Blogs from Canterbury Plains, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania

Since creating my list of things to do in New Zealand I thought i'd start crossing off some of the local ones! I started the weekend off with a drive to Cave Stream National Park. This is where you can go caving and emjoy the scenery of the Alps at the same time! The drive here was stunning. Mountains everywhere you look, however the majority of the snow has now disappeared! After 1.5hr drive later I had finally arrived and I was the only one there! On the way down I purchased a selfie stick as I left both of mine behind in the UK! Oopsie! Definitely the best buy here so far! The route to the cave was pathed off so it was easily accessible (one side was anyway). I took a few snaps and ... read more

Après notre dure épopée à Kaikoura, nous avons définitivement quitté les côtes du Pacifique (jusqu’à la prochaine fois, sans doute en Australie :o)) pour nous ressourcer une petite nuit à Hanmer Springs. Cette station de 740 habitants, placée dans le creux d’une montagne, abrite en fait des sources naturelles d’eau chaude sortant de terre à plus de 70° C ! Des bains et piscines chaudes, soufrée à cœur (mmmmh un petit souvenir de Rotorua !), ont bien évidemment vu le jour ici, première et principale attraction du village. Il n’y aura pas de photos de notre baignade relaxante, images censurées. :o) Mais nous vous garantissons que ce fût un agréable moment ! Puis enfin, nous atteignons le lendemain notre dernière demeure (ou presque !) en Nouvelle-Zélande : Methven. Ce village de 1400 habitants, situé dans les ... read more

Last Sunday, glad that proper winter is here (blue skies and warm days) we drove out to the Otukaikino Reserve near Belfast for a picnic and a walk. This place is pretty special in that it is a sacred Maori area and also currently used as a local memorial walk. We were near to the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, and as we still have annual memberships, we also went in there for a walk in the late afternoon sun. Just an excuse to post some pictures really... ... read more

Having been doing a whole bunch of settling in and house things, it was finally time to get out of the house for a bit and enjoy some of New Zealand's scenery with friends! We decided that a day trip to Arthor's Pass would do just the trick. So, Dave, Eriko, Darrell, Damien, and myself piled into Dave's Silver Beeper and off we went. it was roadtrip time!! Even if we were doing just the drive, it would be worth it. Watching as the landscape rolls from placid farmlands, into long flat open space, lifting gently into rolling hills and finally winding into rocky mountains with steep valleys and long rivers is the most beautiful and peaceful thing. We stopped of in Springfield (about an hour west of Christchurch) for some of their famous pies but ... read more

Hello everyone Yes I am still alive, was looking at my last entry and it was way back at christmas time!! Crikey! If you havnt heard I have switched host families, wasnt working out with the Sommervilles so about 7 weeks ago I moved to a new farm just outside of Ashburton. Was kinda scared for a bit because the Agri-Venture people said I might have to move down south because most of the farms here didnt need extra help but luckily it panned out. I live with Dan and Natasha White who farm Tash's (Williamson) family farm about 10 km toward the ocean from Ash and another farm on the other side of town. Total size is around 1000 acres, 500 of that is leased to a dairy farmer who runs livestock on grassed paddocks ... read more