New Zealand – 29th Nov 2008 - Day 37

It’s so strange waking up at the end of November at 6am and it’s already light and sunny. Even though we have been in NZ a while, it feels odd to have so much light at this time of year. The TV is full of adverts for Christmas with images of snow etc. It all seems very out of sync with our idea of the pre Christmas period.

After breakfast we checked out and drove to the other side of the road where our bike hire shop was ready for us. The bikes were in great condition. $60 rented us two bikes for the day. We saddled up and decided to do the river side track first followed by the railway trail. If your interested in riding this unique trail, see: http://www.otagocentralrailtrail.co.nz/ .

The first track followed the River Clutha for about an hour and a half. What a great track. We cycled through small streams, passed waterfalls and enjoyed the rollercoaster track riding up and down small hills. The bright green river was flowing fast and looked fantastic in the sun light.


We crossed over a main bridge into a small town called Clyde. Nice place. It felt a bit like a typical Yorkshire Dales village, with post office and tea rooms to match. We sat in the sun sipping a beverage and reading the Saturday papers. They are full of the Air New Zealand plane crash off the French coast and the killings in India. John stayed at both the hotels targeted by the terrorists, so could visualize the hellish situation those caught up in the event must have found themselves in.

We jumped back on our mountain bikes and joined the railway track. It meandered out of Clyde, taking us back through the outskirts of Alexandra before heading out to the mountains. Fiona could not stop singing the Casey Jones theme tune. John had no option but to join in.

To start with the weather was perfect and the cycling easy. The tracks are well maintained and not at all busy. The town of Alexandra is overlooked by the biggest clock you have ever seen, set into the mountain that overlooks the town. No excuses about being late here then!



As we cycled the clouds began to gather into strange shapes, like huge flying saucers, so we had to keep stopping to take a few photo’s.



After a couple of hours cycling the weather changed and the wind kicked in with a vengeance. Within half an hour, the cycling had become hard and less enjoyable. We stopped for some lunch by which time a gale was blowing. So, we turned around and cycled back to Alexandra with the wind behind us. Cycling was easy again.



We arrived back at the bike shop, only to find it closed. The owner had not told us what to do with the bikes and had not given us any locks. We ended up leaving then at the motel we stayed at.

The drive back to Wanaka was easy and soon passed as we sung along to Duran Duran.

Once in Wanaka, we went shopping for a summer dress for Fiona to wear at Hamilton Island were it will be very hot and humid. No luck!

We drive to tonight’s hotel and checked in. Very nice too. See: http://www.edgewater.co.nz/ . Our room has a pristine view over lake Wanaka and a bath. Most places in NZ only have a shower, so a bath is something to celebrate.

We updated the blog and then soaked in the bath. The last two days have been hard on the legs so a long soak was just what the doctor ordered.

We drove back to town and to our favourite restaurant in Wanaka, The Reef. It looks over lake Wanaka, serves great food and wine.

We went to the local supermaket, bought some munchies, relaxed, watched a film and zonked out again!

Tomorrow we head for Queenstown and then our five day hike on the Milford Track. We probably will not have internet access for this time.

New Zealand – 28th Nov 2008 - Day 36

At 7.30 the firm alarm went off, a loud hooting with a voice asking us to leave the building pronto.

We all collected outside. It turned out that someone had burnt some clothes in one of the rooms. The fire engines turned up pronto and we were back in our room within ten minutes. That’s some alarm call.

The sun was shining for a second day in a row. We had some breakfast and drove to the hiking area. We had opted to take on the Wanaka, Roy’s Peak track, taking us up 1578 meters, then on to Mount Alpha at 1630 meters along the Skyline Track. We started out on a steep track and were soon amongst the sheep and alpine tussock grass.

The entire track was steep, but every time we looked up the views over lake Wanaka and the valleys just got better and better. It took us 2 hours and 40 minutes to reach Roy’s peak. We chilled out for a while taking in the stunning, massive views. No matter how long we looked at the views, we still couldn’t take them all in. The waters in Lake Wanaka were amazing.

After a wee rest and a bite to eat, we set off for Mount Alpha. We were not expecting such a hard hike. We ended up walking down steep grass lands for about half an hour before taking on some the steepest dusty rock tracks we have ever seem. At times we were on all fours, pulling ourselves up rocky outcrops. We reached the top of Mount Alpha, absolutely knackered. The views were, as ever, breathtaking!

We rested for a while before beginning the journey back to the car. On the way back, John invented a new way of walking down steep tracks. He has called it micro stepping! You take lots of very small steps, making sure you don’t go to fast. It seemed to work, helping you to grip and control your decent on steep surfaces. Fiona discovered that singing Chinese songs as you stepped also helped! We found the song “I am Chinese if you please” was particularly good.

Almost three hours later we arrived back at the car park. We had started at 9.30am and finished at 4.45pm. What a hike. We had met some others on the way, including a German chap and three Israeli guy, everyone agreed, this place is wonderful, the views unbeatable and the mountain air and lakes a joy to be in.

