New Zealand

We have wanted to go to New Zealand (in Maori Aotearoa - translation The Land of the Long White Cloud) for many years now and this year we finally decided to go. Quite a number of our friends have been there, some more than once, and all have loved the experience. The scenery is stunning - the Lord of the Rings movies were shot there for the jaw-dropping backdrops, the driving (outside of Auckland) is relaxing and the country is only sparcely populated by friendly people. The population of New Zealand is 4.7 million: of the 3.7 million living on the North Island (Te Ika-a-Maui) 1.4 million live in Auckland, while only 1 million live on the whole of the South Island (Te Waipounamu)!

New Zealand was discovered and settled by Polenesians around 1300 AD, about 350 years before Abel Tasman became the first European to sight the Islands. Captain James Cook circumnavigated and charted the islands just over 100 years later. New Zealand became part of the British Empire in 1840 under the Treaty of Waitangi and became a Dominion in 1907. The 1931 Statute of Westminster provided for it, along with the other Dominions, to become a Realm, allowing it to have full legislative independence as an equal member of the British Commonwealth of Nations, having, together with the United Kingdom, one person as the sovereign of each (see: Wikipedia).

There is a diverse mixture of landscapes including, snowy mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, lakes, fiords, islands, geothermal springs, caves, beaches and ancient forests. There are 14 national parks and lots of walks. We plan to stay 6 weeks in New Zealand and to make the most of it we have hired a Wave 2 motorhome from Wilderness Motorhomes. We will spend half the time travelling around the North Island, then we plan to take the Interislander Cook Strait ferry, which is reputed to be one of the most beautiful ferry crossings in the world, to spend another 3 weeks touring the South Island. We joined Top10-New Zealand, a holiday home/campsite franchise for the sum of NZ$49 fo two years' membership, which provides us with a 10% discount off the cost of staying overnight on the various sites. It also provides (amongst other things) a 10% discount off the InterIslander ferry tickets. This discount more than pays for the cost of membership!

The proposed route for our tour of the South Island had to be changed, since a short while before we were due to leave we found that it is currently not possible to get from Picton to Kaikoura using SH1 (Southern Highway 1) as the road suffered extreme damage in the major earthquake of 2016. We will keep an eye on the staus of rapairs on the website: Earthquake Response. This meant rerouting our journey via Murchison and the Lewis Pass.

If you are looking for a description of NZ cities to visit and restaurants and shops to go to you will be disappointed with this blog. We tend to shun cities and are more interested in the outdoors and visiting out of the way places.

Neil spent quite a bit of time investigating various aspects of the holiday. He downloaded apps for the iPad and saved quite a few websites on his Chrome browser's "favourites bar".

Resources used in planning the vacation

Resource	Description
Wilderness NZ (iPad app)	NZ Travel App with lots of detail
Essential NZ (iPad app)	NZ Travel Guide
Rankers - Camping NZ (iPad app)	All NZ campsites
Triposo (iPad app)	Smart (offline) Travel Guide
Campable (iPad app)	Upper market campsites
NZ Frenzy (N)	Travel book for North Island
NZ Frenzy (S)	Travel book for South Island
DOC - NZ	Department of Conservation - information
New Zealand	NZ Travel website
i-Sites	i-Site Visitor Information website
Blog	Travel Blog for Wilderness customers
Ferry Information	InterIslander Ferry information
Roadworks	NZ Roadworks Information

Some lessons learned from the holiday:

• A satnav is indispensible - we would have been lost so many times without one.
• The NZFrenzy books by Scott Cook are also indispensible. We would not have seen and done half of what we did without them.
• Using Wilderness as the supplier of the motorhome was a very good choice and their "wildernessts" booklet of lovely (and mostly deserted) spots for freedom camping was great. They aren't the cheapest, but the are the best. Take out their comprehensive insurance which covers quite a few extras as well as providing peace of mind in case of an accident.
• WiFi and mobile phone coverage is very sporadic. We purchased a Spark Mobile sim-card at Auckland Airport with a 3GB data plan for the 6 weeks (actually for 8 weeks). We then used our smart phone as a WiFi hotspot when we had mobile coverage, to download e-mails etc and upload blog updates and photos on Sue's iPad and Neil's Microsoft Surface Pro. We used up just over 2GB of the plan.
• Joining TOP10 saved us money on various excursions, the InterIslander ferry and campsites. Also, as a TOP10 member you receive complimentary WiFi access on these campsites. We would freedom camp for two or three nights, then check into a TOP10 campsite for one night to make use of the showers, kitchen and laundry facilities and this worked out well. Make sure you pick up a map showing the location and contact details of all their sites when you arrive - just call in at the first one you pass.
• Obtain copies of the North and South Island maps for the DOC camping sites. The sites are mostly basic, but are welcome when there are no "wildernessts" in the area.
• Make use of the i-Site visitor information centres that most of the towns have. The people there are very helpful.
• The sandflies on the West Coast of the South Island can be horrendous. Get some effective insect repellant and when you get bitten (there's no question, you will get bitten) we found that Bonjela gel was fantastic in alleviating the itchiness. Captain Cook in 1774 remarked: "The most mischievous animal here is the small black sandfly, which are exceedingly numerous, wherever they light they cause a swelling and such intolerable itching that it is not possible to refrain from scratching and at last ends in ulcers like the small pox".
• Public toilets in NZ are, in the main, perfectly acceptable.
• If you plan to use New World supermarkets, go to the customer service desk and obtain a loyalty card to enable you to get discounts when you shop there.
• Diesel is quite a bit cheaper on the North Island than the South, so fill up before taking the ferrry to the South. Also its cost can vary considerably from petrol station to petrol station, even ones situated just a hundred metres apart.

When we researched the trip it became obvious pretty quickly that the best way to handle the long flying time would be to go business class. Flying economy class in an upright seat for more than 12 hours would be a poor way to start our trip of a lifetime. We did that on our trip 2 years previously to Machu Picchu, Lake Titikaka and the Galopagos Islands and we agreed not to do this again. So we set off with a budget in mind to see Zoe at Century Travel in Paphos. Zoe first looked at Emirates business class flights from Larnaca to Auckland via Dubai and Qatar flights via Doha, but these exceeded our nominal budget. She looked at other possibilities, which weren't really viable. At last she came up with the idea of flying with Qatar from Larnaca to Sydney, business class return and having a return economy flight of about 4 hours from Sydney to Auckland, which came in under our nominal budget. Sue has never flown business class before so she was almost as excited at the plane journey than the holiday itself, especially after seeing this review showing the features of business class on Qatar's Airbus A380 and watching the following Youtube video.

We set out for Larnaca (Λάρνακα - LCA) the day before our plane journey and stayed at a small hotel overnight. This saved us from doing the 3 hour car journey from our home in Argaka (Αργάκα) just before having to arrive at the airport. Before setting out we cleaned the villa. Our friend Olav asked why do this as it would only get dusty before we go back. Sue agreed but pointed out that it would be "clean" dust. We stopped off at Governor's Beach for lunch (Sea Bream and Sea Bass), which was excellent. Neil said he knew the way from there, but missed a turning and we ended up touring the small roads and alleyways of Larnaca. It was fun trying to find the hotel, then even more fun trying to find a parking space. The hotel room had a very nice new bathroom, but Sue was a bit miffed that the hot water wasn't hot. A suggestion was made that the taps were the wrong way round and sure enough turning on the cold tap caused a lovely warm spray of water to come out of the shower. We also had to celebrate the start of our holiday with wine out of one wine glass and one tumbler, but that was fine.

We got up early on Monday morning to travel the short journey to the airport. We left our car at Park and Save, a couple of kilometres from the airport. Neil had contacted them and asked what sort of a deal they could give for parking for 47 days, they came back with the offer of €45! It beats Gatwick any day. Arrived a few minutes before the Qatar check-in opened. A very pleasant girl on the Business Class desk gave us our tickets and the pass for the Aspire Lounge. Having a snack while I update the blog!

No sooner had we got on the plane than champagne appeared. Had a lovely meal served by friendly air stewardesses. At first it looked as if we were on the wrong plane as it trvelled North to Turkey, but then it travelled east in Turkish airspace before heading South down a very impressive mountain chain (the Zagros Mountains) separating the Iraqi Mesopotamian Plain from the Iranian Plateau. I assume we flew via Iranian airspace because of the ban by the Saudis and their friends on Qatar using their airspace. We had a lovely girl checking our hand-luggage in Doha and an interesting chat with a supervisor in the Al Mourjan Business Lounge, who insisted on bringing us yet another glass of champagne.

Got on the A380 and Sue immediately went to see the bar and was well impressed. Then we sat down and had the (seemingly) obligatory glass of champagne as well as a lovely lime and mint drink. We had a very good meal and after a few minutes tuition from Neil on how to work the Android-based personal entertainment system Sue visited the bar, followed shortly afterwards by Neil. The bartender taught Sue a couple of magic card tricks an then it was changing into pyjamas and getting into our beds that the air stewardesses had made up in our absence.

Well finally arrived in Sydney. Had a great time on the plane, sleeping in PJs fully reclined. Last night Neil was the last one to leave the bar and several of the stewards/stewardesses said goodnight as they passed by him for their rest period. When they came back through the bar in the morning he was sat there having a cup of tea. I'm sure they thought he'd not left the bar all night! Got off the plane and through immigration and customs very quickly and caught the Ready2Go shuttle to our hotel (about 5 minutes away). Going to Sydney harbour tomorrow.

Got up early and walked 15 minutes to Wolli Creek train station, where we boarded a double-decker train to get to Circular Quay. Sue wanted to go upstairs to take in the sights. but since 99% of the journey was underground she didn't get to see much. Once at the quay we bought a Hop-on-Hop-off ticket for a boat which went around the bay, as far as Manley then back to Circular Quay via Darling Harbour. We didn't actualy get off, so we could probably have done the journey via regular ferries for a much lower cost than $45 each, but we were in a rush to see as much as we could. The ticket also covered a trip on the fast ferry to Manley and we thought we might try this later, but we ran out of time.

Next we bought a Hop-on-Hop-off bus ticket (another $45 each), that covered us for the city as well as a trip out to Bondi Beach. We boarded the city tour bus, but got off at stop 3 to transfer to the Bondi Bus. Sydney Centre is in a bit of chaos at the moment while the introduce a tram system, so there are lots of traffic delays and it took about 20 minutes before the bus arrived. We rode all the way to Bondi, where we got off and decided to walk along the "clifftop path". This was very pleasant and you get some really good views of the surfers in the bay and the sun worshippers on the beach. For the next month or so there is a sculpture park along the walk and as you travel along it you are confronted by various modern sculptures. The first one we saw was a giant dragon-fly made out of various items of shiny metal. The sculptures, made by various local artists, were actually very interesting, if a little avant garde.

