CHRISTCHURCH
27th: Flew from Sydney to Christchurch, arrived at 3.30pm. Christchurch is on the east coast of the south island. We booked into the Country House Hostel which is a 15min walk outside town after we had settled in we went into town for a wonder around. We were pretty knackered so we got some groceries and hit the sack early!
28th: Slept late, after breaky we went online and sent a load of queries to various companies to get some price's on campervan hire. After had a walk around the city and went to the Canterbury musuem, some great displays here and our first intro to some Maori history. Drizzled for the day!
29th: After breaky we checked our emails and got a good quote from EZY RENTALS we got the same campervan type as we had in OZ for 36NZ$ (1NZ$=0.65Euro) we were happy with this so we booked it for 66days and we would collect it on Sunday. Walked around the Batonical gardens the weather here was mild with a temp of 10 degrees. Back in the hostel the other guests seem distant and not very friendly although the staff were lovely!
30th: Market in town so we had a look it was pretty small, had some coffee and checked some emails. Went for a walk on the river bank and picked up something for dinner. Invested in a bottle of wine and met some other guests in the lounge that had arrived today, there was one couple from Wales and one from Melbourne we had a good laugh!

WANAKA
31st: Ezy rentals collected us at the hostel, we got on the road with the van at 11.00am along the way we stocked up on groceries The van was the same except we had no TV or microwave in this one. We were on our way to Wanaka were the Dublin couple Jay&Anne (we met in Loas) had a house for a few months and had invited us to stay. Stopped for the night in Lake Tekapo for the night, the scenery was beautiful the lake was turquise in colour and the tops of the mountains were covered in snow! There was a quaint little church sitting all by itself on the lake shore! As we travelled inland it was getting colder burrr!
1st: Arrived at Anne&Jays there house is at lake Hawea about 15km from Wanaka(Goblin plain in L.O.T.R), it was great to see them again and we had a big roast lamb dinner to celebrate with copious amounts of alcohol!

2nd -12th: We stayed a bit longer then we planned with Anne&Jay but it was great to see them again and we ended up having huge feeds every night along with the Booze to wash it all down! We took it easy here but we took in some of the sights, we took some walks around the lakes, did some fishing and would you believe Jay and myself caught a trout each at lake wanaka it was about time the only downside was they were the only ones we caught no matter were we tried!

We visit Puzzling World which was good for a laugh. We collected bags of Pine Cones to burn in the fire, they gave out a lovely aroma! We tackled the hike to the top of Mount Roy at its peak it is around 1500metres it took us around 6hrs to get to the top and back but it was well worth it the views were spectacular and there was Snow at the top and was freezing!! Watched a movie in the Paradiso cinema its pretty cool here its a huge room with loads of old sofas for seats and if you want to feel like its a Drive In they have an old Morris Minor you can chill in! We had a great time and we must have put on a stone in weight each from all the food and booze!

OAMARU
13th: Left the gang today and on the road back to the east coast to Oamaru which is north of Dunedin. The scenery was excellent along the way, you can see why the Lord Of The Rings was filmed in NZ! Once we were checked into the caravan park we walked into town we had read that they was a blue penguin colony so we had a look but no luck we came across a seal sunning himself on the rocks and as we strolled along the beach we found some lovely Paua shells.

DUNEDIN
14th: Got up early and fed the resident ducks. Went down to the wharf and tried some fishing had no luck so got on the road to Dunedin and arrived at lunch time. After booking in to the park we went into town to buy a second hand TV we got one for 50nz$. Took a drive out the Otago peninsula to Sandfly beach, huge sand dunes here and really wild and windy! There is a hide at the far end of the beach to watch the Yellow Eyed Penguins as they come in from the sea at dusk, along the way there were huge seals snoozing in the sand and we came across a pair in a mating "dance" the male was trying his best but the female was having none of it! Up in the hide we did'nt have to wait long before the penguins came out of the water and started hopping up the steep cliff to the nests. Watched some TV for the rest of the night!

15th: Out on the peninsula again walking on the beaches and taking in the views.
16th: Got the bus into town and wondered round had lunch here and checked our emails. Visited the Otago museum which was good, jumped on the bus back to the park.

