It's nearly over ...

We stayed in Wanganui which was very pretty. Of course we had to up the elevator  through the hill.

We drove to New Plymouth and stayed the night before moving on to Stratford. It had an amazing glockenspiel clock that at certain times recited bits from Romeo and Juliet, whilst different doors opened to reveal characters.

We also visited the Pioneer Village. It consists of 40 buildings that have been moved here. All were furnished and open.

There were many examples of historical textiles.

The funniest thing were the models - in particular look at their limbs.

We then drove along the Forgotten World Highway. It was very windy but stunning.

After a night at Taumarunui we stopped at Otorohanga to visit a bird sanctuary.  You can see me feeding a Kakarita, a Tui, a Falcon and a Kururu  (a wood pigeon that is very large and clumsy). We have seen and heard these as we've been travelling but never managed to get photos.

After a night at Coromandel we are back at Whitianga for two nights before returning to Auckland and then making our way home.

Wellington to Wanganui

After a quick stop at Te Papa we drove around the Wellington Peninsula. It was very beautiful.

On our way north we stopped at Paraparaumu to visit the Southwalds Car Museum. There was an excellent range on display, we were there for ages.

We stayed that night at Wanganui which is well known for the elevator that rises through the middle of a hill.

Back to the North Island

On the Thursday we walked around Hokitika which is very pretty and also has a quilt shop. We then drove to see Hokitika Gorge. We had to walk through some temperate rain forest to get there - it was beautiful.

After a fish and chip lunch we moved to Punakaiki to see the Pancake Rocks. They were fascinating.

After a night there we drove through Butler Gorge to Kaiteriteri at the edge of Able Tasman National Park. It rained through most of the day. There were lots of warnings about penguins but we didn't see any.

On Saturday we walked along the coast and then returned to go kayaking on the Tasman Sea.

We then drove to Nelson for our last day on the South Island. We walked up to a high viewpoint called 'the centre of New Zealand' - it was NOT a fifteen minute walk. To return to Picton we drove along Queen Charlotte Drive which was very pretty if very windy.

On Monday we took the ferry back to Wellington. On the way we saw an albatross and a dolphin. So we are now back on the North Island and heading back to Auckland.

Glaciers and Glow worms

After leaving Wanaka we drove to Haast (which is the centre of sand fly activity) stopping on the way at the Blue Pools - the water coming from a glacier is so clear it looks blue.

After Haast we moved on to Fox Glacier. We walked along the river valley to within 200m of the glacier edge, unfortunately there are no photos as we had another camera SD card failure.

We stayed the night at the Franz Josef township before taking a helicopter flight over the two glaciers and then landing on the snow field above Franz Josef - it was absolutely fabulous. As well as the glacier you can see another view of Mount Cook.

We are now at Hokitika which is lovely - we will explore it tomorrow. Our site is next to the beach - note the paddling feet, unfortunately still wearing shoes and long trousers. Over the road is the Glowworm Dell. So of course we had to go, it is full of glowworms - fantastic.

Te Anau to Wanaka

Before we left Te Anau we went to the wildlife park. We saw Takahe, Pukeko, Black Shag, a Heron and Amanita toadstools. Also Kea, Kaka parrots and a Morpork owl.

At Queenstown we went up the Gondola for some wonderful views and very nice food.

Someone (not me) went on the Shotover jet boat.

On the way to Lake Wanaka we stopped for lunch at Arrowtown, an old gold rush town, which had a modern quilt shop.

 The weather was so beautiful that we stayed an extra night at Wanaka and spent Sunday having a rest. The paddling feet are not mine.

Invercargill to Milford Sound

On Tuesday we had a quiet day, sitting around, doing washing etc. Went into Invercargill for a walk around.

It had a really good museum, one of the best we have seen. It contained a Tuatarium which housed a number of Tuatara, here is a picture of Henry who is over 100 years old. The museum also had some really good information on Maouri artifacts.

On the Wednesday I had to visit the dentist as I had lost a front and part of a back tooth. We drove on to Riverton - the posts standing in the bay are called a Compass Dolphin and were used to recalibrate ship's compasses.

We stayed at Te Anau before travelling to Milford Sound. We went by coach stopping at the Mirror Lakes, Homers Tunnel and the Chasm. Once there we went on a boat trip, having lunch and stopping at the underwater observatory (yes I went on boat trip of over two hours).

Dunedin to Invercargill

In Dunedin there were some nice buildings. The best was the railway station.

We stayed the night in Portobello on the Otago peninsula before going to the Royal Albatross Centre. They are huge.

We decided to take the scenic route to Invercargill. We stopped at Nugget Point and saw spoonbill and lots of seals.

After a night at Papatowai we moved on. The campsite was on the estuary and had the most amazing Rata trees.

We walked to McLean falls through a wonderful rain forest.

We went to Curio Bay where there is a petrified forest. We also saw yellow eyed penguins and Hectors dolphins.

Lastly we stopped at Slope Point the southernmost tip of the south island.

Mount Cook to Moeraki

Driving from Mount Cook to Oamaru we stopped for the night at Kurow. Next morning we stopped at some Maori wall art.

Oamaru hosts Steampunk Headquarters so of course we had to visit. 

We found the heritage radio station which had an amazing collection of electrical goods.

More buildings

This was the cafe where we had lunch. 

We wanted to see the Moeraki boulders so moved on. We had a drink here in Moeraki, I love the old paint.

Here are the boulders, they are spherical - quite amazing.

Christchurch to Mount Cook

We had a great day in Christchurch, unfortunately due to a problem with a camera SD card I have few photos to show. There are lots of empty spaces and loads of buildings still to be demolished. Shops, cafés etc have been set up in shipping containers. The 185 white chairs represent the people who died in the earthquake.

We moved onto Lake Tekapo which is beautiful. This picture of where we stayed was taken from the top of Mount John.

We then drove to see Mount Cook - you can just see it in the distance across the lake.

This is the view from our campsite - not bad eh?

On our first day we walked to Hooker Valley  (SD card fault) and on the second we walked to Kea Point. Mount Cook is on the right.

Wellington to Christchurch via Picton, Kaikoura and Gore Bay

It's very nice staying off the beaten track but internet access is not good especially if you want to upload pictures.
We are having a fantastic time, the scenery is breathtaking and everyone is really friendly and helpful. We are now on the South Island and have a Toyota Estima that we can sleep in. It is very cosy.
After a three hour crossing we picked up our car and stayed in a campsite near Picton. It was very pretty here and we spent some time strolling around.

On the way south we stopped at a seaside cafe called the Store. The beach was amazing I have never seen so much drift wood.

We then stayed at Kinord. Very beautiful with lots of wildlife especially seals. You could get to within a couple of feet.

We then stopped at a site right by the beach in Gore Bay. No phone or Internet at all. Really beautiful.