Then we got back on the bus to take it all the way back to stop 3, where we changed busses again and completed the city tour. It was funny to see the comparison between the new shiny steel and glass buildings that often sat side by side with slightly rundown dwellings and shops that also looked architecturally interesting in their own way. By the time we'd done that it was too late to go to Manley, so we walked around the corner to see and photograph the Opera House and Bridge as the sun went down. Then we had dinner al fresco at an Italian Restaurant, where we chatted with a couple who were English but had moved to Perth 27 years ago. He was a golfer and a used car salesman and his wife was a teacher. It was their first time in Sydney and they wanted to know what we had done. After the meal we caught the train back to Wolli Creek then walked back to our hotel. We catch the plane tomorrow to fly to Auckland - can't wait.

We got up relatively early to go to the airport, but not as early as we would have had to if we had not changed the time of our shuttle bus from 6:15am to 7:45. The lady on the desk had said we should allow 1 hour to get to the airport terminal, which in actuality only took us 20 minutes (most of that waiting for other passengers and visiting another hotel). She also said we should allow 3 hours to get through check in and get to the gate, whereas 2 hours was more than enough. It was relatively painless checking in - a nice young lady helped us through the self-service procedure. We weren't overly impresed with the Qantas (economy) flight - the seats weren't the best and the food was pretty bad, though Neil did eat both our bars of ice-cream, or what passed for ice-cream on this flight.

When we landed at Auckland we had to go the biohazard screening service as we had ticked the box that said we had outdoor equipment with us (boots, walking sticks, masks and snorkels). They took our word for it that we had cleaned and disinfected these before we packed them, so we didn't have to unpack the case they were in, which was Sue's nightmare scenario. All in all we were off the plane and phoning for our shuttle within an hour and a quarter and that included stopping off at the Spark (telephone) kiosk to get an NZ sim card with a (3GB) 2-month plan. Spark used to be NZ's official telecom provider before it went public. They have turned all 1,000 of their phone boxes into WiFi hotspots and as a customer you can use up to 1GB per day this way. We'll use the Android phone that our son Philip gave us as a WiFi hotpot for the iPad and Surface Pro that we have brought with us to keep in touch with civilisation while we travel round

We had a 5 minute walk to a very nice Indin-Chinese restaurant tonight. The food and wine was very good and the service excellent. Now it is straight to bed in readiness for being collected at 8:30 tomorrow morning to collect our rental motor home and truly start our new Zealand adventure - can't wait.

Francisco from Wilderness picked us up from the hotel at 8:30am and drove us to the Wilderness depot. After filling in some paperwork he introduced us to our motorhome and left us to watch a video showing all the features. The motorhome is very good, if somewhat compact. We may both come back looking like the Elelphant Man, having bashed our head on the coving above the windscreen where we keep the personal electronic devices and travel books. But we are getting used to "the camping way", squeezing past each other and shouting "coming out" before flinging the toilet door open. Francisco came back to answer some queries we still had. He was very thourough and helpful and we were very impressed with the service Wilderness were providing us.

We then set the satnav for Albany, a northern suburb of Auckland where we were going to go to a Pack and Save supermarket to stock up on essentials - wine and such like. Neil set off driving and after about a quater of a mile we hit a dead end, due to roadworks. He then had the brilliant idea of driving down several roads trying to magically find a way round the roadworks only to end up 5 minutes later back at the roadworks. Sue then had the brilliant (non-male) idea of popping into the convenience store we were stopped outside of and asking for directions. Neil was following these to a letter and he was about to turn onto the motorway when Sue said "Not Here!", which made him miss the turning. He then backed around a corner to turn round and stopped half a metre from a police car, so he gave the police officers a friendly wave and slowly drove off.

The motorway traffic was pretty bad, even more so as it was raining. however we started to feel less stressed as the miles (sorry kilometres) sped by. We found the supermarket and Sue got the provisions while Neil parked the motorhome and fed the next couple of destinations into the satnav. When Sue came out she looked for the vehicle, but couldn't remember what it looked like. She actually saw it and peered through the driver's window, but since Neil was in the back and she didn't see him she assumed this was someone else's motorhome and proceeded to walk around the car park in the drizzle for a quarter of an hour before she realised that there was only one motorhome in the carpark and came and knocked on the door!

We then set off for Leigh, passing some beautiful, if wet, scenery on the way. We went on to Mangawhai Heads, which was absolutely stunning. A fantastic white sand beach with hardly anyone on it. Sue paddled in the sea while Neil walked dryly along the beach. There are some sand dunes there that they are in the process of restoring. We then went on to Langs Beach (again stunning) and Waipu Cove, where they teach surfing, before heading for Ruakaka, whose main claim to fame is that it has an oil refinery that allows visitor tours and it has a superb beach. We got some more provisions (a bottle of gin) in the town and freedom parked next to the oil refinery. This sounds aweful, but the gubbins are screened by trees and just outside the motorhome was a set of steps leading down to a fantastic beach and across the bay is the wonderful Whangarei Heads, where we plan to some exploring tomorrow.

All in all we did an awful lot today. It was tiring but very rewarding and if the scenery we have seen is a foretaste for what is to come we will be over the moon for the whole of the holiday!

We set the clock for just before sunrise. Although it was a bit overcast we still got a glimpse of the sun. We then had breakfast (Just Right mmmm) then one last look over the bay towards where we would be heading next Bream Head. The driving there was a delight with some fantastic scenery.

Our satnav got confused once or twice, basically missing a turning so we had to turn back. We made for Smuggler's Cove, which is a beautiful beach. We met a nice lady from Norway who was doing a 6-month hiking tour of both islands with her daughter! We decided to take the counter-clockwise walking route to it from the car park. All in all this took us 2 hours and took us past WW2 gun emplacements, curious bullocks and a steepish climb to the top of Busby Head, where you get a 360° panoramic view. We were both pleased we made the effort to do this. We dipped our toes in the blue pacific before setting off again, this time to Ocean Beach.

If you think Smugglers Cove is fantastic, wait till you see Ocean Beach, at the end of a farm track, it is stupendous, with a small river flowing into the sea. Some very nice surfer dudes assisted Neil is turning around when we left to go to Whangerei Falls.

We thought the satnav was on the blink when it led us to a housing estate, but there in the middle was Whangerei (pronounced Fahnga-ray) Falls. It wasn't in full speight, but there was still a considerable flow. We did a 15-minute loop, stopping to take pictures, then up along the Tutukaka Coast, which is full of small bays - lovely. Heading for our final stop for the night, Elliot Bay just a little way past Helena Bay. We arrived at the campsite and paid $20 each (a bit steep for basically freedom camping) but the view alone was worth it. Topou, the lady in charge, ran ahead to open the gates then we parked facing the beach , looked at each other with a beaming smile and said "This is what we came here to do". It was heaven.

We got up at 6am to see the sunrise, then had breakfast and a walk on the beach, it was heavanly. Then back on the road. Unfortunately Neil misread where we were going next and instead of inputting "Rainbow Falls" into the satnav, he input "Puheke Hill", so we missed going to a lovely waterfall with a huge cave behind it. Never mind - we all make mistakes (well Neil does). Our trip took us via the Opua ferry. It was a long trip to Puheke, which is why we noticed our (Neil's) mistake (about 80 kms after we passed the falls). Puheke is a 130 metre high volcano that is right on a beautiful white sand beach. We hiked to the top and the views from there were absolutely spectacular. We weren't sure if the clocks had changed overnight, so we asked a local on the beach if the clocks had gone back. He said "No, you mean forward". "No", Neil said, "they go back in October". "Not in the Southern hemisphere" came the reply. "Damn" Neil said "does that mean we lost an hour?", "No", said the Kiwi, "they went forward several weeks ago".

After leaving Puheke Hill we made our way to Shipwreck Bay, Ahipara. There were stunning view, but even more stunning views were to be had by driving up steep gravel track then walking a white sand path to the lookout above Ahipara, were guys used to launch themselves into the air to go hang-gliding. We were joined at the top by a Maori family who seemed to be there for a spiritual purpose, so we quietly left them to it. We then made our way to the Ahipara Holiday Park, which had - wait for it - HOT SHOWERS. We made full use of these and Sue took the opportunity to do some laundry, having first assisted Neil (from a safe distance) in emptying the poo cassete at the dumpstation. Neil emptied the grey-water tank all by himself! We had a late dinner of boiled eggs with tiger-bread soldiers then off to a late bed!

We again got up at 6am, did various chores, such as filling the motorhome's water tank, Then we went to see the largest Kauri tree stump, which at 7 metres in diameter is pretty impressive, even if it's current state makes it difficult to visualise. We had to drive for 10 km or so up a single track gravel path to get to it. The track eventually became impassable, but thankfully only a hundred metres or so before the location of the stump. Had we known about the conditions of the road and the stump itself beforehand we would probably not have bothered to go.

Leaving this remnant of a giant behind we made our way to Hokianga Harbour via the Rangiora to Rawene ferry. On the way to the ferry we overtook a lorry carrying a heavy load and Neil commented that this was the first vehicle we had overtaken since driving on the motorway around Auckland some days ago! The roads are so quiet, even compared to Cyprus. We stopped off at an ATM where Neil withdrew some cash while Sue took some photos of huge sand dunes across the bay. We then drove a little way on to Omopere and the Arai-Te-Uru Recreation Reserve. First we walked along the path at the top to get a better view of the dunes across the bay. Then we made our way down to the beach on the South side of the headland. This contained some huge flat rocks, on most of which were nestled "mermaid pools" of seawater that filled up at high tide and remained there till the next high tide. These were gorgeous and had the water been a bit warmer we may ahev been tempted to use them as a hot tub. We then walked along the shoreline, skirting the incoming tide to go around the headland to Martin's Beach. A fantastic beach deserted except for a couple who we spoke to. They came from London and she was spelling out in sea-shells "Happy Birthday" to her sister whose birthday it was in a couple of days. She was going to photograph the scene and e-mail it ot her.

Then it was on to a short walk along a stream, climbing all the while until we got to Waiotemarama waterfall, again at the end of a longish gravel path. As you walk along you hear the sound of rushing water as it tumbles over small rapids. Then you turn a corner and there is the waterfall. It isn't very big, maybe 10 - 15 metres, but it is very pretty. Then it was on to Tane Mahuta (Translation: The Lord of the Forest), the largest living Kauri tree, somewhere beween 1000 and 2,500 year old. It is huge, with a girth of 45 feet! After this we sped down the highway to get to the Kauri Coast Top10 Holiday Park, where we were spending the night - hot showers again. Sue had wanted a lovely juicy steak for dinner, but we had to make do with pizza. Maybe steak tomorrow, I'm drooling just thinking about it.