CATLINS
17th: On the road we decided to loop the southern end of the island taking the Catlins route this is a very scenic route that takes in all the highlights on the way. We stopped at Nugget point this is a rugged headland with a light house at the end there are loads of rock islands out from the headland, then on to Jacks Blowhole this is a hole the sea has cut underground 200meters inland and then channeled its way to the surface and under the right conditions you get a geyser effect!

We decided to stay the night in a small village called Pounawea we took a walk on Surat beach and after i tried for a fish in the river.
18th: We decided to call to the Cathedral Caves but when we got there they were closed continued on to McCleans Falls you reach these after a 45min walk and they were OK. Further on we went to Curio Bay you can see the fossilised remains of a forrest. The tide was coming in but we could still see some of the fossilised trees. Back on the road we passed through Invercargill and stopped for the night in Riverton. I tried for a fish at the estuary while Clare went for a walk on the never ending sandy beach.

TE ANAU
19th: Left Riverton early and headed to Te Anau(Dead marshes in L.O.T.R) stopped at Clifden Suspension bridge and then at the Limestone Caves these extent underground for 1km we started in but when we came to a section you had to slither on your belly Clare put her foot down and was'nt having any of it! Back on the road we stopped at Manapouri for lunch then continued to Te Anau. Booked into the park which had great views of the lake, we went into town and took a walk by the lake.

20th: Up early and went to the start of the Kepled track, to do the full track takes a few days we walked for 2hrs and then stopped for lunch and i tried some fishing but was having no luck so headed back. The Forrest along the lake edge is cool there's loads of moss growing on the ground and all over the tree's.

MILFORD SOUND
21st: Took a trip to the Milford Sounds the bus collect us at the park it was only the 2 of us as its the quite season the driver was really friendly and had loads of info on the area. Its 2 1/2 hrs to the sounds boat jetty and along the way they are lots of places to stop and take in the some of the natural wonders the best was the Chasm this is were a rivers waters have cut a path through and down 20ft of solid rock to form some really cool formations that are so smooth and rounded! You pass through Homer Tunnel to get to the sounds, The sounds are what they call Fiords in Nz and were carved out by the glaceries many moons ago! We got on a boat and headed out the sound it was a pity the weather was drizzly, Although this was a small bonus as there were dozens of temperary waterfalls flowing down the mountain faces that made for an amazing sight.

The shear cliff faces on either side if the sound are an amazing sight and as we made our way out to the mouth were you meet the Tasman sea. On the way back in we saw some dolphins and a few seals lounging on the rocks. On the way back to Te Anau the bus driver told us stories about avalanches and crazy drivers that he has met in his years of doing trips to the sounds. We both had a great day out!

QUEENSTOWN
22nd: Left Te Anau and headed for Queenstown. We checked into a park in Aurturs town this is 15km outside of Queenstown. After we had some lunch we went into Queenstown and had a walk around town and took a walk along the shore of Lake Wakatipu. Went for coffee and then back to the park.
23rd: Drove into town and hiked up the Ben Lomand track an hour and a half each way, you can take a Gondola up but thats too easy! The views from up here are excellent.

At the top we went on the luge's these are ground hugging carts that you can take on various tracks down a section of the mountain these were really cool and would have been much better if the tracks were longer later we had coffee and a snack before we headed back down the mountain track. Back in town we treated ourselves to KFC's and checked our emails.
24th: Chilled out for the day and did absolutely nothing!

ARROWTOWN
25th: Went into town and to check emails, exchanged our books and went to the warehouse to pick up a prezzie for Anne&jay as we will call back to them in a day are two and go Skiing! Back on the road to Arrowtown this is a quaint little town about 1/2hour from Queenstown. It was one of the main places during the gold rush era with alot of chinese working the sites. Today no one pans for the gold except the odd tourist and the last of the chinese who used to work the sites died a few years age.

All the buildings in the area are maintained to the way they would have been 100 years ago and all new devolopments are built to the old designs so when you walk down the main street you can just imagine how it must have been in the old times the old post house is there along with the police station and the old railings for tying your horse up are still to be found. We booked into a park and later that evening we went for a few drinks in the local pub.

