This is just a quick update to let you know we haven't disappeared off the face of the planet! We're now living in Christchurch, in an apartment just north of the city centre, near Hagley Park. Tim's working in IT and Emma's doing some temp work whilst waiting for one of several job applications to pay off (fingers crossed). We're off to see the Canterbury Crusaders v the Warratahs (from New South Wales) in the final of the Rugby Super 14's tonight at the AMI stadium, having become new fans at the semi-final last week at the same venue. It's really something to see some of the All Blacks in action (Dan Carter, Richie McCaw, Ali Williams etc.). Cruuuu-sayyyd-dders!!! Apart from that we're generally enjoying life. Just got broadband sorted today (hence the update) so keep ... read more

We left Kaikoura on Sunday morning to drive down to Christchurch in the Canterbury Region of South Island. We stopped on the way at the country town of Cheviot, took a side trip to Gore Bay with it's spectacular "Cathedrals" (mud formations in the cliffs), and then continued through the Waipara Vallery passing many wineries along the way. We had a look at some of the 'commutable-to-Christchruch' towns such as Rangiora and Kaiapoi and took lunch to the local beach. Next we drove through New Brighton and down the spit to Southshore before going into the city to our backpackers on Hagley Park ("Dorset House" on Dorset Road). Sadly, we've come to the end of our month's journey from Wirral to Canterbury. We flew nearly 20,000kms and then drove the last 5,000kms (well that's what our ... read more

Today we left Paekakariki very early (in the dark!) and drove to Wellington to catch the early ferry across to Picton on the South Island. Our voyage took us through the awesome Malborough Sounds where we saw several groups of dolphins and some spectacular scenery. This was a pivotal moment for us as we are getting nearer and nearer to our new home. The journey from Auckland to Christchurch is nearly over... We stopped in Blenheim for lunch and then continued on to Kaikoura where we are staying for the weekend before driving down into Christchurch. ... read more

On Friday, we headed off on SH45 - the Surf Coast Highway which runs all the way around the western edge of Taranaki, is a highway, on the coast, and has surf. We again hoped that we could see the top of Mount Taranaki, but again there was cloud. We stopped for brunch in pub on way and made it into Wanganui by late afternoon. The rain that evening was terrific and after a 30 second (aborted) attempt to go for an evening stroll, we were glad to stay indoors. We watched the NZ film "River Queen" which is set during settler times and was shot on the Whanganui River upon which the town sits. (For linguistically obscure reasons the town is Wanganui with a "W" and the river is Whanganui with a "WH" although both ... read more

We awoke to bright sunshine, a sure sign that we were leaving the Coromandel. After a quick breakfast, we headed down the east coast, with a quick coffee stop in Tairua, to Karanghake Gorge for lunch. The gorge, with it's old mine workings and abandoned railway tracks was as impressive as we remembered. We also passed through the town of Peroa - home of the soft drink L&P ("World famous in New Zealand") which is commemorated with a huge L&P bottle. We stopped for supplies in Hamilton before arriving in the surf town of Raglan at the time we had told the backpackers we would arrive! This is a first for us because we usually get side-tracked so many times on the way that we arrive just as they are giving up on us... We took ... read more