We spent some time after breakfast updating the blog with Sue's Views and spent too much time trying to get the iPad to connect to the WiFi. The Surface Pro was straightforward but Apple really need to get their act together before they can claim that the iPad is suitable for business/technical users. Eventually we were on the road going to the Kai-Iwi Lakes, just 20 minutes away. The NZFrenzy book we had described a trek through fields of cattle (mostly bulls) to the beach bordering the Tasman Sea. It took us quite a time to find the start of the walk then it was hop (or crawl) over a stile avoiding the electrified fence just a few inches away from some rather sensitive parts of our anatomy and off we went. This was the first stile of at least ten! Eventually we came to a hill and had to climb a hundred steps, of course I'm exagerating there were only 98 (I counted them). After 45 minutes in total we arrived above the beach and scrambled down a path, across a stream and braved a million midges (again I exagerate there were only 999,998), down another flight of steps to arrive at the beach itself. What a palarver, but one I wouldn't hesitate to do again to see this beach. As you step onto the beach just to the right is a small waterfall. The water makes its way to the sea, creating fantastic black and white patterns in the sand as it does so. We were the only ones there - it was magical.

Our next port of call was the Kauri Museum, although we did do the weekly grocery shop before then. Neil went into the museum, while Sue reorganised the storage in the motorhome. He came out enthusing about the machinery used to harvest trees and cut the planks and so on. He took lots of photos of said machinery, as well as kauri products. There is lots of useful information there and the staff are lovely.

Finally we made our way to Muriwai Beach, where we were staying the night. Since Neil had promised Sue that meat would be on the dinner menu he got her to buy sausages and lamb cutlets for him to BBQ in the evening. They were absolutely delicious and went well with the garlic and butter pasta Sue cooked, the gin and tonic and the red wine. Before cooking Neil took some lovely photos of the sunset over the beach with loads of surfers riding the waves in the lowering sun - almost poetic. It was a long trek today, so we decided to leave exploring Muriwai until the morning. But we still didn't get to bed this side of 11pm!

The Holiday park we stayed at was very good. Just a few minutes walk over some dunes to the sea. It was very clean as most of it was new, they were still building various chalets and facilities. We left early and went 5 minutes down the road to the place signed "Gannet Colony". The Gannets were quite a way away at the top of cliffs between here and the Murimai beach car park. Someone we had met on our journey mentioned that you could see them really close, less than a metre away, so we figured there must be another viewing platform. There was, at the top of a set of wooden stairs from the beach car park. We spent ages watching the birds preening, courting, fighting, sitting on eggs, building nests and taking off into the sky. It was fantastic. There were terns also nesting close by. There was also a giant blowhole that could be seen from the platform and water would spurt out of it as the waves pushed into the cave feeding it.

We then went on to Bethell's Beach, which is stunning. There are black sand dunes and behind them is a large lake that feeds a river that runs across the North end of the beach. There are various nooks and crannies in the cliffs and the sand is so fine it effortlessly blows across the beach in a large wind, which we had. People surf, walk their dogs and ride horses on the beach, but when we were there it was more or less deserted apart from a few surfers. There are some interesting rock formations at the South end of the beach including a huge cave.

Leaving Bethell's we went to Piha Beach. This one had more people on it. It was shallow for quite a way out into the sea and there was a huge rock on the beach called Lion Rock. It must be about 100 metres high at least. There are some dilapidated steps that go to the top, but you would have to be a mouintain climber, or utterly fearless of heights to go up them. Though quite a few people made the attempt. There is a lovely footbridge to the beach that is designed to resemble NZ's long-finned eel. It snakes across a stream and has metal eel sculptures set into the floor representing the eel's life cycle, from egg to fully grown eel. It is really very charming.

After Piha our last port of call before heading back through Auckland was Karekare Beach. However, we did not go to the beach, but to the waterfall a 5-minute walk away. There are two falls, a small one another that is much larger. This second one is spectacular, as you will be able to see from the photos (once they are avaiable). We were both astounded by this waterfall.

We had had a few minor problems with the motorhome so while we were passing through Auckland we took the opportunity to call in at the Wilderness base to get them fixed. Then it was a race out of Auckland (well actually it was a snail's pace because of the rush-hour traffic) to get to Miranda where we were freedom camping for the night at a spot called Ray's Rest. We decided to stop at a hotel - more pub than hotel, in Kaiaua where we had the first meal we had not cooked ourselves since picking up the motorhome. I had fried-egg and bacon burger, with all the trimmings, while Sue had a very tasyty steak sandwich. Then it was off the Ray's Rest a few miles down the road, where I am writing this part of the blog. Early start again tomorrow to go to the Coromandel Peninsular.

We got up early (again) and left Ray's Rest to make our way down to the Coromandel Peninsular. We had debated whether to "do" the peninsular or travel down to Rotorua, since rain is expected for most of the weekend. In the end Neil took the executive decision to go to the peninsular. It was the right decision, we went through Thames, then up the road that runs along the East side of the Firth of Thames. This is a fantastic road with unobstructed views of the sea all the way up it and plenty of laybys to pull over. There are some lovely little communities with very interesting houses most of the way on the right-hand side. We stopped at a layby next to a small colony of shags. Each one vieing to have its picture taken.

We took the turning onto road 309 to Whitianga. This is a winding road, gravel for the most part that climbs up into the mountains then back down again. part way along it we pulled over to see the Waiau waterfall, then just a little way further on we stopped again to see some more Kauri trees. Neil managed to hug one, though its girth was about 15m, so he couldn't get his arms all the way round it. There is an unuasual sight here, called the Siamese Kauri. Two separate trees sprouted close to each other, probably 1000 years ago, and ran out of space when they expanded sideways, so they have eventually grown together at the base for about 3 metres.

We then drove on to Whitianga and took the passenger ferry across the small estuary to Flaxmill Beach. The ferry was piloted by a chatty guy but the skipper was actually his dog. He told me the dog indicated to turn to port by a single bark and two barks meant turn to starboard, but I think he was telling me a shaggy dog story. On the other side we climbed Shakespear Point where there is a magnificent vista over Mercury Bay (so called after the fact that the time for Mercury to transit the Sun was accurately measured on Captain Cook's voyage in 1796). Prior to then it was known to the Maoris as Te Whanganui-o-Hei - The Great Bay of Hei. We then went back the way we had come, along the beach, but the tide was coming in and it was a bit hairy in places as we waded shin-deep along a 50m streatch of shoreline. Finally we had a nice meal (calamari salad and shrimp and avocado salad) at one of the restaurants in Whitianga opposite the ferry.

We decided then that we would miss out Cathedral Cove, but go on to Hot Water Beach. This was fun, watching people shoveling sand for all they were worth digging holes on the beach with spades purchased for $15. Neil was chatting to a young couple who had dug a reasonable sizes hole (or rather she had while he gave her helpful instructions), when a large wave came and washed away most of what had taken them half an hour to accomplish as well as soaking their clothes that they had put on the sand behind the hole for safety. They were quite philosophical about it and showed Sue how to dig her feet in the sand to about half-shin depth to experience water that was not far off boiling! After this we decided to "hot-foot" it down to our next camping site, which was almost 2 hours away on roads that wound their way up the mountains then down the other side. This campsite is brilliant. It is freedom-camping, so no facilities (other than a WC) and it has 35 spaces for motorhomes, but we are the only ones here - perfect! Up early tomorrow on our way to Rotorua.

SELECTION OF PHOTOS NOW ON THE BLOG FOR EACH DAY

Left the camp site early (we were still the only people there) and doubled back to go to the Karangahake Gorge. This was a large gold mining settlement and its story can be seen when you visit. There is a lot to do here, but we settled mainly for a walk down the "windows track". This goes through several pitch black tunnels with some holes in the side that are the "windows". We had a pitiful torch with us which didn't help much, but both us, Sue in particular, did brilliantly without getting our feet too wet, or bumping our head on the tunnel sides. The poor illumination from the torch had a fantastic side effect - it meant that we discovered there were gloworms on the ceiling. They looked like tiny stars in the dark. There were disused mineshafts and the "windows" offered a great opportunity to see the river below as it cascaded over rapids. This really is an amazing place with lots more to see. It was great, even though the weather was drizzly most of the time.

From the gold mine we went another 5km back on ourselves to visit the Owharoa Falls. These were easily reached via a very short walk from the car park and were quite spectacular.

After the falls we carried on down SH2 to go to Mt Maunganui. On a clear sunny day the views from the top of this volcano must be stunning, but it was a dull drizzly day when we got there, so we decided not to stay but to drive on to the Okere Falls and Kaituna Rapids. The falls are lovely, but as you travel along the footpath you start to here lots of shrieking going on. Then round the corner you see a photographer on a platform focussing on a fast flowing rapid with a drop of 7m. Then you see where all the shrieking originated as a boat with about 8 people in it shoots this rapid, plunging into a pool of foaming water where 2 or 3 of the occupants are ejected into the water - hence the shrieking. Usually 3 or 4 boats follow in sequence. It looks to be great fun (to watch).

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We then moved on to Hamurana Springs, where there is a beautiful walk through what seems a forest of giant redwoods, which are the tallest living things on Earth. These were huge, even though they were only planted 90 years ago. Some redwoods live to over 2,500 years old. The redwoods are by the side of a river with wonderfully clear water, which sports black swans, ducks and trout. This water wells up from a fisure in the river bed from which flows half a million litres of pure water per hour that has been filtered underground for over 70 years before rising to the surface again at a constant 12°C day in day out. This is a magical place and well worth the $18 entry fee, which goes towards its upkeep.

Finally we decided to call it a day early and make our way to the Top 10 Holiday Park in Rotorua, where we planned to stay the night. We were lucky, we should have booked as they were almost full. The lady on reception managed to squeeze us in though and while Neil went to empty the poo cassette and grey water and fill up with fresh water Sue started the laundry and had a restful half-hour in the thermal pool that is a feature of this holiday park. Neil was late getting his session in the thermal pool as the pipe from the grey-water tank had separated from the outlet pipe and as soon as he opened the valve it started to come out under the motorhome instead of into the dump drain. Neil then had to strip off and do his Mac the plumber impression, bang several times on the pipes and declare the problem fixed. The thermal pool was a welcome relief after all that hassle.

We decided to walk (20 mins) to "Eat Streat" in Rotorua. This is like Bar Street in Paphos, but with eateries instead of bars. We had a lovely meal, starting with a shared pot of some of the biggest mussels we had ever seen, then Sue had stone-cooked lamb and Neil stone-cooked rib-eye steak. "Stone-cooked" is a misnomer as it is not cooked but comes on a very hot stone platter and you yourself cut up the meat and cook it on the hot stone. In any case it was delicious!

First stop today was a 5 minute walk to Kuiro Park adjacent to the holiday park. There was a rugby pitch at the nearer end and geothermal vents at the other. It was interesting to walk along a pathway with lovely trees growing just metres away from boiling water and miniature mud geysers. Then we used the last of the WiFi facilities at the holiday park to download e-mails and upload the part of the blog written last night.

We drove to the Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland - no really it is officially called that! What a fantastic place with hot springs, baubbling mud and sulphur fumeroles. We spent quite a bit of time here and loved every minute of it. There were lakes of every color, from crystal clear to orange, blue, green and flourescent green! We were blown away with this last one at the end of a long loop that shows off the area to it best.