WANAKA
26th: On the road and heading back to Wanaka its only an hour from here on the way picked up some groceries and of course the lamb. Back to Anne&Jays again we had a great feed and plenty of wine!
27th: Did very little today, in the afternoon we went to the cinema to see the new Batman movie and it was pretty good!
28th: 4 of us took a spin to Queenstown, Jay bought a new snowboard and boots and we had a pint of the Black stuff before we headed back!
29th-30th: Up early and drove to CARDRONA ski resort this is about 45mins from Wanaka. We would be skiing for the next 2 days and as Clare had not skied before she booked a 2 lesson a day pack and as i had not skied in 7 years i got refresher pack of 1 lesson per day. Jay went snow boarding and Anne has skied for years. Over the next 2 days Clare got a taste of skiing and got on really well and i got back into it quickly although that did'nt stop me falling on my ass regulary! We had an great time and will definetly go on a skiing holiday once we get back on our feet at home.

There is a lovely old hotel at the bottom of the mountain called the Cardrona Hotel and after our days skiing we would call in here for a drop of mulled wine!
31st: Chilled out for the day and rested after all our hard work on the slopes!

GLACIERS
1st: Left Wanaka and got on the road to Glacier country, the weather was terrible long the way. We got as far as Haast so we booked into a park for the night and did some Laundry.
2nd: Back on the road to FOXES GLACIER the weather is still horrible, along the way we stopped at Knights Point to take some photos and Ships Creak went for a walk here, the beach is lovely and behind the sand dunes there are fresh water lakes surrounded by lush vegetation. Landed into Foxes Glacier town and booked into a park. In town we checked our emails and had some coffee. The weather is bad for the next few days so it does'nt look good for a trip to the Glacier!

HOKITIKA
3rd: Weather still horrible so we decided to move on it was a pity to miss out on the Glaciers as its a high light of the south island but we could'nt wait around for the weather to clear. Drove to Hokitika parked the van and had a walk around the town visited a Jade and Paua factory. This town used to be a main shipping port for ships coming from Austraila in the old days, we took a walk on the old quay along the way we came across a plaque that was erected to mark the 125 years since the sisters of mercy arrived in the town from Ennis, Ireland in 12/10/1878 to serve the people of the north west coast! After booking into a park that was on the beach front we took a walk along the beach were we fooled into throwing a stick for this dog and one was'nt enough so like 40 throws later my arm is hanging off and the dog gives up on me!
4th: Took it easy today, that night we visited the Glow Worms you get these alot in caves or like here were were their was a huge embankment that was surronded by trees thats called a dell. Its pitch black and as you make your way towards the embankment hundreds of these tiny lights come into view their absolutely beautiful. The light comes from their excrement as it reacts with the air and in doing so attracts food!

ABEL TASMAN
5th: Got the road Heading for Abel Tasman along the way we stopped at Punakiki National park we took a short walk here to some Blow Holes and the rock formations that look like stacked pancakes hence their name Pancake Rocks.

The road follows the Buller River as far as Murchison and the scenery along the way is awesome! We arrived in Motueka at 4.30pm, this is 20mins from the Tasman national park and has good facilities in the town so we booked into a park here for the night
6th: Drove out to Abel Tasman national park this place is chock a block with locals in the summer time thay have excellent walking tracks inland with huts you can sleep in along the way or you can take the costal route and kayak around the beautiful coast line they also have huts along the beach for over night stays you can combine walking with the kayaking are what ever takes your fancy. Its off season at the moment so not much happening and on top of that it was raining again but we decided to go for a walk along the coastal track anyway.

Even though it was raining the scenery was amazing you come across all these little sandy beaches with crystal clear water, in the summer time when the sun is out it must be brillant here, we walked for 2 1/2 hours and then had some lunch before we headed back. When we got back to the Van we were soaked through but the walk was well worth it!

NELSON
7th: before we left Motueka we caught up on some emails and picked up some groceries. When we got to Nelson we booked into a park that was 2kms out side the town we walked into town for a look aroud and had some coffee.
8th: Walke dinto town and visited the batonical gardens from here we walked up a hill to the SPIRE this is supposed to be the spot that marks the centre of NZ! There were some great views from up here, at the base of the hill is the local rugby pitch where the first rugby match was played in NZ. Back in town we called to New Zealand Air office to change some dates on our Pacific island flights and headed back to the park. We took a spin out to Cable Bay for a walk and met another dog along the way who insisted on us throwing sticks for him! Its called Cable bay as it was the first place that cable communications came in from Austrailia!

