Gateway Motor Lodge Wanganui

... The skies were still blue, and had been all the way across. The forecast in the 'Dominion-Post' newspaper was pretty dire for North Island and even the boat captain had warned up it was cloudy and raining in Wellington. IT WASN'T. Overall we've found the weather forecasting to be pretty dire in NZ as a whole. There hasn't been a single day without some sunshine in it so far, and today for example, it's been sunny he whole day despite the forecasters ...

Hello, Sorry it has been so long since our last entry - we had a bit of a shock actually having to pay for the internet in NZ rather than get it free in the hostels in S.America. We have been in NZ for 6 weeks now and are leaving on Saturday morning for Aussie. We first arrived at the beginning of March and were immediately spoilt rotten by my Mum's friend Jan - who let us into the luxury of her home and feed us up fantastically, and if that wasn't enough arranged for a car we bought to ...

... her garden. She is envious of NZ gardeners- the climate here produces huge plants, of every kind. I explored Christchurch- Fazzaz Automotive is a great auto memorobilia store, and they sell real cars- Austin Sevens, Jaguar Mark 2 3.4L sedans (I owned one in 1972), and other great vintage cars. Christchurch is beautiful-

Finally after 4 atempts we get to swim with dolphins! In a beautiful village an hour south of Christchurch, we swam with the rare Hectors Dolphin, only found in New Zealand. They were tiny, just 1 metre long as grown adults. We swam for about 30 mins with them at arms reach, it was fantastic!

... very steep roads or hundreds of stairs, the Durie Hill Elevator was built in the early part of the 20th century. You access the elevator by walking through a tunnel that burrows 200m into the hillside and then you are whisked 65m to the top of Durie Hill - quite bizarre as the lift is manned by an attendant and you ring a bell to call it!! Also at the top of the ...

... clothes went for $2 a piece. Across the road we went into Countdown supermarket. This was my local grocer back then. I tried to show them discount bins where one can find past-date food and damaged packaged goods. However, recent refurbishment meant I could not locate where the bin was. Khalid then asked me where we could find an electric razor. I said I did not know because I don't use electronic razor. But I pointed that he could use manual razor and ...

... paid but she couldn't open the till to give us our $6 change. She said she'd leave a note for the guy in the morning to do it and we simultaneously thought... "Well, there's $6 we'll never see again"! Lo and behold though, the guy on the desk in the morning had it ready for us. Sweet little victories. Day 2 involved us going to collect our camper van. I won't lie to you, I was sh*tting my pants a little. Reason being, I had driven an automatic once in my life and that was ...

... Leider ist der Vulkan wegen des schlechten Wetters in eine dicke Regenwolke gefuellt, deshalb haben wir ihn noch kaum zu Gesicht bekommen :( 07/04/2008 Relaxen am Strand, dass ist fuer heute der Plan und das klappt dank des wunderbaren Wetters total gut! :)

... ankle. Apparently this is where most of the accidents on the trail occur, and that's usually in good weather! <br><br>We made it down to the next change of terrain safely, which was essentially channels worn through the hillside and the usual exposed rocks and roots to negotiate. <br ...

Wow!!!! The past 2 weeks have been the most amazing times of my life! Every day I am filled with such amazing gratitude for this experience, for this life, for the beauty and magnificence of it all. It truly is overwhelming. I've spent the past 2 weeks hiking, canoeing, camping, sleeping out under the stars, and just had so many moments and experiences that take your breath away. I am truly blessed and life can be so intensely beautiful! The 5 ...