From here it was on to the Aratiatia Rapids on the Waikato River. When you get there the falls are nothing apecial in fact they are dry. But at 10am, 12 noon, 2pm and 4pm they open the sluice gates in the dam above the rapids and millions of gallons of water rush down the river to create a spectacular event. There were a few other people around to watch the event, but they were forgotten when the sluice gates opened.

Then on to Huka Falls. We thought we would get there, spend 5 minute photographing then be on our way. In actual fact we spent about three quarters of an hour watching this phenomenon. It was stupendous. If we thought Aratiatia was a great gushing of water it paled into insignificance compared to Huka. Well maybe that was a biy of hyperbole on my part, but we cannot stress how fantastic Huka Falls are.

We decided to freedom camp for the night in the car park at Orakei Korako, another geothermal wonderland. Camping in a car park sounds aweful, but when we arrive the very nice lady who runs the site opened the toilets for our use overnight. She then told us about the park and how the lake in front of which we were parked had areas, including one just 5 metres from our motorhome, where the water is very warm. This water is crystal clear and very good for the skin. Sue could hardly wait to go skinny-dipping, while Neil got very excited at paddling in a depth half way up his shins. We can have a lie-in tomorrow as the park opens at 8am, which means we will beat any crowds being bussed up from Rotorua.

Got up early-ish and sue had a paddle in the thermal pool again. Met a young Dutch couple and we went to the visitor centre at 8am sharp when Dianne opened. We bought our tickets and her husband ferried us across to the other side of the lake. On Neil's request he did a short tour of the lake first. We landed next to the mineral terraces and started out along the wooden walkway that goes through and around the site. First we came to diamond geyser, of course it wasn't "geysering", but we could imagine how it must be when it did. Then we came to Sapphire Geyser, This was bubling and throwing out some superheated water, but not much. Then on to the Artist's Pallete, the name gives it away and a clear but boiling lake with multiple colours arond its edges. We went on to see bubbling mud pools and a geothermal cave, which is now out of bounds since the earthquake that hit Christchurch also caused some rockfalls here and it is deemed too dangerous to enter. All in all this park is a brilliant place to go, we spent 2 hours going round it.

Then we travelled to the outskirts of Taupo for a walk to Whakamoenga Point (don't forget "wh" is pronounced "f"). It was a 20-minute trek, for the most of it easy walking. At the end is flat rock, which looks to be a "petrified" beach. There is also a weird sculpture on the beach just before you get to the end (see the photo).

Then we went into Taupo itself and called in at the local I-Site (tourist office) to see if it would be possible to have a boat trip to the rock carvings just past Whakamoenga point, which date way back to (wait for it) the 1070s. We booked on the Barbary, a sailing boat (with a quiet, odourless electric engine) that has a larger than life female skipper. The boat trip was a nice relaxing one and the carvings were very intersting. On the way back the skipper unfurled the sails and cut the engine and we zipped along at a speed just slightly faster than a Yorkshireman reaching for his wallet to buy a pint, since there was no wind at the time. The lake itself is huge, formed by extreme volcanic explosions, the first one was so violent it triggered a minor ice-age, while the last, in 101AD was commented on by the Chines and the Romans as it caused crop failure and brilliant red skys for over a year.

Finally we looked at the Wildernessts Book, provided by the motorhome company, for a Freedom campsite for the night. We found one that looked promising that had a "gourmet" cafe attached. But, it being Sunday, it was shut when we arrived, but we stopped for the night nevertheless. Not long before we got there we saw a sign saying "Scenic Lookout", so we pulled into it to see what it was. The scenic point overlooked the Whaipunga Falls - quite impressive. Off to Napier tomorrow after (hopefully) a full-English breakfast in the cafe.

Left before the cafe opened, so no full-English breakfast for Neil. Drove into Napier. It looks to be a lovely place, with lots of art deco type of architecture. Then on to Hastings, where we stopped at an i-Site place to ask a couple of questions:

• Are there any wineries that you can stay overnight in? Not that I know of.
• Can I get WiFi anywhere? Yes here, it's free (but very slow).
• Is there a honey farm around here? Yes in Havelock North - here is a map
• Is it easy to change the InterIslander Ferry booking from Friday to Wednesday? Yes shouldn't be a problem.

So on we went to the Arataki Honey visitor's Centre. This was very well organised and very interesting. There were so many things I never knew I didn't know about honey and bees! We tasted lots of different types of honey and that helped us decide which 3 types we wanted to buy.

Next we drove over slow winding roads to Waihi Falls, which were brilliant to see, but in deciding to go there we ate up a lot of mileage and time and couldn't make it to Martinborough, where we had hoped to stay overnight. We only made it to Ekatahuna, but found a very nice little campsite there which sported powered sites for only $16 and clean toilets and showers. We could have BBQd, but didn't have any meat with us, so Sue did her gourmet chef act and rustled up a lovely salad and after our kiwi fruit dessert we had some of the Arataki honey on Tiger bread. A feast fit for a king, or at least his page's manservant's maid. Neil logged his surface pro on to the internet using his phone as a WiFi hotspot and went onto the InterIslander Ferry website. Here he brought forward our ferry crossing from Friday to Wednesday. We will freedom camp overnight at a place on the shore a few kilometres away from the ferry terminal tomorrow night, so we can make the 9am ferry comfortably.

Left the campsite, but not before Neil saw a sign there that said "Free Eggs & Herbs". He took this to mean I'd cook him and nice omellete for breakfast, instead of him havig his bowl of cereal, Dream on!! We then made our way to Castlepoint. This is at the end of a road that takes about an hour to travel. However the two hours journey are well worth it. There is a lovely bay there and of course the most iconic of lighthouses. We made our way up the 250 steps to the lighthouse and then walked a barely discernable path along the ridge on which it is built. It was absolutely magic!

Then, on to Wellington where we drove along the little bays to the East and South. This is a lovely little road with a 40kmph speed limit that makes it easy to do. The views are gorgeous. At the end of the drive we went up Happy Valley Road to a small suburb called Brooklyn. We called in a sports bar, that was packed, to have a meal. The reason it was packed was today was the Melbourne Cup , the most famous Australian horse race. It was won by Rekindling. For today they had a "Buy One Meal, Get One Free", so it turned out to be quite a stroke of luck for us.

The campsite for the day was back down Happy Valley road to Owhiro Bay. On the way we stopped off at Carlucci's Mini-Golf. which is an extremely quirky plce with rusting metal sculptures all around and some of the most interesting crazy-golf holes we've ever seen. Neil won! Then we went to the freedom camping area. It was very crowded but we managed to bag the last space. It is supposedly illegal to parke there other than in a self-contained motorhome but most people seem to have ignored this. Overnight we had quite a storm, with torrentlial rain and very heavy winds. The Motorhome was tossed around quite a bit and even Neil was woken. Ferry tomorrow.

Got up well in time to make the ferry check-in at 8am. That is before Neil misread the satnav and sent us down a tunnel. Then the satnav tried to send us down a road that was blocked off for roadworks. Then Sue saw a sign saying "Cook Strait Ferry", but pointed it out too late, so Neil did a U-turn into a part of the docks, where a lady told us that was the wrong ferry (Bluebridge), InterIslander was further along. All this time Sue was getting more and more up-tight. When we got to the ferry (20 mins before final registration) The queue for the motorhomes was full so they sent us to a place apart from the others. Then Sue worried that we'd be forgotton. This became more obvious when latecomers were being loaded before us. Then, almost at the end a man came over to ask us to board. Then Sue worried that we'd be last to leave the boat and miss good travelling time. As it turned out we were amongst the first to disembark.

We spent most of the time on deck taking photos as we passed across the Cook Straits and into Queen Charlotte Sound. It was awesome!! The Journey flew by and in no time we were disembarking in Picton. I had to fill up on diesel and was in for a shock when I saw that diesel was about ¢40 per litre more expensive than on the North Island! Sue had been studying our books and suggested we first stop at Pelorus Bridge, where there are some nice walks, one over an 80 metre long swing bridge. The river is also reputed to be the warmest on the South Island, so Sue had to check it out by swimming in it. Neil took photos - it was COLD.

By now it was getting late in the afternoon, so we decided to go to the Top10 holiday resort in Motueka, via Nelson The scenery we passed by was spectacular. We picked up some lamb chops, sausages and ready cut chips and Neil BBQd these (except for the chips) for dinner, shortly after we both spent half an hour or so in the hot tub they have on-site for members.

Faffed around a bit too much this morning. Tried to update the blog, but the quality of the Internet connection was abysmal, so left it after several tries. Then had to fillup with clean water and empty the grey-water (the poo-cassette was emptied last night). Eventually got away an hour later than planned. Fed the coordinates of the first stop into the satnav and started out in the opposite direction. This wasn't a mistake, we needed to call into Motueka town itself for provisions.

Finally on the road again, over Takaka Hill, but when it warns you of very windey bends (some hairpin) for the next 25 km you know it is more than what we in Cyprus would call a "Hill". We arrived at Paynes Ford limestone park. This is mainly used by serious rock climbers - we met a couple when we were there and were impressed that Neil had absailed down the sheer cliff face of Devil's Leap. Sue kept quiet while the guys tried to figure how a near-70 year-old had managed to do that without any proper climbing equipment in flip-flops. There is a pool there, but much too cold, even for Sue.

Next stop was Wainui Falls. These 20 metre high falls were gushing and spray was going everywhere. To get to the falls you had to negotiate a small ford and a swingbridge. It is a lovely walk and just before the falls is a small ribbon of water that falls in a series of steps from the same height. These falls really are magical and the walk alone is great.

After the falls we went to The Grove Boulder Park. This is amazing. The boulders are huge and of such interesting shapes, many with trees growing on them. There is a huge cleft in a cliff face and sqeezing through it you are rewarded with a fantastic view out over the Tasman Sea. The walk is a loop, so you don't have to double back on yourself - the type of walk we love.

On the way over the Hill, that we had to negotiate on the way back we noticed a cave, accessible via a guided tour. Nguaru Cave was discovered in 1876 and opened to the public in 1970. Leigh, our guide, was very knowledgeable and answered our questions. The cave was brilliant and besides stalactites and stalgmites there were also bones (some fossilised) of animals that had fallen into the cave and died there, including a Kiwi and a Moa (a huge flightless bird, larger than an ostritch, now extinct). In one large area of the cave Leigh demonstrated the acoustics by giving a haunting rendition of "Haleluja" in the Maori language.

Finally, decided to go hell for leather to get closer to Kaikoura for tomorrow and freedom camp at Maruia Falls. Unfortunately the track down to the falls from the main road was in a pretty rough state with lots of mud and overhanging branches so we decided not to risk it. Instead we found a grassey area just past where a JCB was parked next to a large mound of gravel. Another English couple in a Wilderness motorhome were already there, but he shifted his vehicle over so we could both share the spot. Not the best of locations - in fact the worst one we have encountered so far. Let's hope it's the last.

