New Zealand

The access to Franz Josef Glacier is a short walk from the carpark and is much closer than the Fox Glacier viewpoint. Again due to global warming and the time of year it is up the valley. At one time, in the early 20th century, the Glacier was at the viewpoint.

To get to the viewpoint of the Fox Glacier is about a half hour uphill walk, the Glacier can be seen from there but due to global warming and the time of year ( autumn in NZ) it is in the distance. Photos to follow.

We overnighter on the 23th March at Lowburn Harbour on Lake Dunstan and walked the 45th Parallel walk. Someone can't spell Africa, and its upside down, but remember, we are in the Southern Hemisphere. 

Chinese Village. A number of Chinese came across during the gold rush at Arrowtown,  they were more successful that the Europeans as they were harder working and more diligent  they found gold when the Europeans had given up. The Village is made fro whatever material was available, the local schist stone and corrugated iron. They had a small store on site for provisions and the keeper was the local translator.

This is the Bridge that started the bungee jump craze and is still doing it today. The site now includes a zip wire as well

We booked a boat trip around Milford Sound with Southern Discoveries for 2.30pm. We needed to be close by the night before and have plenty of petrol and provisions as ther is very little at the sound apart from parking and cruise docks. First we had to go through the Homer Tunnel, this closes at certain times during the day as it requires maintenance and it is only 1 way with traffic lights.  Fortunately our timing did not cause any problems.  Absolutely fantastic. 

The farthest southern point on South Island and the southern end of State Highway 1, the same road as the one we took from Reinga Point. We have driven the whole length 1403km. We have to go back almost the same again back to Aukland, but not via SH1. We had lunch at the Oyster Cove restaurant, very nice, but expensive, especially with the wine.

We like our heritage railway journeys so we booked the Dunedin Inland railway tour. This mostly followed the Taieri River Valley and was built for the short lived gold rush in that area. Great trip good scenery and commentary. Interesting places, one of which is a beautiful house in the middle of nowhere, no water, ele trinity, or sewage and no Internet. There isn't even a road, the nearest one is through the railway tunnel and they have a cart to travel through to the house. It has been lived in since the railway was built. The train station is spectacular. 

The only castle in New Zealand, only it isn't a castle, just a large house, but beautiful inside now it has been restored, and set in interesting grounds.

What an amazing place, the Seampunk Head Quarters in Oamaru. A load of old machinery and scrap turned into a mind boggling exhibition.

 An unusual formation of borders that appear as the cliff erodes. 

Free overnight at Caroline Bay We walked for about 1/2 an our up hill to find the Basilica was closed.  The only answer was go for a pint at Speights Ale House 

French colony

We booked into the campsite at Kaiapou near to the park and ride for Christchurch only to find it was for commuters and only ran early in the morning and late afternoon, so we drove in. The Earthquake Mueseum was on our list, and it didn't disappoint, telling the harrowing story of the 2011 quake and it's aftermath. The city is still dominated by cranes and empty plots of land we're buildings once stood.  We could only park for 2 hours in the town so we went out to the gondola ride up Mount Cavendish for some magnificent views of the city. And lunch. Back into the city for another 2 hours parking and a sightseeing tram ride.  Jeannette met and old freind she used to ape around with.

We stayed at the Pier Hotel camperpark for 2 nights. Kaikoura in Maori means kai, food and Koura, crayfish. A beautiful place, very popular with the locals. We walked the peninsula walkway the 2nd day to see seals basking on the rocks.  Several species of whale frequent the shores here at certain times of the year.

Tuesday morning, frerry booked from Wellington  to Picton on the South Island. All we need it to go to the dump station to empty toilet and waste water tank, a bit of shopping at Porirua Pak'nSave, lunch and off to Welly.  Flat battery on the van, won't start. Phoned the hire company, they said see if you can get someone with some jump leads to get it started, if not, we'll call the AA. There are usually loads of guys in pickups arround bit not when you want one. Final a guy was driving through and he had a set and the short story is we got it started.  Phoned the hire company and to update them, and they said to phone them tomorrow at Blenheim and they will get the battery tested.

Blenheim to Kaikoura is 128km, we struggle to find much of interest along the way apart from Nin's Bin, a roadside hut selling freshly steamed crayfish. A bit expensive at $106 (£50) but it was gorgeous.  There was nothing on the way, a whole lot of nothing. A lot of flat, dry nothing.

Up early this morning, first full day on South Island. We need to get the battery tested, shopping, washing etc. Phoned the hire company and they gave us the address to take the van, they tested it and found it to be poor, so a new one to be fitted. The mechanic removed the old one only to find it had no label on it and it was too small, there was even a piece of palette wood underneath to make it fit. New battery fitted of the correct size, jobs a good'n The next day we took a walk around the wetlands and the final resting place of the T.S.S. Waverley. Lunch time.

All the waste dumping a no shopping done, the van started no problem. Despite the wind weather the previous day the sea was calm for our crossing. Its was a little strange driving on and off the ferry, we are usually go to, or heading home from the continent, this time it was neither, just going to another part of the same country.

The weather is awful high winds and heavy rain, we wondered if it was worth going to Wellington, but the alternative was to sit in the van all day, not much fun. Off we set and we were both soaked by the time we got to the train station  a 6 minute walk away. In Wellington the rain had eased and we wanted to shelter most of the way to Cuba Street where we expected to find bars and interesting shops, but we're confronted with "high end" shops and multinationals with the odd tattoo parlour thrown in. Even the bucket fountain wasn't working, very disappointing.  The cable tram was not, a great ride to the top and lunch at the Cable Top cafe. The cable tram museum was also good, telling the story from the original conception up to the current day. On the way back we visited the Government building that, was the second largest building in the world. It is now a university, but you can still enter to see the original cabinet room and hanging staircases. 

We needed some shopping etc so headed into Porirua and after parked at the Park and Ride to take the train into Wellington, only there was no train it was a replacement bus service. After a hectic trip we arrived in Wellington and first on out list was a visit to Te Papa museum. It was quite overwhelming the size and number of artifacts and displays they have. We spent all day there and a quieter trip back.