We have fallen in love with Wanaka, so much so that John has written a short Poem about the place:

Ode to Wanaka
If your travelling in New Zealand,
And you like to play the harmonica,
Do yourself a favor,
Visit Wanaka!

for more infor about Wanaka, see: www.lakewanaka.co.nz

We jumped in the car and drove for an hour and a half to Alexandra, not far from Queenstown. When we arrived the temperature was twenty nine degrees Celsius. Our Motel was nice enough, but Alexandra is not as picturesque as Wanaka, so we decided to only stay here one night and to return to Wanaka tomorrow evening, after our days cycling on the Otaga Central Rail Trail.

After a spot of clothes washing and a well needed shower, Fiona made a great Spaghetti Carbonara, which we washed down with a glass of wine. By 8.30 the days walking had taken its toll and we collapsed into bed and zonked out!

New Zealand – 27th Nov 2008 - Day 35

It was only after we had turned the lights and the TV off, that the low level hum nit our ears. We had not noticed it before, but our room had a machine like, low level hum to it. John looked everywhere, both in and out of the room, but could not find where the hum was coming from. After half an hour he gave up and we tried our best to get off to sleep.

At 7am we woke up, opened the curtains and, Wow, it was a sparkling day for our helicopter glacier hiking adventure.

After breakfast we headed to the Fox Glacier Adventure office where we paid our money and soon after jumped onto the bus for a ten minute journey to the helicopter pads. Once there, we changed into woolen socks and proper leather hiking boots and had a quick safety presentation.
If your interested in this event, see: http://www.foxguides.co.nz/helihike.asp

We were in the third group to fly up to the glacier. The helicopters were very well organised and soon it was our turn to jump into the six man machines. Fiona, being a wee girlie was allotted the front seat with another wee girlie. John was in the back but managed to bag a window seat. Within two minutes of shutting the door we were off the ground and flying a roller coaster of a ride up to the glacier, via the mountain pass. What a buzz! The weather was perfect, with no wind, so we wafted around the glacier head, flying from waterfall to waterfall, reaching the top of the glacier, turning a 180 degree spin on a pin head and then back down the big glacier water fall, “Victoria Falls” and then onto the lading point, on the glacier itself.

Once out of the helicopter, we were rushed into a small groove in the ice and told to crouch down. When the helicopter took off we could see why, the wind caused by the machine whipped up the ice and snow. John had been trying to video the thing taking off and received a face full in the bargain. He also forgot to secure his hat, so that flew off, landing behind a section of glacier.

We were given small crampons and a wooden hiking pole and then we were off, retrieving Johns hat on the way! We soon met a couple from the UK who had been working in Australia for six months and were now doing some travelling. He was an accountant, she a teacher and both in their mid twenties. We also had an elderly German lady with us who found the going tough. She had not tightened her crampons up enough. Once that was fixed she was not so bad.

We made our way to “Victoria Falls”, with our guide at the head of the chain, axing steps into the ice where the walking was tricky. Progress was slow as the ice was slippery in places and you have to watch out for dangerous crevasse and ice pools. The weather was great, quite warm and very, very sunny.

The glacier moves at different speeds at different places. At the crest it moves as much as five meters a day, lower down it can be two meters a day. The ice can be up to 250 meters thick. The ice is a mixture of white and deep blues, with rivers of water cascading over the surface.

After taking a few photo’s of the falls, we moved to a higher section of the glacier where we reached what were supposed to be some wonderful ice caves. However, the NZ weather had been up to it’s tricks again. The massive falls of rain in the previous days had not only washed the car park away in the Fax valley but had also trashed the ice caves. They had collapsed in dramatic fashion. They looked dramatic, but caves, they were not.

Our guide took us to another section where we found some caves, so everyone was happy. The caves are magical places, changing all the time, dripping with melt water and showing off the amazing blues you get in this type of ice, especially when the sun shines.

After two and a half hours of hiking on the glacier we were ready to fly back to base. Our helicopter took us on another roller coaster ride back to the helicopter pad and the adventure was over. We had made a good decision to go on the early flight as, when we reached base, the clouds had rolled back into the valley. We said goodbye to our English buddies, who are also staying in Wanaka tonight, so we said we would look out for them.

An unforgettable experience!

We were soon back in the car driving to our next destination, Wanaka, that that far from Queenstown. We took the National Route 6 road all the way from Fox, via Haast, where we stopped for petrol. What a magnificent drive. The southern alps are very impressive, on the scale of the rockies in places. We also passed some great waterfalls and stunning lakes, especially lake Hawea, post card perfect with deep blue, calm waters, surrounded by lush green forest. When the sun shines here, you see a different side to NZ altogether. It is truly stunning with a unique vista, a cross between the European Alps and the Rockies. We had to keep stopping the car to take more photo’s and video.

We checked into our new Motel and what a place. It is the most modern pad so far. Wonderfully fitted, very new and only $139 a night. If your intested in see what a great place this is, see: http://www.wanakaedge.co.nz/ .

