They said it was like riding a bike and it sure was. Muscle memory kicked in and skiing came back to me like I had never left a gap of 36 years between the last time and this time. My history skiing is in the 1970's at Erewhon, Mt Hutt when it just opened in 1974 and Tekapo. We are staying in Methven which is a lovely little country town, has normal price restaurants, cafes and pubs and little pretentiousness compared to some of the big fields and towns down south.The Methven I site has a Mt Hutt desk, they gave us a run down of what we could get both in town and up at the field. We chose the $120- per person starters package which included ski hire, 2 group lessons; one in the ... read more

Dunedin, either going to rain or raining and this was true to form today. We left on a miserable cold rainy day, heading north and to Twizel for the night. Initially the road north takes you towards Oamaru, along the coast line. Evandale Cheese factory caught our eye, just south of Waikouaiti. Pulling in the drive to a huge building, very close nearby were many abandoned buildings, roads and hostel type places. This is the former site of the Karitane hospital set up by Dr Truby King. He was a pioneer for maternal and infant health, setting up a system for monitoring and assisting mothers with new babies, that has been copied world wide. Also nearby on this site is the old Cherry Farm, which was one of the premier psychiatric hospitals in the South Island. ... read more

Off to Invercargill and Bluff the southern most city and town in the South Island of NZ. We attempted to take the scenic route but ended up doing the quick way straight through on the main highway #6. This takes you right along the left side of Lake Wakatipu to the southern end and the town of Kingston and then across farmland through Dipton and Winton.Tuned into the local radio station and just loved listening to the accent in this part of the world which has a distinct southern roll of the r's. Not all r's are rolled but think Scottish accents and you get the idea. Invercargill is quite a large city at the very bottom, hot in the summer and cold in winter with winds blowing in straight from the Antartica. Just further south ... read more

Off to Queenstown today and 2 nights accommodation. The first task today is to get a new fishing rod, Wanaka will be a better bet than Queenstown where prices tend to be inflated. A hunting and fishing shop in the main street had a good selection of telescopic rods, but not pull apart so telescopic it is.Then off to Glendhu bay for a spot of fishing. This is 11 km away from Wanaka around the lake, a quiet and shallow bay. Martin had a fish, we saw fish rising but nothing was caught, the rod worked well.Then the drive to Queenstown via the Kawarau gorge road. Don't take the Cadrona/crown range road, scary high, not good for a campervan. First stop on the trip was at the Toy and Transport Museum just out of Queenstown on ... read more

The Westland area of the South Island takes you from the temperate areas of Westport complete with palm trees and one of the top ten coastal drives in the world, past lakes and rivers into glacier territory further down south. First stop on our way down towards the glaciers was at the Punakaiki Rocks and Blowholes. These are halfway between Greymouth and Westport, and are rock formations weathered and beaten by the pounding surf over the last 100,000 years. An extensive walkway easily accessible for wheelchairs goes around and back, to do the full loop requires a bit of mobility to descend a steep stone staircase. The Punakaiki rocks are layered formations, with surge pools of foaming white water and blowholes at high tide sending sea mist up metres in the air. An information centre, toilets, ... read more