Woke early (nothing new there then) and decided an executive decision had to be made. Looking at our jouney, now that Belnheim to Kaikoura was not an option it would mean a lot of doubling back on not-too-interesting roads. The consensus was to phone the "Dolphin Encounter" people to cancel our booking. We pulled into a petrol station at Springs Junction, filled up on diesel ($100) and phoned. They were very good about it and cancelled our booking without a quibble. So we went through Reefton and on towards Greymouth. Before arriving in Greymouth we took the scenic route to Arthur's Pass skirting Lake Brunner.

We visited the Nelson's Creek Reserve, an old gold mining town. Well in fact they didn't mine the gold, they panned (or fossicked, as they called it) for gold. There were some very interesting (and impressive) man-made tailrace canyons to channel water. From there we moved on to the Brunner coal mine, brick and coke works. This is an impressive area, with an easy 1 hour self-guided tour. In 1896 there was a terrible explosion and everone underground, 65 men and boys, as well as horses, was killed. About an hour and a half before the horses were due to go underground they were panicky and refused to go. Eventually the miners blindfolded them and led them in backwards. The horses, but not the men, had obviously smelt the fire-damp gasses that eventually caused the explosion. There is a memorial there for this disaster and also for others at different mines in New Zealand.

Then we visited the Devil's Punchbowl falls. There are a lot of steps here, but if you take it slow it's not too bad. After we had climbed up a couple of dozen Neil met a lady who told him there were 380 to go. "380!" Neil exclaimed, "No" she replied "I said 318". "Oh that's all right then" Neil commented dryly. Actually there are just a couple shy of 350 steps. Is it wourth climbing them then climbing them back down again? YOU BET!! The falls are absolutely stunning and looking in the opposite direction from the falls you see the snow-covered mountains on the other side of the road.

Finally we hunted through the "Wildernessts" camping site guide provided by the hire company. We settled on site SB14, which is a stunning site with the river on one side and snow-capped mountains all around - heaven.

Woke up with cloud/mist all around. It took a little while to lift but we were on our way by then, travelling down Arthur's pass towards Castle Hill. This is a field of boulders. Not very interesting you'd say, but you'd be wrong. Some of the boulders were several time bigger than a house and all different shapes, with pathways in between and lookouts on top with sheer drops. It was good to stretch our legs and blow the cobwebs from our eyes. We took far too many photos and it'll take ages to decide which ones to delete.

Then on to Akaroa. Stopped off in Little River for one of the best BLTs Neil had eaten, while Sue had a scrummy carrot cake. Had a look at the small gallery there as well. There was a weird "hotel" here where the rooms were built from grain silos, with bikes and canoes hanging below the balconies! The idea was to go to Akaroa for an hour or two then travel back to Christchurch to stay overnight and have a nice meal then back to Akaroa, but Neil hadn't realised the distance between the two places. Sue pointed out the problem then a joint decision was made to carry on to Akaroa, but stay there overnight. We had stunning views of the bay and town as we travelled down the "tourist route" and easily found the TOP10 campsite just before entering the town proper. We parked overlooking the gloriously coloured waters of the bay. The turqouise blue water of the bay is caused by the glacial silt in the water.

We phoned the company where we had booked a "swimming with dolphins" cruise for Tueasday and asked if we could bring it forwad to tomorrow (Sunday). They managed to do this. When we booked in to the campsite Sue asked if there was any way of seeing penguins while we were here. The girl booked us with Pohuta Penguins. This is a business run by a very conservation-oriented family, who have in the region of 3000 Australasion Little Penguins (including White Flippered Penguins) nesting on their land in Flea Bay. This was a lovely tour, hosted by the daughter, Joey, who got us helping her feeding the friendly sheep, then taking stock of certain nests (whether they had eggs or chicks, whther any predation had taken place etc.), which was interesting to do. We then went to a hide to watch out for penguins coming ashore. One single one tried but found a seal sleeping directly in his path and got scared back into the water. Then another seal turned up - not good news. But finally a group of 8 or so penguins picked up the courage to scramble past the seal, who didn't seem too interested. These spent the next 20 minutes or so on the rocks preening their feathers while waiting for it to get a bit darker before making the way back to their burrows. We heard the sound of baby penguins calling for food and the obvious sound of (penguins) mating. This family has done so much to help conserve these fantastic little creatures and if ever you are in this part of the world please support them by going on one of their tours, or staying in their accomodation. Tomorrow we move on to Christchurch.

Had a lie-in this morning - didn't get up till 7am! Did a few chores, sorted out some e-mail and did a bit more blogging as we didn't have time last night. It drizzled a little bit but this soon stopped leaving the day a bit overcast. Drove half a mile along the harbour front to a parking place we'd discovered the day before, then went to sign in for the "Swimming with Dolphins" tour with Black Cat Cruises. The staff were very friendly and helpful. We did a bit of souvenir shopping and spent a few minutes people watching as the population of Akaroa (624 in the 2013 census) swelled by more than two thousand as the cruise liner, that had parked in the bay overnight, disgorged two-thirds of its passengers. Sometimes they get 2 liners arive at once! Then back to Black Cat to meet Hugh, our guide. He gave us the usual safety spiel and togged us up with mask, snorkel, booties and wetsuit. Then on the boat to meet Andrew, one of the skippers looking after us.

We made our way into the bay, stopping from time to time as pods of dolphins showed up, only to disappear on us quickly. Eventually a pod of 3 or 4 stayed around for long enough for us to climb down the ladder on the back and enter the water. The shock to the system was quite something as the temperature was about 14°C. But after opening the neck of the wetsuit to let water in, that then heated up to body temperature and acted as an insulator to the cold, it wasn't so bad at all. Unfortunately there was a very big swell (it got even bigger on the next swim as by then we were almost out of the harbour in ocean waters), and the 7mm wetsuits, while keeping you very bouyant also made you a bit unstable so you were continuously trying not to end on your back floating like a ship's buouy.

Neil took his camera with him in its underwater housing and Andrew gave him a tip as he left the boat. "Try tapping on the housing with your wedding ring" he said. He tried it several times to no avail but after about 15 minutes in the water Sue shouted that there was a dolphin coming his way and sure enough one did get almost within touching distance of him (not that he would touch the dolhin as its skin is very sensitive, almost like the skin below your eye and it would be too easy to cause it damage, or pass on an infection to it). Neil tried to video it and got a few glimpses of it on camera, but, idiot that he is, he should have put the camera underwater for a better view! Nevertheless, this was a magical moment. These wonderful creatures, less thatn 1.5m long, are found most commonly around the Banks Penininsular and are on the endangered list. It was a privilege to see them like this.

After the second swim, Andrew decided the sea was getting too rough. Neil was the last one back on board and by then the swell was around 5m high. Although was all agreed that we'd had a great time Andrew said that notwithstanding the fact that we had actually swam with the dolphins he would contact his management to get them to refund a proportion of the fee. This is a reflection on how good this company is and we would not hesitate to use them again. Sure enough when we got back, after a welcome cup of hot chocolate and ginger biscuits, we each received a $40 rebate, which was very generous. The facilities back on shore were very good and we all had a hot shower before Neil went for the motorhome while Sue bought some lunch. Then it was on to Christchurch.

Left the Top10 site. Had hoped to do the gondola in Christchurch, but it was drizzly with thick rain clouds overhead so decided to move on instead. We looked at the route we had worked out last night and headed for Raiki Gorge. When we arrived there was some confusion as to where the walk started. We began to go down a track that was slightly overgrown and after about 5 minutes Sue was soaked to the skin with water that was on bushes she brushed by and her boots were sodden from the wet grass. We decided to abandon the walk.

After Sue had done a complete change of clothes we carried on. On reaching Fairlie Sue (not Neil) mentioned the world famous Fairlie Bakehouse, famed for its PIES! The satnav tried to miss out Fairlie, it must have been programmed by a vegetarian, but Neil's pie-sniffing abilities came to the fore and we were soon sat down with a salmon and bacon pie (Sue) and a venison and cranberry one (Neil). They were delicious.

Fully sated we then carried on down the Inland Scenic Highway, however the low cloud blotted out most of the scenery and were beginning to worry that Lake Tekapo and Mt Cook would be obscured when we got there. Then we saw a small patch of blue sky that got bigger and suddenly on turning a corner all the sky in front of us was blue. We arrived at Lake Tekapo and travelled up and down the East shoreline. This was absolutely spectacular. People will surely believe we doctored the photos because of the brilliant turquoise color of the water.

Then we decided to take a long gravel path to the East shore of Lake Pukaki. The satnav kept telling us to "Go Back!" but we kept on and eventually reached the lake and got a magnificent view of the snow-capped mountains, including Mt. Cook. It was thrilling and very few people come the way to be treated with such a sight. Then on down to the South end of the lake, where Sue purchased some salmon grown locally. We carried on up the west shore of the lake each lookout vying to outdo the previous one with its views of the mirror lake and the imposing Mt Cook. At the top we turned off to the right to travel less than 10 km to see the Tasman Glacier. Because of the distance the perspective makes it difficult to see how high it is and from the lookout it looks to be just a couple of meters high; it is only when one of the jet-boats sets out for it and dimininishes in size minute by minute when you realise it is about 50 metres high!

Finally we went back down the lake shore and found a lovely !wildernesst" camping site overlooking the lake and Mt Cook.

Left to go to the Clay Cliffs of Omerama, but while on the road saw a sign for Maori cave art by the side of the road so pulled in to have a look. There wasn't much to see, since the best peices were hacked out of the cliff face in the early 20th century to be packed off to museums. In doing so they damaged what remains and the removal has also caused erosion to occur - so sad.

Drove along a gravel path to get to the Clay cliffs ($5 entry fee to be placed in an honesty box). it is only at the last minute that you see the cliffs and this adds to the sense of excitement when you see them. They are very tall and the shapes are impressive. We spend some time wondering roumnd, trying to get into the very middle of the features, but sadly only managed it at one point.

Then drove along the Lake Aviemore Back Road. You get to it by driving along the top of a dam. It is a beautiful drive with lots of views of the mirror still lake as you pass by. The only problem is that the satnav does not recognise the road over the second dam at the far end of the road as a road. It tells you that to get back on SH83 you have to retrace your steps, when in fact you drive over the second dam and it is there!

Now we drove to see some "elephant" rocks that featured in the film Narnia. These too were very interesting (you must think we are a bit strange going on about rocks). There was a flock of sheep grazing aroung the rocks and a yound couple who were testing out their (non-equipment) rock climbing skills.

Then we went to see even more rocks - the famous Moeraki Boulders, via the beachfront back route. The intact ones are spheical in shape. They have a crystalline structure that grows within them, eventually shattering the boulder. The beach they are on is beautiful and goes on for miles.