We quickly unpacked and then headed down to the lake front for a glass of wine. Today we fell back in love with New Zealand. It’s taken some good weather to odo it, but today has been wonderful and Wanaka is just the most picturesque place we have been so far.

The bar we sat in over looked the lake where a local sailing race was underway. The whole lake is fringed with mountains, capped with snow and the lake is crystal clear.

We liked it so much, we stayed for dinner and then went to the lake edge to watch the sun go down. Fifi posed for a photo in the tree and John had a paddle in the lake.

We came back home for 8.30pm and chilled over a bag of sweets and some TV. Great day. Great Place. If you want to see how lovely this place is, see: http://www.lakewanaka.co.nz/ .

New Zealand – 26th Nov 2008 - Day 34

Our Motel had a very comfy bed, which was just as well, as we had not realised that we were also opposite a railway terminus until just after midnight, when many of the trains hooked up their cargo and set off. What a noise! Still, once they were gone we soon went back off to sleep, lulled by the sound of rain falling on the roof.

In the morning the sun was shining but the air was really cold. After breakfast we headed up the road to the Information Centre where our hike began. The hike was set to take 6 hours. After half an hour on the trail, we realised it was going to be too hard. It was like rock climbing, with very poor track conditions and difficult terrain. We came back down and found two other Arthur Pass hikes. Just before leaving the car park, we were surrounded by ten large local parrotts. They immediately began to peck at the car windscreen.

The frist hike took us to the Devils Punchbowl waterfalls. The hike was just an hour each way. The waterfall was very impressive, fueled by yesterdays heavy rains. The wind was whipping up the spray and we got very wet, trying to photograph the falls.

Once back from the falls we took another hike, The Bridal Veil Track. What a great walk it was. The rain drops were still sitting in the trees and the sun brought the forest to life.

We walked up small streams crossing beautiful fast flowing streams. After two hours we were back at the car park. A twenty minute ride took us to the Temple Basin Track which takes you up to The Temple Ski Area.

The hike was quite steep, it felt like we were walking up a winter ski track. It took an hour and a half to reach the empty ski resort buildings where we were joined by two Kea’s. These very impressive parrots are only found in the mountains of the South Island in NZ. They are about a foot tall, very inquisitive and very friendly.

Fiona and l explored the basin and then returned to the sun terrace of the ski Bar ate lunch and sun bathed with the parrots. As long as we were out of the wind, it was quite warm. If your interested in finding out more about this area, see http://www.apinfo.co.nz/ . As we climbed down the clouds moved back in. We were hoping to get some good photo’s of Mount Rolleston but the clouds had other ideas.

We arrived back at the car park for just after 2pm. We began our drive to Fox Glacier, for tomorrows helicopter hiking on the Glacier. As we drove to Fox, the clouds thickened up, making the mountains look very uninviting.

We drove through Franz Josef, stopped for some shopping and arrived at Fox for just after 6pm.

We checked in and relaxed after our days hiking and driving. The hiking is fine, it’s the driving that’s tiring.

New Zealand – 25th Nov 2008 - Day 33

Over night the wind had howled and howled. A big storm was forecast to effect both North and South Islands. When we opened the curtains the sky was blue and the sun was bright, but the wind was still strong.

After breakfast, we headed down to the local store to log onto the internet, book some Motels, check out the cash situation and update the blog. Whilst John finished off on line, Fiona went shopping. “Do you want the bad news” Fiona announced. Fifi had managed to bend the car key (our only one) in the car door lock. It was hanging on by a tread of metal. The store manager sent us to the local garage, where they cut us a new key. The fist attempt did not work. John had to run to the other end of town, try the key, and then run back. On the second attempt it worked.. So for $8 we had a new key!

We left Akaroa in stunning sunshine, travelling back through Christchurch and onto Arthurs Pass. As we approached the snow capped mountains, the clouds began to gather and by the time we hit the mountains the rain has sheeting down and the wind blowing the car all over the place.

The rain just got heavier and heavier, falling in sheets down the valleys. We reached Arthurs Pass after three hours of driving. The weather was now so bad it was hard to drive. We passed a small Motel in Arthurs Pass Village called Arthurs Pass Alpine Motel (see: http://www.apam.cp.nz/) . They had a room, so we booked in. The owner said it had been raining like this for three days and the west coast was no better.



We checked out a few other options for later in the week, booked another Motel and went to the local store to get some wine and crisps. The motel has a stack of DVD’s so we plan to sit out the storm with a little tipple, corn snacks and some good films. In this weather there is simply nothing much else to do in NZ. It’s all about the big outdoors, but in this weather, that’s just not an option.

We watched the The Bourne Identity, pausing it half way through, to go out and get more crisps. At the end of the film, the sun peeped out for a few minutes before it began to pour down again. We have never seen it rain this heavily for so long.

It rained into the evening, so we watched another DVD and some TV, read some books and tried to keep the boredom at bay! When it rains here it really rains. Fingers crossed for better weather tomorrow as we are planning to hike in this area.

New Zealand – 24th Nov 2008 - Day 32

After breakfast we set off to climb to the summit. A small mountain behind the town of Akaroa. The weather was cloudy but very mild.

