Christchurch - Mt Cook - Cromwell

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Seen as we have lost the keys to the big Black and Red Bus, we've had to rent another vehicle to allow us to complete the journey. I'm sure they'll turn up somewhere.

Therefore please find attached the photo's of our new jallopy. We went for it as it has a better fuel economy than our previous weapon.

We aren't getting as many funny looks as we did in Big Jim, but it is amusing none the less. Emblazoned across the back is the statement - " My wife is a sex object. Everytime I ask for sex she objects." We seem to find a number of middle aged bearded men crowding round the back taking photo's at regular intervals during the day.

We are doing a round up of the trip from Christchurch down to Queenstown. Basically it is a fair old drive down through countryside very similar to Lincolnshire! It is all arable farming land, thousands of sheeps and hundreds of big black and white dairy cows!

We did a minor detour to the coast upon leaving Christchurch - the headland on the east coast is long extinct volcanic regions, and it was a very picturesque drive down through the forested valleys. The Rivers and streams in New Zealand are astonishing to see - the water is absolutely transparent, so lakes look the most stunning translucent blue.

We stayed in the remote village of Geraldine on the 12th, and made our way down to the Southern Alps and Mount Cook on the 13th. Sadly from the 11th to the 14th much of the South Island of NZ was covered in low lying coastal fog, obscuring much of the vista's!

After a stop off for lunch at Lake Pukaki we drove up to Mount Cook village. Sadly we could barely see the mountain, but did have a wander round the village in the rain.

I guess at this point I must put the phrase village and town into perspective. In NZ, a town is probably anything over about 8 houses, and a village is anywhere with more than one house in a hundred square kilometre radius. I bet you think we are joking. Seriously the only place which wasn't inbred was Christchurch and that's only because they had a port to bring in a few mariners to mate with.

Mount Cook village must house about 20 people on a permanent basis - and that's at a push - they are just there to service the hotel and couple of hostels.

After leaving Mount Cook - we were going to stay over night and try for better weather in the morning but it didn't look promising - we headed instead for Cromwell, a staging post for us en route to Queenstown.

Clare has also had a rude awakening in NZ - there are no supermarkets anywhere - she is scared we may starve. "How the hell do these people eat?" She exclaimed. There were only 2 small supermarkets in Christchurch! We may not make it to the North Island. Can Tesco's Bracknell do home deliveries to a Big 10 Holiday Park just south of the Southern Alps in NZ?

Our first proper day in Queenstown and we have encountered......wait for it........other humans. Yes, some people are here. And they have FOOD!

We have replenished one's selves and gone Jet Boating at 80mph through a tight little canyon were we nearly all died. Back to normal eh Mum.

Love Dan

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