Richmond Mall proved a great palace to upload my blog. I had logged on in Nelson city to the Maccas wifi on Saturday and the Richmond Mall Maccas automatically recognised and let me in, no password, no time limit and more importantly fast upload. Today our plan was to drive to Murchison and fish along the way if possible in the Buller River which runs alongside much of the road. So head through Richmond, Wakefield and follow the signs towards Westport. The road takes you through major pine forest areas, over the Spooner Saddle and throug dairy and sheep farming. There is a major intersection just past Murchison, left to Christchurch via the Lewis Pass or right over the bridge to the West Coast. The largest swing bridge in NZ is just past the turn off ... read more

Sitting in the capital of Sav Blanc country, Blenheim; and Aussie wines in the supermarket are cheaper, not sure what is going on! The major supermarket chains of Coundown and New World sell alcohol in Canterbury and Marlborough, oh so handy to pick up your chops and potatoes and a vino to go with it.Today we travelled from Kaikoura to Blenheim, less than 200kms but very scenic. Along the coast initially, turquoise blue waters, with a milky shallow section, stony beaches, seals along the roadside and snow capped mountain.This scenery changed once we left Canterbury to Marlborough's rolling hills full of vineyards and of course sheep and newly born lambs.Lunch today was at The Store which is a restaurant north of Kaikoura, on its on, on the right side of road going north. Perched right on ... read more

We slept in a manner of speaking for our first night in the van. Pillows are 2 thin little wafers, blankets one thin quilt, so our little electric heater went flat out all night. A visit to an op shop is on the cards very soon for 2 more pillows, a blanket, plus a basin for carrying washing up, umbrellas, door mat, and a fry pan with a lid. And to make it even more tough we had a 6am start in order to catch to 8-15am departure of the TranzAlpine express.This train takes you from the Christchurch train station, on the east coast of the South Island, through the Arthur's Pass and onto Greymouth which is on the west coast. Two vastly different climates, west being temperate and wet, east dry and cold.The train carriages ... read more

My last full day was spent having a neighbourhood wander, a shopping expedition to the main city area and then going out for a lovely meal in the evening. La Plata is the capital city of the Buenos Aires province, around 1million people, and was a well planned city from the start. Street are arranged in a grid and numbered off, and there are diagonals intersecting these with a plaza at each intersection. Each plaza has exercise equipment, cafes, fountains, childrens play equipment, some community gardens, and provide a meeting space and play area for many apartment and multi-housing dwellers. Streets are one way and the next street across is going the opposite way, so an odds and evens system which is very effective for moving traffic safely and efficiently. Interspersed in each little set of ... read more

We left the east part of the island this morning with the intention of buying our travel back via bus in 2-3 stages back to Buenos Aires Argentina. Because the ticketing person at the little east kiosk couldn't help us, so we had to take a trip into Florianopolis long distance bus terminal. We decided checking out and taking all our luggage seemed the best option, since we did not know what and when our move south would happen. So walk to terminal C and catch the 410 back to Terminal A, sum total 3-50Rial per person. From there it was a quick walk to the long distance terminal, where we became increasingly despondent at our lack of choices. Doing the journey in 2-3 stages seemed impossible, so we have bit the bullet and tomorrow at ... read more