What a climb. It started off on a road out of town, but within minutes it became almost vertical. We were soon out in rolling hills and the steep climb continued. After a couple of hours of vertical, we came to a crest and decided to walk down the other side before coming back to do the summit.

The bay side went through forest but it went down again. After a wee spot of lunch, we walked back up to the crest and then tackled the hike up to the summit. The track was through thick brush and broom. At times we were on all fours, clambering over rocks. Our legs were being scratched by the bushes. When we reached the top the wind was howling. We had to sit down in the gusts which blew you over. We were surrounded by bright yellow broom which smells of peaches.


It took us as long to get down as it did to get up. Once off the summit route we headed back to town. The steep tracks made our knees ache. WE met a couple of horses on the way down. The horses here are huge and sleek in NZ.

Akaroa is a very quaint place with good quality houses with the most amazing gardens. Lots and lots of roses and some of the biggest honeysuckle you have ever seen. Beautiful place with very friendly people.

We made it back to the Motel, showered, put a wash on and John had a snooze. We popped to the local internet café to upload the blog and to book our Helicopter Glacier flight and hike fort this Thursday, on the Fox Glacier. The weather is supposed to be good on Thursday.

Todays hike was probably the steepest hike we had done so far in NZ.

We relaxed in the evening. We wanted to use up some of our food, so Fiona mad a rice, pea, Sweet Corn and Chicken thing. Very nice!!

New Zealand – 23rd Nov 2008 - Day 31

Cloud and rain greeted us this morning. It had been raining over night as forecast and John had forgotten to get his T-Shirt off the line, so it was soaking wet.

We had a quick breakfast, paid up and began our Journey to Christchurch.

As time went on the sun came out and as we neared Christchurch the petrol station thermometers read 28 degrees. We took route 75 to a place called Akaroa which looked close to Christchurch and had been mentioned as a place to visit by a few people. It took over an hour to get there which made our driving time over five hours.

Akaroa is certainly a pretty small coastal town, sitting in a small bay. We phoned our Motel in Christchurch who were quite happy for us to cancel our reservation. We booked another Motel in Akaroa for at least one night and then popped to the local info centre. They have a lot of good hiking in the area and the next few days here look good, weather wise.

We did some shopping, checked that our room would be available for another night (which it is) and returned to our room. We have a great view over the bay, so we opened the windows to get some air in. Big mistake, they have flies the size of helicopters here and within ten minutes we had twenty helicopters flying around the place.

Fiona made a great spag bol and we relaxed the rest of the evening.

New Zealand – 22nd Nov 2008 - Day 30

The weather was not so good this morning, cloudy, windy but dry. After breakfast we checked out of the Lodge and started the hour long trek back to the Queen Charlotte Track. Once back on the track, the steepness began and continued until after the next bay, Mistletoe. Not too long after here, the track became easier and we began to cruise back to the start. We met a lot more people today including some Germans, Aussies, English and a few from the Netherlands.

On the way back, we stopped at Davis bay, where a whole family of ducks took to us. They sat with us for about 20 minutes. We also got bitten by the dreaded sand flies!


We finished the walk at 14:10 having started at 09:00. Not bad. We were too early for our water taxi back to Picton, so we sat in a small hut with a few other hikes and chatted. Much to our surprise, a water taxi arrived a whole hour early so we were able to jump on and get back to Picton early.

Once back, we checked into the Motel, purchased salad stuff for dinner and then soaked in the huge whirlpool hot tub. Wow, it really helped to soak away our walking aches.



The weather was expected to turn nasty late afternoon, so we washed a few clothes, had a very healthy chicken salad and then watched some TV. If anyone reading this want to do some serious hiking in NZ, you must do the Queen Charlotte. It is challenging but well worth it.

New Zealand – 21st Nov 2008 - Day 29

The alarm buzzed at 6.30, so we could wake up, have breakfast and get down to the Water Taxi for 7.30am to catch the 8.00am boat to Punga. We arrived on time, checked in and waited for our boat. We had been told we would get to Punga for 8.45. However, the skipper said we would not get their until 9.30. We had hoped to start earlier as the hike today is expected to take at least 8 hours. The water taxi was just about to set off when John felt water under his bottom. A bottle of water in one of our back packs has leaked all over the pack and onto the seat. We had to empty the pack and then try and dry it out in the wind as we flew to Punga.

The boat did not arrive at the Punga Lodge until 9.45. We set off pronto, hoping we could make up some time. The weather was perfect with blue skies and a strong breeze. We found the directions from Punga Lodge to the Queen Charlotte Track almost non existent and we had to back track a bit in order to find the start, putting us back even further.

Once on the track he hit it hard. Wow, this is challenging walking. For the first three hours it was almost all up steep hills. The views were stunning but the climbs were so exhausting. After four hours we were beginning to tire. Still the views and weather kept us in good spirits and we kept meeting other walkers who agreed it was a hard hike.