Just down the road is the Katiki Point Lighthouse, a small edifice in its own grounds. Next to it though is a colony of Yellow Eyed Penguins and although they are extrememly endangered as a species, this colony seems to be thriving. We saw some on rocks and a pair came down the hill, snuck past a belicose seal and did a synchronised dive into the water.

Finally we just had time to see some lookalike Moeraki boulders. These are over at Shag Point and instead of sitting on the beach they are embedded in the tide shelf, and as such best viewed at low tide. In our opinion these are even more interesting than the ones at Moeraki, since quite a few of them have shattered in various ways to provide "baths" of water that you could, at a push, soak in. After this it was a longish drive to just outside Dunedin to freedom camp for the night at a fantastic place overlooking the sea.

Woke up with no other person, apart from ourselves, in sight. Then started out, down a windy narrow little beachside road for 6 kms then onto SH1. Pulled into a petrol station to get some diesel and Sue noticed they also had a dump station, so emptied the waste and filled up on water. Then down the road Sue bought some groceries and the nice lady at the checkout brought them to the motorhome for her, how's that for service? Later on we stopped at a deli and Sue bought Neil a Chicken Satay pie, it may sound strange but it tasted yummie. Sue did some driving while Neil feasted on his pie. After the pie-fix we decided it might be a good idea to see some sights so we set a course to Tunnel Beach.

Tunnel Beach is amazing. It is on private property but the owner has let the DOC (Department of Conservation) put a path down to it. At the end of the path is a huge, strangely shaped outcrop of land jutting into the sea. The tunnel in question is the only way down to the beach. It is about 50 or more metres in length and was hewn out of the rock by a father who wanted his daughters to be able to get to the beach! Going down the steps you navigate a few rocks and then you are on this fabulaous beach. We rounded a corner and came across a large fur seal sleeping in a large cave. The bottom of the tunnel is underwater at high tide, so we were lucky it was not far off low tide.

Then on to Nugget Point, which has a lighthouse at the end of a spit of land. The views going up to the lighthouse are fantastic, but do nothing to prepare you for the jaw-dropping views when you get to it, the "nuggets" or small islands at the end being hidden from view until the last minute. There is a viewing platform that is perched over a large drop that adds to the excitement. This is one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen.

All good things must end and we left to go to "Jack's Blowhole". This is at the end of a 30-minute trek and is a huge hole in the ground well over 50 metres across and maybe 20 metres deep, at the bottom of which is a hole leading out to the sea. Whenever a large wave hits the the other end of the hole sea comes rushing into the hole. On a really wavey day it must be awesome. Today it wasn't too wavey but the sound of the water was thunderous nevertheless.

We then drove to Curio Bay, where there is a petrified forest on the beach, or rather tide shelf. This is weird. The wood looks like wood, but when you touch it it is obviously stone. You can see individual tree stumps as well as logs. Curio Bay is where Yellow Eyed Penguins come ashore at dusk. Neil really wanted to see these birds, but in the end we had to leave before they made an appearance as we needed to get to the TOP10 site in Invercargill that we had booked. Had we not booked we would have stayed and freedom camped - pity. The girl on reception at the site, Laura, used to live and work in Marlow, just down the road from Reading where we used to live.

Arrived very late last night, so took our time leaving today. Did a few chores and the blog. Then called in at Mores Reserve in Riverton and did a 30-minute round-trip walk to the lookout. Went through a lovely little wood, echoing with bird-song. The Kaka bird has a very distinctive and interesting call. Then at the lookout we lookedout over the South coast and could see Stewart Island in the distance. Then, passing some lovely red tussocks, legged it to Te Anau, a lovely little town on the side of the lake (the largest body of fresh water in the whole of Australasia).

Called in at Real Journeys to see about booking a trip to the Te Anau glow-worm cave and a cruise on Doubtful Sound tomorrow. Since we were booking two activities we got a 20% discount! The trip to the glow-worm cave involved a 40-minute journey across Lake Te Anau. There was some beautiful scenery and the weather was perfect, if quite blustery (Sue would say it was blowing a gale). The cave was fantastic, we started out walking, then half way through we transferred to a boat that was pulled along by the guide in the pitch black. The glow-worms dotted the scenery as if they were green stars and it really was magical. It would have been nice if the walk through the cave was not as rushed, so we could see more of the fantastic way the water had carved its way through the limestone, but we really enjoyed the tour nevertheless. Off out soon for dinner.

What a day! Got up at 6am to be away by 7am, so we could take the 20-minute drive to Manapouri to register for the cruise on Doubtful Sound. First up was a 1-hour boat journey across Lake Manapouri, which had some fabulous views and we disembarked at the small settlement built up around the hydro-elecric power station that supplies almost all of its electricity to an aluminium smelting works many miles away. Then came a 45-minute coach ride to Doubtful Sound iteslf, which strictly speaking isn't a "sound" as they are carved out by rivers, it is a fiord as it was produced by glacial activity. Our driver, Ian, who is a bit of a character kept us entertained with stories about the area. He is a bit of an "anorak" when it comes to the hydro-electric station, telling us lots of interesting facts. They are in the process of replacing 3 of the power station's transformers, each of the new ones weighs almost 100 tons. Over a 4-day period they will move these by placing each one on a 10-ton low-loader, hooking this up to 4 large lorries (tugs) and shepherding this over a period of 5 hours up the narrow road we were travelling on, over culverts that they are currently strengthening, up a 1-in-5 gradient long climb and down the 1-in-6 slope on the other side. It will certainly cause some disruption during this period.

At the end of the coach journey we boarded a large catamaran. The staff were lovely and we availed ourselves of the complimentary tea and coffee before setting sail (electric engines, not an actual sail). Words fail to describe the beauty and majesty of the fiord. We travelled all the way along it to the Tasman Sea and up its three "arms". There were waterfalls and snow-capped peaks, some of us saw a few penguins swimming along and there was a large fur seal with his harem at the entrance to the sound. A local guide gave an interesting description of what we were seeing, explaining how it was formed and so on. Sue had to restrain Neil from telling him though that the word "unique" cannot be qualified, like "quite unique", "very unique" etc. this is one of Neil's bugbears and he really needs to get over it. The guy's enthusiasm was infectious and reminded Neil of David Bellamy on his TV Botany programs. This cruise was one of the best we have ever been on and would recommend it to anyone. We met a nice couple from Southampton, Jan and Steve, who asked if we minded showing them the inside of the motorhome when we got back, as they had a similar one back home in the UK.

Finally, after the return coach trip and Lake Manapouri ride, we made our way back to Te Anau, where Sue stocked up on provisions, while Neil filled up the car and refilled the LPG cylinder. Then we got a DOC Campsites leaflet and started up the road to Milford Sound. We stopped off at Mirror Lakes and, while it was quite windy, it was still possible to see the reflection of the mountains in the small "lake"/pond. Back in the car we then decided to freedom camp overnight at the last DOC campsite before Milford Sound, intending to get an early night then start out for Milford Sound early tomorrow morning.

Up and breakfasted then off to Milford Sound. We stopped off at various viewing points along the way including Marian Lake (couldn't quite reach it as the bridge was damaged in a tree-fall) and "The Chasm" a split in the ground through which a stream thundered along. We then went through the Homer Tunnel. This is single-lane controlled by traffic lights. Then eventually we reached Milford Sound itself. We had been warned by an American couple that no way should we attempt the road with a motorhome. We have no idea where they came up with this because there was no problem driving it at all. Maybe if you do it at the same time the coaches are thundering up it it may be a slight problem but not when we did it.

Milford Sound itself is basically one large car park with a cafe and a small harbour. However it is in a beautiful setting and there is a lovely boardwalk around the endge of the lake with some fantastic views of the lake and (yes, you guessed it) the snow-capped mountains. Spent an hour on this walk, it was so peaceful as there were no people around yet. Those that had come early were off on the boat trips and the ones that set out from Te Anau this morning hadn't reached town yet. Eventually had a sandwich, cake and coffee (Sue had tea with skimmed milk), served by a young girl from Brighton, and made our way back to Te Anau. Sue wanted to stop off at Mirror Lakes again, but Neil stayed in the motorhome having been got by the sandflies the day before - once bitten twice shy, or in Neil's case 250 times bitten, 251 times shy.

Went up to the Remarkables Ski Area just before entering Queenstown. Didn't go all the way to the top as the last 3 kms is gravel road and there was snow around, but the views all the way up were incredible. Then through the city to the TOP10 on the way to Arrowtown. We asked if there was anywhere to eat nearby and the girl on reception told us of somewhere just 2 minutes up the road, so after a shower we started walking, after 15 minutes we saw what looked like a posh hotel (Nugget Point), which had a Burmese restaurant ( the Bodhi Tree ) attached. This wasn't what the receptionist told us about but we called in. We were told that without a reservation we'd have to wait for about 40 minutes, so we ordered a cocktail each, which took about 20 minutes to arrive. We sipped them on the veranda overlooking the mountains and a lovely valley with a bright green river running through it. It was stunning. Eventually we were seated and the meal that came was the best we had eaten so far in New Zealand. Then a walk back down a dark road, luckily Neil had insisted on taking a torch. Jet boating tomorrow!

Got up early to go to do the "Shotover Jet", but before doing so phoned Glacier Southern Lakes Helicopters to check on tomorrow's flight. They asked if we would like to do a flight this afternoon instead and since the weather was superb, no cloud and no wind, we said yes. Then we set off to the Shotover Jet place just a couple of miles down the road back towards Queenstown. We were kitted up and got on a jet boat with 6 other people and a 22 year-old pilot called Hamish (nickname: The Hamster). He belted upstream for about half a kilometer, just missing rocks then turned round and travelled downstream and when I say "travelled" I mean belted down at over 90 kmph narrowly missing canyon walls and huge boulders in the most exciting "boat trip" ever! Did several more 360s along the way. Hamish owned up that he didn't drive his car anywhere near as recklessly as the jetboat.
Photos and videos of our "cruise" can be seen HERE.

A couple on our jet boat told us of a fully tarmaced road leading up to the ski fields at the top of Mt Coronet, so since it was on the way to Arrowtown where we were going next we decided to go up there. The views are stunning and there were some guys paragliding from the top. Sue expressed a desire to do this, as she had really loved doing it when we went to Turkey some years ago, so we booked her on a "flight" for the following day. Then on to Arrowtown. It is a lovely place with lots of boutique shops, though it was quite busy and not at all easy finding a parking space. Sue got some presents for friends and family and we both got an ice cream. The lady was horrified when Sue opened her purse to find no money in it. "No I don't take cards" she exclaimed when asked. Since Neil had already sucked on his, she didn't want them back either, so everyone was relieved when Sue found a "secret" compartment (you know, the one all women have in their purses), with just enough to pay for the ice cream.

