Day 75 (Saturday 04/07/09, NJJ) Checked out of accommodation. Got the bus into the city then another bus out to Apollo Campers. We got into our latest home on wheels and set off around 12.30pm. We stocked up on food basics before the driving really started. Drove to Methven, via Rakaia Gorge, and checked into campsite. Not much in the area of town we drove through so back to camp for the night. Had pasta for dinner then watched X-Men Origins: Wolverine on the laptop. [View Full Entry]

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Day 74 (Friday 03/07/09, NJJ) We didn't wake fully until 11.40am. I spent the day at the jailhouse relaxing but Jay went out for a couple of short walks. We planned our route for New Zealand. In the evening we got the bus to Denny's for dinner. Got a few things from the supermarket then returned to the jailhouse. We watched 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' on DVD on the laptop. [View Full Entry]

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Day 73 (Thursday 02/07/09, NJJ & JRJ) Up at 4.10am. Huw picked us up at 4.30am to take us to the airport. I was sad to be leaving. The flight was only three hours long and we arrived in Christchurch at 12.30pm local time (2 hours ahead of Sydney), temperature about 5 degrees. We had a shuttle bus to our hostel - the 'Jailhouse'. The name is as it suggests and it was cheap too. We took a walk into Christchurch but the weather spoilt any interest that we initially started out with. In the evening we had a Chinese take [View Full Entry]

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Day 72 (Wednesday 01/07/09, NJJ) Took the bus into the city. Started at the Botanical Gardens then Circular Key, The Rocks and on the the Harbour Bridge to go up to the Pylon Lookout to use the free pass we'd had with the bridge climb. In the evening we met Huw at the Pyrmont Hotel and the three of us walked to Viva Goa. Christine joined us a short time after. We had our farewell meal on our last evening in the city. We shared four 'Portuguese influenced Goan dishes' followed by yummy dessert. Our Sydney visit was finished with a [View Full Entry]

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