Hours five and six were painful. We left a place called Portage heading for Lochmara bay and the track was almost vertical for two hours. At the end of this section we could hardly talk to each other and were dripping with sweat. We had not expected this to be so hard and we had now run out of water. We eventually came across the sign to our Lodge. We had another hour of hiking to get to the Lodge, but at least it was down hill. It seemed to take for ever to reach the lodge. We booked in and went straight to the bar to rehydrate. The walk had taken 7.5 hours which was apparently a very good time, according to the Lodge staff.

The sun was still out, so we flopped into the sun beds and had a cold drink. We also met a lady w had met when we had kayaked here a few days previously.

We had a shower and flopped into bed, falling fast asleep until 7.20. We had booked into the restaurant for 7.30. Our meal was very good ,we both had steak. As we ate a large group of people arrived by sea boat for a social evening at the lodge. They had some TV chap presenting a motivational talk. We were just too tired, so we hit the sack at 8.30. What a wonderful day of breathtaking views and hard hiking.

New Zealand - 20th Nov 2008 - Day 28

Kayaking is beginning to get into our blood! We had seen a few kayakers yesterday as we walked along the Queen Charlotte Trek.

So, this morning, after breakfast, we drove to The Sea Kayaking Company to pick up our two man kayak for a day in the sound.

We met with our guide who was just there to take us through the safety stuff, as we had opted to kayak on our own today, such are our confidence levels!

After driving to the launch site, we donned all our equipment, Fiona popped herself into the front, John in then back (so he has to steer as well) and we were off. The sun was shining and the wind was gentle, so we felt good. However, after just half an hour, the clouds began to gather and the wind increased. After an hour the wind was whipping the sea into white horses and was blowing into our faces. We kept ducking into bays on our way up the sound to our destination, a resort called Lochmara Lodge (see: http://www.lochmaralodge.co.nz/) in Lochmara bay.

It took two hours of hard paddling to reach our lodge and Fiona had became quite cold as she kept getting sea water blown into her from the wind and wild sea’s.





The clouds were still with us when we reached the lodge, so we had a cuppa and some cake (which was wonderful) and then went outside to warm up in the sun which was beginning to peep out.



After half an hour, blue skies returned and we joined another lady on the sun bed terrace where wed all chilled and chatted for a couple if hours. By the time we left it was hot and very sunny. On the way back, the wind was behind us, so the journey back was easier, we reached base in good time. We met our company rep, helped her to load up the kayak and then drove back to our Motel in Picton. The weather is looking to break down again this weekend (late on Saturday), so we decided to walk nearly all of the Queen Charlotte Trek in a two day event, staying at the Lochmara Lodge overnight on Friday night. We booked our water taxi to Punga Bay tomorrow morning, the lodge and a water taxi back from the end of the trek (Anakiwa Beach) back to our Motel in Picton. The Queen Charlotte walk is really something (See: http://www.queencharlottetrack.cp.nz/), a joy for anyone who likes hiking.





We will be off tomorrow for two days hard walking, day one will probably take 8 hours and day two about 6. Fingers crossed for good weather! We will not be taking the laptop, so for those reading this on a daily basis, we will not upload anything for a couple of days.

New Zealand - 19th Nov 2008 - Day 27

After a quick breakfast we headed off to the beginning of today’s challenge, The Queen Charlotte Track. The track can take up to three days to complete, so we had decided to tackle just part of the hike, from Anakiwa to Mistletoe Bay and back.

The sun was out in force and as the hours past the sky became cloudless. The hike was along forest tracks next to the island inlets. The sea was the most amazing aqua and the hills and mountains looked amazing.



We arrived at Mistletoe Bay for 12:30. What a wonderful place. A lady was cooking BBQ at the camp site. We needed to phone our Motel to book an extra night. She found the number and let us use her mobile. She would not take a penny from us. We sat down by the small bay and within minutes we were surrounded by a group of very cute ducks. We gave them some of our apples, which they loved.



We sunbathed for 45 minutes before beginning our hike back. We said hi to a donkey called Willow who lived in a field with two lama’s.

The walk back was equally as spectacular and we met a few Americans and Aussies on the way. This place is simply amazing to look at when the sun shines. We have seen so many amazing places this year and New Zealand is different yet again. It is so clean and the waters so clear.

After our walk, we went to a local Kayak rental company and reserved a two man Kayak for us tomorrow. We want to kayak to another bay along the Charlotte Trek.

After visiting the supermarket we came back to the Motel and had one of Fiona’s Fish Pies, using up some of the fish we caught the previous day. John is going to use the last of the Fish tomorrow, throwing together a Fish Curry.

Terminator Three is tonight’s movie. After a six hour hike, we think we deserve it!!

New Zealand - 18th Nov 2008 - Day 26

The wind had been howling around our chalet during the night. The alarm had beeped at 5.30am, as we had a two hour drive to Kaikoura for our deep sea fishing trip which kicked off at 8.30am.

We pulled back the curtains nervously. Blue sky greeted us. We had a quick cuppa, filled the car and began our journey. As we pulled out of Hanmer Town, the mountains were cloaked in a wonderful glow of red and orange. What a great sunrise. We pulled over and took a couple of photo’s.