Then it was back to Queenstown to be picked up to go to the airport. We filled in the necessary forms and soon were on the helicopter with our pilot, Andy, and a mum, dad and 19 year-old son called Louis. Sue was so excited she could hardly contain herself. Adam was great, giving a running commentary of what we were seeing, then landing softly on top of the glacier where we all alighted. Adam asked us not to go too far and when we later took off it became obvious why - there was a huge drop a few hundred metres in front of us. He flew us in to Milford Sound where we caught a boat to cruise up and down it. It is much smaller than Doubtless Sound where we were a few days ago and would fit within the "long arm" of that fiord. It is less varied than Doubtless, but the waterfalls are more spectacular. We saw fur seals and came across a group of 4 or 5 Fiordland Crested Penguins(Tawakis, about 60cms tall) down by the water's edge. Eventually they took the plunge and could be seen swimming just below the surface and breaking the surface from time to time. The ship's captain took us very close to Stewart Falls and those of us on the front of the boat got a bit of a shower, or, as the captain called it a "glacial facial". He said we would wake up tomorrow looking 10 years younger. In that case Neil asked him to reverse in and out another 4 times.

After the boat cruise we got back on the helicopter for the return trip to Queensland. The pilot showed us the Routeburn track from Milford to Glenorchy that takes about 4 days to complete, rising over mountains, along ridges and descending into hidden valleys. He also pointed out one end of the Homer Tunnel we had travelled through yesterday. After we got back we called in to Pedro's House of Lamb for a shoulder of lamb with scalloped potatoes and ate it as soon as we got back to the TOP10 site. Then it was shower and an early night.

Got up early-ish and sorted a few blog-related and e-mail items then we went to the bus stop at the entrance to the site to wait for the pickup to take Sue up Mt Coronet to throw herself off strapped to a handsome young guy. The company that she'd booked with Sky Trek picked her up and whisked her up the mountain we had driven up the day before while Neil did a few more chores like emptying the grey-water. Neil then drove to the landing strip just in time to see her land. It was amazing.

Then we drove the road to Glenorchy. This has to be one of the most beautiful roads in NZ, with fantastic vistas round almost every corner. Before we reached Glenorchy we decided to do a walk up to an old scheelite mine. Scheelite is a calcium tugstate mineral (CaWO₄) and was important for use in ordnance during the war. First you come across the "refining" shed and then further up the mountain is the mine itself. It is dangerous to go in, so we photographed from the entrance. Then it was back down the mountain to carry on the last mile or two into Glenorchy, a lovely little town.

We went back to Queenstown, stocked up on provisions, then carried on along the Crown Range Road, that seemed to climb forever, until we reached the top then followed the Cardrona River down to Wanaka, where we went to Puzzling World which is extremely quirky and very entertaining. Just opposite is a car park with some lovely shaded areas under some lovely well established trees. We decided to freedom-camp here overnight as it is right next door to the Iron Mountain track that we want to go on first thing tomorrow morning.

Got up, stepped out of the motorhome and within less than a minute was over the stile and onto the Iron Mountain loop. This takes about an hour and three quarters to walk comfortably and take in the views. The path rises to the top of iron montain, a change in elevation of about 275 metres. Going clockwise you go up a long but not too steep incline to get to the top, then you come down a shorter, but steeper slope on the way back down. The 360° views from the triangulation survey mark at the top are great. You can see the lake and snow-covered mountains as well as Wanaka itself and even Puzzling World - you can spot the maze and could use this view to cheat when you visit!

Then it was North, up SH6 towards Haast. First you travel up the East side of Lake Hawea, then the West side of Lake Wanaka. This drive rivals, and in our opinion betters the drive to Glenorchy and that is saying something. There are fabulous views and lots of places to pull over to the side to drink in the vistas. Half way up Lake Hawea we pulled over to get a close up view of Breast Hill on the other shore and then at the top we visited Bottom Bay. Someone with a scatalogical sense of humour must have decided these names were good ones.

Further North, 8 kms above Makarora Township, we came upon the Blue Pools. After a 15 minute walk from the car park you cross a swing bridge to a river that has the bluest water you could imagine. It eddied into lovely pools and there was a beach of sorts there. A Frenchman next to us on the bridge climbed over, offered to take Sue with him, and jumped in the water 10 or 15 metres below. Sue was really annoyed for not bringing any swimwear with us as she so desperately wanted to swim in the crystal clear blue waters. Though she would probably have been blue herself afterwards as the water was very cold.

We followed the Haast River valley and passed through the "Gates of Haast". There were waterfalls and little creeks galore. We stopped at one of the creeks (Wilson's Creek), where there is an old decrepit wooden bridge spanning the Wilson Gorge, next to the modern one. We climbed onto this old bridge and took some photos of the creek. Then we scrambled down to the small creek and boulder-hopped by the side of the water, then waded through it knee-deep, to see around the corner. While the water was freezing cold it was worth it to see the water spilling over rock formations with a huge rent in the rock going way up in the sky. We knew we were going to get wet so Neil decided to hide the keys to the motorhome in the undergrowth, rather than risk soaking them. Guess what? He then spent 10 minutes trying to find them again!

On this road we visited 4 waterfalls (it seemed like more), Boundary Creek, Fantail Falls, Thunder Falls and Roaring Billy Falls. All were spectacular in their own way. There were others we could have visited, but it was getting to be late afternoon and we had done a lot today and were quickly tiring. So we decided to stop at a holiday park at Haast River so Neil could sort out a small problem we had with the grey-water and Sue could do some laundry. It is a pleasant enough site, just of SH6, short of the main bridge over the Haast River. Tomorrow we journe to the Fox and Franz-Josef Glaciers - can't wait.

Crossed the Haast River over a long single-lane bridge. It was so long it had two passing places along it. Just after we had passed over it a cyclist went in the opposite direction. He probably held up the traffic for 5 or 10 minutes! Next we came to Ships Creek, where we got out of the motorhome and were inundated by sand-flies. These are a pest up most of the West coast, but this was ridiculous, even with bug-repellant on they would find places you'd missed, like between your fingers, and attack!! Walked on the beach and immediately saw a pod of about 20 dolphins, split up in smaller groups of three or four. Several of them were swimming parallel to the beach just a few metres out, probably hoovering up the whitebait that frequent these waters. One dolphin was particularly frisky leaping out of the water and performing tail smacks. It was magical. We watched them for about half an hour.

Then we drove to Knights Point, which is basically just a photo opportunity of the West Coast, but when I say "just" it doesn't do it justice. The views are lovely and on a bright sunny day, which unfortunately this wasn't, it would be to die for. Then after providing a tasty snack for the sand-flies we went on to Lake Paringa. Once bitten ---- we decided to smear bug-repellant over every exposed bit of flesh and you could see the sandflies try to land on you, take one wiff then fly away looking for sweeter-smelling flesh. Lake Paringa was very "mirror-like" so amenable to some nice photos. Then it was on to Fox Glacier.

on the way we passed a slamon farm with a cafe. As we zoomed past we looked at each other and said "lunch", so 1½ kms down the road, which was the first convenient place to turn back we made our way there. What a lovely place. They had 5 large tanks for the salmon and some swimming in water outside these. The cafe was lovely, very clean and served by very friendly staff. We had salmon sashimi to start with followed by salmon and egg quiche and carrot cake. It was all very fresh and extremely tasty. Then Sue was about to buy a big can of bug repellant when the lady at the counter told her that the roll-on was much better - it was what the locals use. She could see Neil doing the "West Coast Haka", you know, slap your arms, then your thighs, legs and head and repeat and said this would prevent that.

Fox Glacier was great, unfortunately it is retreating at a huge number of knots. The original viewing area from just 2 years ago no longer gives a view, so the D.O.C. has build a new one, half a kilomiter further up the valley (and further for you to walk). But the walk, most of it uphill is still worth it. One wonders though how much longer this viewing platform will be used. There is something wonderful about seeing huge amounts of ice in this state, while being warm, in a tee-shirt and shorts.

From the glacier we went to Lake Matheson, for another 1½-hour walk round it - we are gluttons for punishment. If, as we did, you go clockwise round it the walk starts out a bit boring as the lake is mostly obscured by trees and NZ flax in the water. However the second half of the walk has some stunning views. Then we had to make an executive decision because of the time and we decided to miss out Franz-Josef Glacier. The books say it is difficult to see anyway without going on an official guided tour. We did stop off in the town to get some provisions from what must be the busiesy grocery store in NZ, then went to the Otto McDonald D.O.C. campside next to Lake Mapourika, which has the distinction of having the smelliest toilet I've visited in NZ. Though still a nice place to stay.

Up late-ish then on North to the Whataroa River, which has some of the bluest waters around. There is a small helicopter company there, Glacier Country Scenic Flights, that seem to operate on a shoestring. We enquired about having a trip but Kevin, the owner, said he wasn't sure if they'd be flying, Fox and Franz Josef helicopters were grounded, but his son Josh would fly up the canyon and hopefully it would be clear. He offered to let us go and if we had to turn back there would be no charge. We got in this little four-seater, Sue next to the pilot and Neil behind him and took off. Sure enough after about 3 or 4 minutes we were above this thin layer of cloud and it was brilliant sunshine. Josh gave a good commentary on the journey and everywhere you looked there were majestic peaks rising into the clear blue sky. Josh pointed out Mt Cook which we had visited a couple of weeks ago (was it really that long?) and we saw the Tasman Glacier, NZ's largest, and Tasman Lake, where we had stopped off when we went to Mt Cook, and where we took photos of the snout of the glacier. This was a brilliant trip, taken on a spur of the moment. We enjoyed it so much we were enthusing about it to all and sundry who were on the ground trying to decide whether to do it or not. A couple of minutes later Kevin announced that the helicopter was now grounded as Josh had come very close to illegally flying below 500 feet on our trip because of the cloud and he wouldn't go up again until it lifted more. There were a lot of dissapointed peoplw.

Having had a stupendous morning so far we sped on towards Hokitika and decided that a 25 km (x2) detour to visit Hokita Gorge should be worth it. We had a bit of trouble parking when we arrived, which was surprising as it is so far out of the way. But when we saw the brilliant turquoise water flowing underneath the swing bridge with a huge boulder on which some were standing, it was obvious why it was so popular. This is a magical place, even with people around. When Sue got down to the water she regretted not bring her swimming costume and a towel. But what the heck, why should that stop her. So she stripped to panties and tee-shirt and swam in this gorgeous pool to the applause of a few of the spectators.

We then stopped off in Hokitika, did the touristy look-around. Visited a glass-blowing studio where we bought some glassware as a belated 30^th anninersary present to ourselves. We had been wanting to have whitebait, a speciality of the West Coast, so we popped into a cafe, they were just rubbing the lunch menu off the board, but although we were 5 minute past lunch-time (2:30) and a couple of hours before dinner-time (5pm) the cook agreed to cook us some. We were a bit surprised therefore when the food arrived that it was in the form of an omelette! It tasted nice, but probably not as good as a plate of crispy fried whitebait would have. So then it was provisioning time and off through Greymouth to Cobden Beach (a fantastic Wilder-nesst) just metres from the sea with no other motorhomes for miles. We looked at the tide tables for tomorrow, since once of the beach walks we want to do has to start around 1½ hours before low tide, else you can't get round the headland, while the othe place we want to go to, Punaikaki pancake rocks, is best seen at high tide.

