Obviously haven't got the hang of this yet.............seemed to lose some text in the last entry - should have read that the picture title ought to be "Maybe we need to start putting stuff in cases!?!". Only 6.5 sleeps now.... read more

Told lies - it wasn't the last blog. But this one is,honest! Remember I left my camera on the bus before the Doubtful Sound trip and Rae bought me a disposable one.....got the pics back yesterday. So,I thought that I'd put some on the blog. For completeness,you understand - it's not that I'm having withdrawal symptoms,really! Adios,Grant PS Factoid: Captain Cook christened this bit of water Doubtful Sound becuase he wasn't convinced that it was safe to sail down.... read more

Last blog for this holiday - leave San Fran tomorrow pm for London and back home again on Thursday. Been quite an adventure! Looking forward to seeing the family. Today we headed off to Fisherman's Wharf today to pick up our bus to the "bridge",Sausalito and Muir Woods. Saw the noisy,smelly but quaint sea lions in the harbour at Pier 39 before having breakfast at Boudin's,"the founder of sourdough". Caught our bus and headed out to the Golden Gate bridge. Weather was bright but cool - were well-wrapped up for the open-top ride! Spectacular views of the bridge and back to San Fran. When we got to Sausalito,we transferred to Muir Woods shuttle bus (20 minute ride),driven by Lance - quite a character! The redwoods were very impressive but there were lots of them! Enjoyed a ... read more

A schizophrenic blog - part Kiwi,part Californian! Went for a brief wander around Christchurch this morning. And then we arrived in San Fran this morning too - very weird! (we're having 2 Sundays for the first time in our lives because we came across the international dateline en route). Went to mass in Christchurch,at St. Mary's - Pro-Cathedral,which means that it is acting as the Cathedral Diocese because of the damge in Cathedral Square where,obviously,the "real" cathedral is. Bumped into the prist on the way in and said we were visitors,to which he replied "I'm new here,too having just arrived inChristchurch last Monday!" World-reknowned choir,having been invited to perform in many different countries. Then headed for the airport to fly to Auckland to get our connection to the States. Good flight,slept a bit more than on ... read more

Going to have to be careful what I write in future..........had an e-mail from the Greymouth Tourist Board asking why I thought "Greymouth is a bit of a dump" (did I really write that?). Weather overnight was horrendous but it was starting to brighten up as we left Greymouth at 08.30. We headed out via Brunner Lake which was very impressive. We then stopped off at the Otira Gorge - unfortunately the first viewing point that we went to didn't have a great view of the gorge! And at the second one,the car was attacked by some playful keas - I'm glad that they prefer metal and plastic to human flesh!!! From there we went on to Arthurs's Pass which involved (some more) steep and windy roads: did a short walk up to the Kiwi version ... read more