The journey to Kaikoura was very enjoyable and we arrived at 7.30am. We went back to the Dolphin Discovery Centre for a muffin and a cuppa. We realised that we di not know where to meet our fishing bloke. The Dolphine Centre would not let us use their internet or telephone (we have gone right off them), so we found a public telephone. Luckily our guy was about to leave to get the boat. He met us on the main town road and we all went down to the beach. Hi mate, Tom, was going to take us out. Another English chap joined us, plus a second boat hand. They were very pleased to tell us that, next week, they are taking the actor Ewan McGregor out for a days fishing. Fiona was most upset we had missed him. John thinks he’s over rated!

We flew out to the middle of the bay in calm weather. Once at our fishing spot we cast our lines over the side. Within minutes, we were catching Blue Cod, Dog Fish (which we did not keep) and John caught one large Grouper. After an hour we had a crate full of fish. After almost two hours we had caught more than you could possible eat in a week. As we fished, the boat became surrounded by a whole host of bird life, including three different types of Albatross. We also got friendly with a lovely wee seal who hung out with us for much of the morning.



We travelled back to the beach to pick up the owner. All the way back, one of the crew cleaned the fish we had caught. Once back, we picked up the boss and then took a small ride to the Cray Fish (Like lobster) pots. Both pots had about 10 crayfish in them, most of which we easily big enough to keep.

When we arrived back to the beach, the tractor pulled us up onto the sand and we were given our part of the catch, about a pound of fish and two large crayfish.

After some lunch at Dolphin Encounters, we drove to Picton in heavy rain showers and checked into our Motel room. Luckily for us, the room with the full kitchen was now available, so we swapped to room 10.

John realised that he had lost his rain jacket, so we popped to the local supermarket then to Blenheim, where we purchased a new waterproof for John and got John a hair cut. John hasn’t shaved for about a week, so now he has more hair on his chin than on his head!

The sun had reappeared by the time we arrived back in Picton so we walked down to the beach and sat on some rocks and watched the ferry and other local boat trips come and go from the bay.

We came back to the Motel and John began to prepare the crayfish. Unfortunately, they can live out of water, so when John got the first one out of the plastic bag, it was moving a lot. The boat skipper had told us to put them in fresh water for 15 minutes which would kill them. The whole process was not pleasant. Fiona suggested we go back to the bay and out them back in the water, but the process was already underway. After killing the crayfish, John popped it into boiling water for ten minutes and then cold water for another ten. All the meat is in the tail. It was OK but nothing to write home about. Fiona made John prepare the second one immediately after dinner so as to put it out of its misery. We baked the Cod and Grouper. John liked it but Fiona thought it was not very tasty. Fifi is planning to make a fish dinner with flavour tomorrow.

After dinner we watched the directors cut of Saving Private Ryan and then passed out!

New Zealand - 17th Nov 2008 - Day 25

Well, the weather in the South Island has now returned to North Island status and now the North Island is having good weather. Last night the rain began to pour and this morning it is still raining and blowing a gale. It wasn’t supposed to be like this today but some forecasts are suggesting it may improve later in the day. However, the general weather trend is not good. Ho Hum. Just before breakfast, a wonderful rainbow appeared over the valley.

After breakfast, we popped into the local store to purchase goods for this evenings dinner, one of Johns specials, Spanish Omelet. We came back, kitted up and drove to the starting point of today’s hike, climbing up Mount Isabel the highest mountain above Hanmer Springs. The walk starts at 450 meters and peaks at 1490 meters. The sun and showers were trying outdo each other at the beginning of the hike which, almost from the start, was steep. As the hike continued the path became very steep. When we neared the top of the mountain, the wind took us by surprise. As we reached the top, the wind was almost unbearable. A constant force which almost blew us off our feet on many occasions. We found a small space on the lea of the plateau, where we escaped the wind for a spot of lunch.



As we began our return hike, we came across another couple of Brits who were also sheltering from the wind. They had planned to take a different route down, via the top ridge, however, when we looked behind us they had decided to follow us. The wind was now dangerously strong and we all hiked as quickly as possible to get off the top. We took the waterfall route home, a steep route through the forest. The waterfall itself was worth the walk.



We then walked along a gravel road back to Brian, our car. The perfume from the broom bushes was amazing. It smelled of peaches and nectarines and was the deepest yellow we had ever seem. At times, the broom reached up the mountains, as far as the eye could see. Some of the branches were so full of flower they looked like they would break.



The hike took 5 hours and 15 minutes and the rain had kept off for most of it. At times the sun was quite warm but the wind was always there to take the edge off.

We popped back home, showered and relaxed.

New Zealand – 16th Nov 2008 - Day 24

Our unwanted holiday companions, Mr. Rain and Mr. Wind were back with us this morning. The alarm had beeped at 7am as we had to drive out of town for our cave rafting adventure (see: http://www.caverafting.com/). It ‘s a three hour combination of caving, canyoning and rapid riding in rubber tubes.