Up at the crack of dawn to start out for Motukiekie Beach. On the way out Neil took a photo of a sign that showed a penguin with the word "Caution" underneath and speculated that either we should be careful not to run over any penguins in the motorhome, or be careful and lock the doors as there might be hordes of marauding penguins mugging unsuspecting tourists. Got to the beach at 7:45 and low tide was around 9am, so just perfect. Scott Cooke in his NZFrenzy book says that this is the South Island's most scenic beach walk and he is not wrong! All along this coast is dramatic scenery and this beach has it all, in spades. We probably took more photos on this beach than anywhere else. Wherever you looked you just couldn't help snapping away. At the end of the walk we passed a group of what looked like professional photographers and they were spending ages photographing what we believe is the least interesting part, but which they obviously thought was fantastic. We walked for over an hour going further and further along the beach. Eventually we got to a corner and turning it there was a shallowish, but reasonably fast-flowing creek emptying out into the sea. We went throuch a little tunnel, formed naturally by the waves, and carefully waded across the creek, then turned and saw a very large archway in the rock above us. It was brilliant. On the way back we had to cross an area with some large stones partly in the water, Neil said several times to be careful, so it was ironic that he was the one to stumble and fall. Unfortunately he sprained his wrist, so Sue had to drive for the rest of the day.

Next it was on to Punakaiki to see the "pancake rocks". Not knowing what to expect we thought we'd drive up, take a photo or two and drive off. Little did we know we'd spend about 2 hours here! The longer we stayed the closer it came to high tide and the more spectacular the blowholes became. Neil spent ages trying to capture a lovely tern on camera, while Sue must have spent a good three-quarters of an hour trying to get that extra special shot of the blowhole! The D.O.C. have done a very job here. Most of the loop is accessible to wheelchairs and the viewing platforms are very well thought out. The people in the shops and information centre are a joy to speak to. Sure there were lots of tourists, but you have to expect that and if you hung back a bit at each viewing platform you soon had a few minute to yourself before the next lot came round taking a snap and then moving on.

Scott Cook describes a Maori cave near the Fox River bridge. We stopped and walked over the old decrepit wooden bridge that used to carry the road before trying to decypher his directions. We ended up almost walking in the river until we decided we had gone wrong somewhere. We found the way and soon it looked like we were in someone's back garden and the owner was on the verandah reading the local paper. Although we knew this was public access we thought it only polite to ask and he confirmed this but said that the cave, which went through the cliff and was open on both sides, was shut for safety reasons. We respected this and took photos from outside, though it didn't seem too dangerous to us. Then it was on the road again.

We thought we'd do the Cape Foulwind walkway thinking it was a 1½-hour loop, but in fact that is one-way. So we decided just to do about one-quarter of it. We didn't reach the seal colony, but it was pleasant enough. We then stopped in Westport for some provisioning and cellphone access so we could download our e-mails and upload the blog, then it was onto the Karamea Highway for a night at one of the "nessts" at Hector Beach. We are parked overlooking the beach watching the sun go down - actually that last bit is only figuratively speaking as there is a bit of cloud. We set off tomorrow for Karamea and the Oparara Basin.

Early start again (so what's new?) as we have a long journey over the mountains to Karamea and the Oparara Basin. We thought we would go to a nearby beach, Mokihinui, that has the remains of a shipwreck on it. You could see the skeleton of the ship and the boiler nearby. It is such a lovely beach with miles and miles of sand with not a single soul on it apart from us and the birds. Then we went to go on a gorge walk that also has a wreck on it, this time a train. Unfortunately you have to cross a couple of bridges and these were boarded up as being unsafe, what a shame as from what we could see it looked to be quite and interesting walk.

So we started the 1½-hour drive up to Karamea and the Oparara basin. This is a little-visited area of NZ mainly because of the single-road 3-hour return jurney. But the basin has some wonderful sights that we so wanted to see. Sue had to drive and it certainly wasn't the easiest drive she had ever done - in fact probably the most diffcult, but she was up to the task and eventually we passed through Karamea and arrived at the start of the 14 km gravel track to the Oparara Basin car park. In the bumf about it they say that the track is unsuitable for LARGE motorhomes. However at the start of the track itself it says unsuitable for campervans, which are smaller than our motorhome. We looked at each other and decided aganst it. We decided to go back to Karamea to try to catch an organised tour. We called in at the Karamea Information Centre and had a chat with Brian, the guy there. He told us that the guided tours had already gone. One suggestion was to hire a car locally and drive that, instead of the motorhome that was too wide. A local lady though advised against it saying she'd driven up there and it was the scariest thing she'd ever done. So in the end we decided to do the Nihau loop walk and the walk up to Scott's Lookout. We then drove all the way back up the road and did these walks instead. At the lookout we met a pleasant young girl who had been touring NZ for some months and had a month to go. So the moral of this story is: if want to see the Oparara Basin sights make sure you book an organised trip at least 1 day ahead.

Sue then made the journey back towards Westport, where we went on the Charming Creek walk. This was a lovely, if long, out-and-back walk along an old disused railway track. There was a swingbridge near the end that afforded excellent views of a lovely waterfall, then passing through a second railway tunnel through the rock were some spectacular views of the river. Then it was back to the car to head to the TOP10 campsite at Carter's Beach for a well deserved shower and G&T. There was a small family-run restaurant just a couple of hundred metres up the road so we hobbled along for a meal - lamb shank for Neil and Gurnard and chips for Sue. The locals and the owners and staff were all exceeding friendly and wanted to know where we came from and where we'd been in NZ. One of them commented that we'd seen more of his country than he had. Then after a perfect susnset it was time to return to our motorhome.

Left Carters Beach early, Sue still driving as Neil's wrist not 100%. We got to the Buller Gorge, whose claim to fame is that it has NZ's longest swingbridge, at 110 metres. We walked over the swingbridge and walked the "easy" loop on the other side. This took us by the river and at one point there was a marker on a tree showing the height of the river during the 2010 floods. it was about 5 metres up. Quite impressive you may say, but when you consider the current height of the river is about 10 metres below the base of the tree it becomes even more impressive. Having done the loop we decided to take the 30 minute walk to the falls (which only takes 20 minutes). This goes through undisturbed podocarp rainforest and is an easy but non-manicured walk. At the end it is a bit of a scramble down to the river and since we were the only ones there Sue decided it was time for another swim, but this time without getting panties and tee-shirt wet!

Later on a girl appeared on the opposite bank with a camera and a few minutes after that a guy with an inflatable boat and a set of tourists appeared. The guy launched the boat into the rapids and was swiftly whisked downstream about 30 metres past the tourists who were wanting to board. Since he couldn't get back to them he indicated that they should jump in the river and come to him instead, which they did. I'm sure they all enjoyed it, though one guy seemed a little disoriented doing it. Then it was back to the swingbridge.

We had decided that instead of walking back over the swingbridge we would cross the gorge on the zip-line that runs alongside the bridge. Not only that, but instead of a (fairly) sedate trip back on a chair harness we would return "superman" style. basically dangling horizontally from the zip-line in a "superman" posture. It was great. There was an operator at the top who hooked us up in a harness and did all the safety checks, then you were exected to run a few metres before launching yourself into mid-air over the gorge. We had quite a few spectators and the staff all commented on what good sports we were to do this. If you ever have the chance make sure you do it too, it is so exhilerating.

We then drove into Murchison for provisions and to visit its world-renowned butchers, only to find they were closed at weekends. So Sue picked up some sausages and bacon steaks from the local grocers which Neil BBQd later. She then drove to Blenheim, which is a lovely town. We passed by vineyard after vineyard on the way. At Blenheim we took stock and decided to travel about 50 kms down SH1 to a "wildernesst" site and do some walks around there in the morning, then stay close to Picton the next night and catch the InterIslander ferry back to the North Island on Tuesday. Neil went on the web and rearranged the ferry booking date and time and we had a nice BBQ meal before an early night. The freedom camping location was secluded and quiet, we were the only ones there, but we'd have done better going North of Blenheim instead of South - see tomorrow's entry.

Got up early as the crews fixing the earthquake damaged SH1 were using that part of this site nearest the highway for parking their vehicles and they start at 7am! We waved at them on the way out and they all looked stunned. Perhaps we were the first motorhome they had seen this far down the highway since the quake. There appeared to be a lovely walk close by, but it involved a long gravel path then wading along a river for a couple of kilometres to see Sawcut Gorge, a stunning canyon. This may be a good walk in summer, but the water at this time of year doesn't lend itself to immersing yourself for more than a few minutes. So we went for a 2-hour walk to see the wreck of the SS Waverley. The first part of the walk wasn't too bad, through grassland and wetland, the wreck was fine, but the second half of the loop was a bit boring. The car park was next to Blenheims sewage treatment works - enough said.

Sue really wanted to sample the local delicacy, langustine. so we stopped off in Blenheim to ask where we might get some. They told her to try in Picton. We decided to go to Picton "the back way" along the Port Underwood Road, rather than belt along SH1. While scary in places, this was the best decision to have made. The road takes you above and past lots of beautiful little coves. But it is not for the faint-hearted. Most of this road is unpaved (or unsealed as they say in NZ). Although the gravel track is quite good it does slow you down, especially going downhill. It is a little narrow in a few places and luckily the one big lorry we met coming in the opposite direction kindly backed up a few metres to let us pass. We also met the lady vet going in the opposite direction, but apart from these there was no other traffic. The bays we saw, Rarangi, Whites, Robin Hood, Ocean, Bob Canes, Oyster and Whatamango were out of this world with the clearest water you could come across. We should have stayed at one of these last night, but you only realise things like that in hindsight. At the start of the gravel section the "low fuel" warning sounded. It sounded 3 more times before we got on the ferry at Picton and Sue in particular was very worried we would run out before we were onboard. Neil also admits to being somewhat perturbed too. We were 10 minutes past the check-in time for the ferry, but they are pretty lax and will let you on even if there are only a few minutes to go. Unfortunately it meant that Sue had to forego her langustines.

The ferry crossing was very good. It was sunny and for the most part warm. Better weather than when we crossed in the opposite direction a couple of weeks previously. On leaving the ferry the first priority was to find a petrol station. We stopped at the first one we came across and found it was almost as expensive as on the South Island, so Neil only put $20 in. He'll fill up when we get to one that has more resonably priced diesel. We then drove to the Wellington TOP10 campsite, which is actually in Lower Hutt. Neil booked it, along with changing the ferry booking when we had stopped in Blenheim at lunchtime. Then it was a lovely shower a light supper of toast with various cheeses and tomatoes then an early bed.