NORTH ISLAND, WELLINGTON
9th: Up early and on the way to Picton to catch the ferry to Wellington in the north island, we boarded the ferry at 12.30am and arrived in Wellington at 3.00pm. We drove out to Lower Hutt to a park as there is'nt any in Wellington its only a 15min outside the city. We did some grocgeries and decided it was going to be a treat night tonight we got ourselves a bottle of wine, steak and some chocolate muffins with cream!! (The lower hutt location was used in the lord of the rings the scene was Mina sirth Helms deep)

10th: We got a bus into Wellington city from outside the caravan park. We then got a cable car to the top of the Botanical gardens the views from the top of the botanical gardens were great.

Then we walked through the Botanical gardens to the Government buildings (which are shaped like a beehive). Then we had some Lunch in Subway. It's a fast food chain that they have here and in Australia but instead of burgers they only make rolls it was very tasty. Its a really lovely day and there wasn’t even a breeze which is great as Wellington is also known as the windy city. It was warm enough for both of us to just wear t-shirts for the first time since we arrived in New Zealand. We went for a walk along the quays (Jervois quay and custum house quay) and had an ice-cream. We then went to the museum of Wellington city and sea. The museum was very good. It mainly told the story of what life was like on board the many ships coming in to and leaving Wellington harbour and well as life on the Docks for the Wellington people at the turn of the centaury and previous. Later that evening as the sun was still shining we went for a walk along the beach in Lower hutt and out along the pier in patrone.

PALMERSTON NORTH
11th: Arrived in Palmerston around lunchtime today. This is a small city that has a university here so alot of student activity but as it was Sunday everything but the Internet place was closed so hard to get a good idea of what the city was like. Lovely sunny day so we sat outside and had our lunch in the sunshine. Caught up on some emails here.

WANGANUI
12th: Arrived at 11:30am booked into a lovely caravan park where we got our own shower and toilet!! Ensuite style you just park by the door and you have your own key so nobody else can use yours, it's been a while since we had a luxury like that. The weather was still fantastic so we sat out in the sunshine and read until 2pm. Then we walked into town to the Paddleboat museum. Where we saw the "waimarie"a side paddle steamer that sunk in 1952 and after 40 years was raised and restored. Then we had a stroll around Wangangui town it's well laid out with lots of old buildings - very nice.

TAUPO
13th: Headed on towards lake Taupo and along the way we stopped for lunch some of t views were exellent and on the way we say mt Nagauruhoe which was "Mt DOME in MORDOR" in L.O.T.R!

Once we had checked into the caravan park we took a trip out the "Craters of the Moon" there is loads of Geo-thermal activity in this area so you get steam vents and bubbling mud pools all over the place its a pretty mad place! After we called into a honey farm and tasted a heap of there products to top up our sugar levels and also some of there friut wines!! On the way back to town we visited the HUKA FALLS these are not that high but there is a huge volume of water surging down and the water colour is amazing, over all the water colour in the lakes and rivers is amazing here and this is due to some form of crystal sediment that is picked up by the rivers as it makes its way down the mountains and this sediment reflects the suns light giving the water this amazing colour. That evening when we were making dinner the resident cat called over to say hello!
14th: Up early and went for a 3hr return walk around the lake from town to Wharewaka point. Back in town picked up some groceries and had a stroll around.

ROTORUA (The smelly place)
15TH: Got on the road to Rotorua and on the way took a detour to "Butchers Pool" on the Broadlands road. This pool is in the middle of a farmers paddock and many moons ago Mr. Butcher gave the pool to the locals to use. When we arrived at the pool there were 3 locals in already but the pool is large enough for 2 dozen at least, so we hopped in and it was "sooo" nice the water was about 40 degrees and as the day was cold it made it all the better!

These pools are natural occuring spa's that are heated by steam escaping up from the ground with all the minerials thrown in and its for free although in most other places you will pay for the use of these as they are all commercialised and a bit pricey! We got back on the road and when we arrived in Rotorua we booked into a park and had some lunch befroe walking into town. Along the way we visited a traditional Maori meeting house and the old bath house were all the well to do used to go for there suana's, spa's and treatments!