We arrived at 9am, paid and then changed into our wet suit stuff, plus hard hat with light and special webbed gloves to help you navigate when in the river.

After a quick bus ride, we mounted very small open carriages on a small gauge railway. The train whisked us up the mountain in 15 minutes. We passed rain forest on the way. Our guide explained that the BBC had been in this area for three months, filming for the “Lost World” series. They filmed all the real stuff here and then superimposed the dinosaurs after.

Once at the top, we met all our fellow adventurers, three English, two Aussies and some locals. We walked up a steep incline for another fifteen minutes to arrive at the cave system entrance.

We checked all our lights and in we went. It soon became dark but our wet suits kept us nice and warm. We walked through two upper chambers. A few sections were very low but still wide. We had to bend down and roll our inner tubes in front of us.

We came across some good examples and stalagmites and stalactites as well as other weird forms. In one of the chambers, we all switched off our lights. It was the inkiest black. Fiona was not too happy about this but she got through it without any problem.

We then walked down to the lower chamber where a river runs through the lower section. We turned our lights of again, but this time to see the unique glow worms that live in the cave. The ceiling had about twenty sparking bright blue lights dotted around. Very impressive. We walked down even further until we came across the underground lake. We all jumped into our inner tubes and were positioned so that we formed a long chain by sitting on our backs in the tubes and holding onto others legs.

We slowly floated down the cave river with our lights off. Suddenly we entered a large cave. Wow!! The whole ceiling was covered in the glow worms. It was like watching stars but much brighter and more intense. The went on for about twenty minutes and was a wonderful experience. We have seen quite a few caves in our time, but have never seen this before.

We eventually came across the cave system exit point. We jumped back into our tubes and rafted down the river.

It had some rapids but was quite tame, but still good fun.
The train and bus took us back to the centre where we got changed, said our goodbyes and began our journey to Hanmer Springs (see: www.hanmersprings.co.nz ).

It took us four hours to reach the town and what a great place it is. As our journey continued the weather improved. The scenery was breathtaking with whole valleys of bright yellow broom. There is some skiing to be had close to Hanmer in the winter and it really feels like a wee ski resort (no surprise really).

We had a beverage in the sun, soaking up the higher temperatures. We checked into our Motel. Great place. It’s a good size, has great views over the valley and has a full kitchen. After being here a while we decided to stay an extra night.

Fiona felt tired, so she stayed at our Chalet to read in the sun while John popped down to the local Spa where they have natural springs, hence the name Hanmer Springs.

We had a healthy salad and chilled out with a DVD.

New Zealand – 15th Nov 2008 - Day 23

Cloud drizzle were back with us this morning. We booked onto tomorrows Underworld Rafting Adventure (see: http://www.caverafting.com/ ) before a late breakfast, followed by a drive out of town for our Quad Biking event.

We met all the guides at the hut, all of whom were from the UK. All were graduates who could not get work in the UK, so were working for a pittance in NZ, but having a ball.

We donned our water proofs and helmets (with accompanying hair nets), had a ten minute “get to know your quad bike” session and then jumped on. These five gear machines were fast and responsive and we were soon flying down muddy country paths. After a wee while we hit the main tracks.




There was, mud, water, sand, thick bush and cow poo to enjoy, with some very steep and narrow sections. As the trip went on we got faster and faster until John managed to tip his quad over on a steep incline. Luckily, the quad bike did not roll on top of him. He was fine, if a little bruised.

Fiona took the lead and we crossed a coupe of sections of river and then moved onto some differnet tracks. Yet again, John managed to get stuck in the middle of a massive stretch of very muddy water. As much as he tried, he could not get out. By the end of his attempts, he was covered in water and thick mud. Our two guides helped to get him out.





After two hours of fun, we arrived at a new stretch of river bank. We managed to get along the bank for about 500 yards but then had to turn back due to the thick, thick mud.

We ended our tour at the river, where we left the lads cleaning down the bikes. Great fun!!

We came back to our B&B and logged onto the web so we could make some Motel reservations. We also planned some fishing in Kaikoura were we are returning to, as this place looked very good and we are going to wait out the forecast bad weather on the east coast which is looking a bit drier.

After a piece of fruit for dinner, we watched Roger Federer being beaten by Andrew Murray, after which we drove back to the activity centre for our Jet Boat Adventure.

We were had been told to arrive for 2.30pm, which turned out to be too early, as a coach load of Kiwi adventurers had been delayed. Still, the sun came out and we sat outside getting to know, the dog, the cat, the goat and all 14 horses.
John asked the owner, if they could bag the front seats. Much to our delight, she said that we could go down to the launch site with the driver and could then get the front seats.

We jumped into the prize seats and the tractor took us over farm land down to the Buller River. There were three Aussies with us and the husband did not draw breath for twenty minutes. Turns out he is a cattle farmer near Perth! Interesting?? We launched the boat and flew up the river to another loading point where the 18 other riders boarded the boat. These boats have two enormous inboard jet engines which takes the boat up to 60 kilometers an hour.



