We survived the ferry from Wellington to Picton. The water was calm, thank goodness. Sometimes that waterway gets up to 8 meter swells, so we were lucky! We spent the night in Blenheim with Gonzalo at the backpackers in town. There were people from all over the world. It was so much fun and brought me back right back to the good old days in South America. We ate Thai food with Gonzalo, again, and ran around town with a bunch of people from Brazil and Israel. Good times. This morning we drove from Blenheim through the mountains, through to Greymouth [View Full Entry]

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Romantische Gruesze aus Hokitika! [View Full Entry]

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A few pictures of yesterday's journey from Franz Joseph to Hokitika, Alex took more arty shots!!! [View Full Entry]

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Vuokraamon mies tuli noutamaan minut kymmenelta. Harmikseni aurinkolasieni toinen sanka irtosi, mutta onnekseni ehdin korjauttaa sen viela optikolla. Klo 11 lahdin ajamaan kaupungista poispain. Vasemmalla ajaminen oli yllattavan helppoa. Alkumatka oli tasaista maastoa. Sitten maisemat jyrkkenivat. Yllattavan helppoa oli silti ajaa vuoristossa. Piti vain pysytella omalla kaistalla ja paastin kiireisempia ohi. Majoituin lansirannikolla pikkukaupunkiin. Monet paikat menevat jo kiinni aikaisin, onhan alkamassa paasiaisviikonloppu. [View Full Entry]

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Hello all As most of you are probably aware, I'm back in the country of normal coloured cheese (and multiple cheddars - I counted 13 different types of cheddar in the supermarket today). For the moment at least. I arrived the day before Elly and Benj's wedding in beautiful sunshine and promptly went for my first (and only) summer sea swim at Balena Bay with Dad - the Wellington Sea is still freezing. Then for the ultimate indulgence, I picked up a big ice cream (hokey pokey of course) at Oriental Parade. Yay for the Wellington summer. For mum and dad, [View Full Entry]

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Sathy a quitte la NZ ce matin... moi je suis toute perdue... et toute triste... j'ai prit l'avion pour rejoindre Sara. Un gros tout d'abord pour atteindre l'ile du Sud et Christchurch, puis un tout petit (on etait 4 dedans ce morceau de feraille!) qui a traverse les Alps NZ tout en tremblant!!! Et voila, je me retrouve a Hokitika, petite bourgade de 4000 habitants, la mer, le soleil qui est revenu et apparement, une capitale de la jade. Je me suis retrouvee a l'aeroport (si on peut appeller ca ainsi...) toute perdue, personne, au milieu de nul part, ne sachant [View Full Entry]

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27th January 2008 Today we left Rangiora and travelled through the Southern Alps via Arthur's Pass to Hokitika. We seemed to be travelling in the opposite direction to a group on a motorcycle rally. Apparently 2000 motorcyclists had met in Hokitika and were having a ride out across Arthur's Pass. As one of the motorcyclists said to us “it is an awesome ride”. We stopped several times in the mountains for Dinah to take pictures but I think it would be very difficult to capture the grandeur of these mountains. We had a forgettable cup of coffee in Kumara and an [View Full Entry]

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We slept in and had a good breakfast at the Fox Glacier Lodge. A great place. This was a pretty light day with a two hour drive to Hokitika. This small town is known for artists that carve Jade (Greenstone) found here on the west coast of the South Island. We walked around the town and bought some nice souvenirs. Brian even found a New Zealand Sheepdog whistle carved from Jade. They are tricky to use but Brian has had a few weeks to practice using one we found in the North Island (much to Amy’s enjoyment). The cabin was right [View Full Entry]

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When planning our trip with Robert, we asked for interesting walks during our driving journeys. So, on our way from Nelson to Hokitika, we stop at an abandoned rail line to walk through Kalwatiri tunnel. Stepping through the tunnel’s dark mouth, water drips onto our heads and I’m relieved to see light from the other side. To return, we take a short walk through a natural beech forest and across a bridge where crystal clear water reflects the yellow shrubs that line the shore. At Murchison, we stop for lunch at Rivers Café, a combination restaurant, gallery and internet café. The [View Full Entry]

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It started off quite well really, cycling merrily along the Canterbury plains in the blazing sunshine. In the space of about 3 and a half hours i had cycled to Springfield (80km NE of Christchurch) All this talk from people about not cycling Arthur's pass had been dismissed out of my mind. To be honest by the time i got to Springfield all these noncey thoughts had left my mind completely. Then it kicked in! I have never felt winds this strong coming straight at me before. It got to the point where i was literally pushing the bike along the [View Full Entry]

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