As we walked around the town we got some horrible smells that go with these geo-thermal areas it must be awful to live down wind of some of them they were so bad at times Clare wanted to get sick! On the way back to the caravan park we went through and national reserve park that has loads of hot pools , steam vents and bubbling mud pools.

That evening we had a good soak in the caravans own hot pools.That evening back in the caravan park we went for a soak in the parks own hot pools!

COROMANDEL PENNINSULA
16TH: Heading north to the Coromandel penninsula, we drove as far as Hahei and found a park to book into after we had some lunch we took a spin to the "Catheral Caves" from the car parks its about a 45min scenic walk to them but its well worth it.

The main cave goes right through the cliff face and out the other side and is big enough to drive a bus through. Its all limestone rock here so the sea is eating away endlessly at it. That night as the park was right on the beach front i tried some fishing but the waves were breaking heavily and kept washing my bait off.
17th: Headed for "Hot Water Beach" here you can dig your own hot pool right on the beach when the tide goes out. On one section of the beach a hot water stream surfaces on the beach so when the tide goes out you get lots of people diging holes to soak in!

We hired a shovel and of we went, we found a good spot and started digging i made it big enough so the 2 of us could ly out flat and be covered by the hot water and was the water "hot" it was around 68 degrees every now and then as i got too hot i would run into the sea and cool myself down the sea was absolutly freezing but it was a mad sensation to get back into the pool again your skin would be tingling all over, we must have spent about 2 hours in the pool and the weather today was really sunny so we had a great day!! After abit of lunch we headed across the penninsula to Thames for the night.

NORTHLAND
18TH: Travelled as far as Orewa today this is in Northland which would be in the north west of the island. The trip here was terrible due to the weather the wind was blowing at savage strenght at one stage when we were crossing the North Auckland bridge i thought we were going over. As the weather was so bad we could do little so we booked into a park and watched some tv,m Willy Wonka was on we veged with him!
19th: The morning news showed that there was alot of damage caused by the winds along the coast with boats thrown up on the beachs! After breakie we went into town and i went for a haircut as it was getting pretty wild (well what i have left of it) we did some internet time and got some groceries. Got on the road to Whangarei and along the way we stopped for lunch at a rest stop when we opened the door of the van we were accosted by a gathering of wild hens and cocks all eager to get at our lunch! When we arrived in Whangarei the weather was bad so little else for the day.
20th: Took a walk around the town, called into a fernry ( The Fern is the national symbol of NZ) that had dozens of types of ferns growing in different conditions. We had a walk down at the town basin this is where all the boating activitry is and some lovely cafes and restuarants, we had a coffee and cake here before we took a spin out the penninsula to "Ocean Beach" its really nice here with big grassy sand dunes we had lunch here and then headed to the "Whangarei falls" these have a 24 metre drop and have a lovely cooling mist blowing of them! We got on the road to "Paihia" this is in the "Bay Of islands" it was late when we arrived so we found a park had some dinner and went to the bar onsite for a few drinks. The park is right on the river bank and just down stream from the "Puka Falls". On the way back from the bar you had a great view of the falls as they were lit up at night, they are not that high but they are still impressive!
21st: Drove to "Kerikerl" which is only 30km up the road. We took the 2hr return walk to the "Rainbow Falls" that has a 27 metre drop afterwards we had lunch and took a walk around town.

Its really quaint here with loads of craft shops, cafes and restuarants the local area is a large producer of fruits. After we had a coffee we took a drive along the coast before settling in for the night back in town.
22nd: Drove west across the penninsula to visit the "Waipoua Forrest" on the way we passed by Hokianga Harbour the entrance is formed by huge sand dunes that look amazing the scenery around the bay was excellent.

The reason we wanted to visit the forrest was to see the "Kauri" tree's these on one time covered most of the islands but were logged nearly to extiction before it was stopped. What makes these trees so amazing is the girt that they grow too and there, age the one we visited was called " Te Matua Ngahere/Father Of The Forrest" it has the largest trunk size of any Kauri tree in NZ left, it has a circumference of 16.5 metere and a diameter of 5 meters the tree is estimated at being around 2,000 years old it was pretty amazing to be seeing something of this age and its still alive and growing! We continued on and stayed the night in Dargaville.