We started our trip upstream, flying around corners, skimming the river banks and rocks. We stopped a few times to hear about the river and how they cope with flooding.

We then turned round and headed back down stream at max speed, twisting and doing ten 360 degree turns on the way back. It was great fun and we got absolutely soaked through. Luckily John had jammed the video camera down his front, so it was the only thing to keep dry.

The whole think trip took a couple of hours and was a blast.

We drove back to our B&B, warmed up, watched the last half an hour of NZ Strictly Come Dancing, relaxed, changed and popped next door to a local restaurant for some local NZ grub. Fiona’s steak was wonderful, John’s Whitebait Patti was non descript. This is the first time we have dined out in the South Island and it seems a little more expensive than the North.

After dinner, we chilled out over a film. Tomorrow we are up early for a long drive. The weather is not looking good, so driving will not be such a bad thing to be doing.

New Zealand – 14th Nov 2008 - Day 22

The sun was shining this morning, so we popped to the office to try and contact Brian to arrange some horse riding. However, we was not to be found. So we decided not to stay another night at Abel Tasman but to travel to our next port of call, Westport, on the west coast. We have seen a couple of activities we fancy in and around the area, including Jet Boating, Quad biking and White Water Rafting. We drove through some wonderful mountainous scenery on the N6, eventually stopping at a town called Murchison for a mid journey rest. We stopped off at the activity company we plan to use for our local activities, called Buller Adventure Tours (see: http://www.adventuretours.co.nz/) . They are still waiting to see if they have enough people for the White Water Rafting. Still we can do the Quad Biking and the Jet Boating. We will phone at 8pm tonight to see if it is on.

After a visit to the local tourist info office (all main visitor info offices are called iSite Centers, over the whole of NZ). The two ladies in the centre gave us lots to think about and pointed us in the right direction for a small local hike.

We took their advise and hikes an one and a half hour trail through forest, following a small river, up to a section of valley where one side had come away in a recent earthquake. Very impressive, if a little scary!

After the hike, we continued along the N6 to Westport. We checked into our bargain Motel (see: http://www.westportspamotel.co.nz/) found the local supermarket, bought things for tonight’s salad and jumped back in the car for a 40 minute journey to Punakaiki, where they have some weird coastal rock formations and impressive blow holes.

Unfortunately the clouds had rolled back in and we missed the high tide, so when we visited the blow holes, they were not blowing very much. Sill, they had some impressive views.

We drove back to the Motel, showered, ate dinner and watched some TV. At 8pm, we phoned the adventure people only to find out that the White Water Rafting is not running. We will do the Quad Biking instead.

New Zealand – 13th Nov 2008 - Day 21

Today started with a few clouds and some fog. However, after breakfast, the clouds had rolled back. We checked out of our B&B and moved all of 100 yards to our next B&B. They have a great dog here called Ruby. She is a three year old golden Labrador and is very, very friendly!

We checked in and then drove next door to Abel Tasman Water Taxi’s. We boarded our boat at 9am and then the tractor took us and the boat down to the quay. Once in the water we sped of to bark bay.

Once there, we began the seven hour hike, back to Marahau. After about an hour we came across a couple of Scottish hikers. We got chatting and spent the next hour and a half walking with them. Gavin, about 50, we from Edinburgh, as was his niece, Mary. He had come out to NZ three years ago having left his wife and son and a girlfriend! He was now living with a Kiwi girlfriend in Christchurch and loving NZ. His niece had been working as a midwife in Scotland and was now enjoying working in a Christchurch hospital. .They both love NZ and have no intention of moving back to bonny Scotland.

On the way back we stopped at a wonderful place called Cleopatra’s pools. You have never seen such clear water. John walked through the ice cold water to the water falls for a photo or two. What a great place.

Later on we stopped at another bay for a spot of late lunch. There were muscles clinging to every rock in the bay. We picked eight huge babies to have to dinner tonight.

We continued on our hike, meeting the Canadian couple who we had kayaked with the previous day. They were hiking in the other direction. The views from this hike were stunning. We have never seen so many picture perfect bays in such a concentrated area. The beaches here are pristine.

We arrived back at Marahau seven hours to the minute from leaving bark bay. What a wonderful hike. The best in NZ so far. The good weather helped to make this a memorable event.

We arrived back at our B&B after trying to book some beach based horse riding. We had seen some people riding on the way back into the bay. It looked great.

Once back at the hotel we met a couple from Manchester who have been living in NZ for a year. John and Rachel are both GP’s and fancied a year away form the UK. We ended up sitting with them in the sun having a drink and chatting about travelling. They have decided it is too depressing to go back to the UK for too long, so thay have booked a place in Morzine, in the French Alps and will ski for the entire season. John turned Green!!
When the sun set, we came back to our cozy cabin and finished our tuna pasta meal. John cleaned the muscles from Stilwell Bay and added them to the mix. Delicious!

We watched some TV, where the weather forecast looks good. If we can horse ride tomorrow we might just stay here another night. If your reading this blog with an eye to going to NZ, put Abel Tasman on our list. It is truly stunning.