New Zealand

We boarded the ferry in Wellington and were faced once again with a cloudly, overcast day, but at least the water was calm!! However, after this bad start, things got amazingly better. As we moved closer to the South Island the sun came out and the views as we entered and travelled up the Marlborough Sound to Picton were breathtaking. This is what we had been waiting for!!!!

Having picked up our new rental car we took the Queen Charlotte costal route to Nelson. Again, the journey was in sunshine and we were able to stop at various lookouts on the way for more fabulous views!!!

Having travelled through Havelock, the green lipped mussel capital of the world Bob could not resist ordering these for his dinner that evening in Nelson and he wasn't disappointed - they were delicious!!! (Sorry Idris!!!).

Unfortunately, we woke the next day to the same old story - overcast skies and the threat of rain!! Not to be deterred we headed on our planned day to the Abel Tasman Nature Reserve. There we "enjoyed" a white knuckle water taxi ride up the coastline (well Jan had white knuckles and a few bruises - to say it was bumpy was an understatement!!!). The view of the coves, beaches and reserve were not at their best in the overcast skies, but enjoyable nonetheless. We disembarked at Tonga Bay for a 6km walk back along the coastline to Bark Bay for the water taxi return journey. (Had it not been more than 3 hours walk back, Jan would have walked all the way!!!!). Bob was up for a bit of sea kayaking, but unfortunately time ran out (well that's his excuse anyway!!!).

The next day dawned cloudy and dull again as we set off south via Westport, visiting a seal colony at Tarangua Bay on the way and also stopping at Punakaiki to view the "pancake rocks" and blowholes - a magnificent and most unusual sight!

The weather had cheered up by then, so we were able to enjoy a few glimpses of the sun before heading on to our next overnight stop in Greymouth. It lived up to it's name, raining during the night and once again being dull and overcast in the morning.

The next morning a short journey down the road took us to Shantytown which is a restored gold mining town and this proved very interesting, with lots of old relics (no, not Bob!!!), panning for gold and a steam train journey up the valley.

On southwards we hit Hokitika, a beautiful "arty" town with lots of jade and jewellery shops, galleries and the like. We enjoyed a walk along the beach as the sun came out, stopping to admire the driftwood of all shapes and sizes.

Our overnight stop will be Franz Josef where we hope the weather will clear enough for us to enjoy the famous glacier.

Well the rain seemed to be following us as we headed south. First stop after Rotorua was Lake Taupo and any chance of a good photo of the lake in all its glory was lost by the mists!!! An interesting place nonetheless, built on a grid system, so even Jan managed to navigate without disaster!!!

The A1 Grand Prix will be here shortly, so preparations were in full swing with chequered flags everywhere. A shame we were moving on and will miss it.

Because of the rain we swiftly moved on to Napier and were fortunate in some ways to get there!!! Bob generally leaves it to the last minute to fill up with petrol (in fact until we are travelling on fresh air usually!!!), but for some reason he decided to turn back to a petrol station we had just passed, even though there was still a quarter of a tank of petrol. Well, it was a good job he did. We travelled on to Napier (some 140km) and did not see another petrol station. As we travelled on we kept saying how lucky we were (no surprise there for those of you who know Bob!!!) as we would have been stranded in the middle of nowhere surrounded by mountains, pine forests and not a lot else!!!

Napier was lovely, probably partly due to the fact that it didn't rain and we had some patchy sunshine for a while. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1931 and rebuilt in the art deco style during the 1930's and was considered to be one of the most modern cities in the world at that time. It has definitely kept its charm and has not been overdeveloped for the tourist industry.

We spent a lovely evening round on the harbourside where old warehouses have been converted to bars and restaurants.

After Napier we moved further south to Palmerston North (200km), and spent a pleasant afternoon firstly at the Rugby Museum which covered world rugby history with lots of interesting memorabilia and then on to the Victoria Esplanade. This is a lovely area along the banks of the Manamatu River which housed a wonderful rose garden, bird sanctuary, beautiful formal gardens and a steam train. It was a very restful afternoon for us having travelled so far in quite a short space of time and again the weather was kind to us.

We have now completed our travels south down the North Island and have arrived in Wellington. We had a quick tour round to get our bearings as we will be returning to Wellington for a longer stay on our way back north. So tomorrow morning we will be on the ferry for the 3.5 hour trip to the South Island (Picton) and then on for a few days in Nelson.

Well, we haven't managed to stay ahead of the rain as we have headed south to Rotorua. Travelling south down the Pacific Coast Highway we did manage to take in some lovely scenery although slightly overcast. We made a stop at Mount Maunganui where the sun actually broke through and we had a lovely hour or so wandering along the beach where an abundance of green-lipped mussels can be found (Idris would enjoy it here!!!).

Onwards to Te Puke for an interesting tour of a Kiwi fruit farm and a sample of the goods!!!

We then decided to carry on down to Rotorua as the rain drew in. Infamous for it's sulphurous smell, it hasn't disappointed, which has been a particular problem for Bob, with his equipment!!!!

The evening was not without incident as close by there was an armed police stand-off, with police cars racing all over the place!!!

Today it has been raining torrentially and continually!!! Visibility has been very poor and our planned day had to be amended. However, we have visited the Buried Village of Te Wairoa which was overcome by a volcano (Mount Tarawera) in June 1886. It was fascinating to walk round and to hear from one of the survivors great grandchildren.

We then went on to Te Puia where there are hot thermal mud springs and active geysers provided a spectacular display, only beaten by Bob who was called up to perform the Haka during a Maori display. (He doesn't change does he!!!) Unfortunately he didn't get a gold medal for his participation, Laurie!!!

We have managed to keep ourselves entertained during a terrible day weatherwise, but have missed out on the gondola ride and luge and various other scenic attractions. With visibility so poor it has also been impossible to get any good pictures, but we live in hope for a better day tomorrow as we head down to Lake Taupo and on to Napier.

We have now safely made the trip across to New Zealand, arriving in Auckland to find it was wet, windy and cold!!!! At least the trip was once again on time and all the luggage is still intact!

We have now spent 24 hours in Auckland and it has rained continuously with visibility very poor, so a trip up the Sky Tower was a non-starter! The museum was the only place to go where we wouldn't get wet, so we headed off there, only to find that everyone else had come to the same conclusion!!! Did we say we wouldn't get wet?? The bus driver missed the stop and we got soaked walking across the park to the museum!!!

At least the history of the Maori people made it a worthwhile trip, but unfortunately after working at the OU Museum of Natural History, their displays were no match to those in Oxford.

This is the first time of our 80 days travelling so far that we have had to get the waterproofs out, so I suppose we shouldn't really complain - should we!!!

We have now hired a car and left the city, with the weather clearing slightly as we headed south and round to the Coramandel Peninsula. By the time we had completed the 200km journey the sun was shining brightly and we were able to visit the Hot Water Beach, an interesting volcanic phenomenon where you can dig a hole in the sand and find hot water springs to sit in!!!

We then continued on to our overnight stop of Whitianga where we found a lovely harbour and a large bay with several places for swimming, fishing and boating.

In this short time we have already seen mangnificent views of forests, mountains and coastal regions, which augurs well for the next 4 weeks. We only hope that the predicted rain holds off, or as we move south we keep ahead of it's advance!!!!