23rd: Its getting near the end of our trip in NZ we had 6 days left and only 3 with the van. We drove back to Orewa so we could go through our clothes that we would need for the Pacific Islands we posted some of our stuff home, donated some of it to charity and dumped the rest. We caught up on our emails and did some laundry. Afterwards we took a walk on the beach before we had dinner.

MAT & TRACE'S HOUSE
24TH: Today we headed for Mat's house in Bombay this is about 30mins south of Auckland city. We met Mat in Laos and he offered us a bed if we were ever in the area. Mat&Trace were visiting in the city so on the way back they met us and we followed them to there house. We had not met Trace before but she made us more then welcome in their house. We also got to meet Minty the dog, Zep the cat and Trace's horse! Mat has a cool job he is an animal behaviour consultant and the company he works for do alot of work for Tv, they train animals for advertisment work and also trained alot of the animals for programs like Princess Zena they also worked on the "The Last Samurai" !! One of the ads you might have seen in Ireland was the Toyota pick up that had the dog at the end that fell in the mud and said "Bugger" That was some of Mat's handy work the dogs name was Herc but i'm sorry to say he has died since. That night they fed us a feast of Green mussels i was abit aprehensive at first as i'm not a lover of mussels but i have to say they were delicious.

25th: Had a ly in and "OH" was the bed so comfy especially after the van. After breakie Mat took us to his place of work were we met some of the animals he is working with. There is also a small zoo next door and Mat's company use some of them in there Tv work. We also met a monkey that had been born in the zoo and suffered from epilipse if he had been born in the wild he would have been left to die by the mother but the staff at the zoo care for this 24/7 we got to hold him which was a first for us, he was really cute but a bit letargic as he was given some meds to help him sleep as he had a fit that morning. Afterwards we went to the driving range to hit a few balls it was Clare's first time with a golf club in her hands so she was delighted. Picked up some fish and chips on the way back and ate them in a park. That night we had a natter and played some cards all washed down with some vino!

AUCKLAND
26th: Had a ly in, Mat&Trace had left for work, at 10.30am Zep(cat) came in and got us out of bed. Tomorrow we would be dropping the van back so we drove to Manukau to a caravan park that was close to the airport. We gave the van a good clean out and wash down we also packed our bags which were struggle to close even after the getting rid of half the stuff!!
27th: The owner of the Caravan park agreed to buy the Tv of us for 40$, we then dropped the van at the airport and got a shuttle into our Hostel in Parnell this is about a 20min walk to the city centre. We took a walk through the Domain park to the city center and had a nose around the city.
28th: After breakie we packed a lunch and took a walk to Mt Eden to see Maugawhau this is an extinct volcano we walked to the top its only 196 meters high and looked down into the crater 50ft below its an amazing sight. There are a total of around 50 extinct volcano's in Auckland and from up here you could see a load of them. We walked back into Newmarket and had our lunch in a park here. Afterwards we caught up on some emails and the blog which had been falling behind. That night we treated ourselves to some steak, potatoes,veg and gravy for dinner all washed down with a bottle of vino!
29th: Did little today we picked up a few things we would need for the islands and caught up on the blog for a few hours. That night we watched a video in the hostel.
30th: We fly to Tonga tonight so we checked out of the hotel at 10.00am and left our bags in storage there. We went into Newmarket to get some sun lotion and stuff and also to try and get some accomadation in Tonga sorted. Our flight is at 10.00pm "roll on the sun and beach life" We had a great time here it would have been nice to have a bit more money to spend on some of the mad activities that thay have here but you cant do everything! The south island was really beautiful with all the amazing scenery and with only 30% of the population living there it gives of a feeling of seclusion and remoteness. The NZ total population is around 4 million and something like 1.5 million live in Auckland. The high lights of our trip from start to finish would have been Jay&Anne in Wanaka, Otago Penninsula, Milford Sound, Abel Tasman, Taupo/Rotorua, Coromandel Penninsula, Northland and lastly our visit to Mat&Trace"s. The locals were all real friendly but even more so in the south. The only negative thing we could say is that the drivers on the road can be really aggressive and have no patience! If we ever got the chance to come back it would be great to see it in summertime!