James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor Wellington

... da und der Bus kam nicht. Hab dann nach einer halben Stunde mal angerufen und gefragt was los ist, da behauptete die Tussi wir haetten nicht fuer den Tag gebucht, sondern fuer Montag in einer Woche. Gut, kann schon sein, dass wir uns im Datum vertan haben, aber ich hab am Tag vorher noch mit der Busgesellschaft telefoniert und da haben mir die noch bestaetigt dass wir um 7 Uhr abgeholt werden. Voll bloed also. Der Bus war dann natuerlich ...

... expecting to find an art gallery. We then went to a second art gallery in search of a toilet, and came upon quilt central - so popular it had to be split between two gallerys. I've been to worse exhibitions! We also went to the national museum which had a great deal of interactive learning. There was a house that shook whilst you were in it, demonstrating a real earthquake. You could have spent hours in there. The perfect place for a school trip!

... to plan and book the rest of my time in New Zealand, since I knew I would be flying to Australia on 4/11. Time was flying by! I arranged to fly out of Wellington on Friday morning, 4/3,  for Christchurch and start my South Island itinerary. Since the flight was at 8:15, Caroline and I only mildly tore up the pub's of Wellington after dinner, and we were back at her place early enough for a good night's sleep. Till next time, with news from Christchurch and South Island! Stephanie

... Te Anau to Milford Stopped at Te Anau for brekkie then drove some 121 k to Milford. Just for a change - We made loads of stops... Had a snack and checked in for our overnight cruise on Milford Sound. Our boat was the Milford Wanderer, sister vessel to the Milford Mariner. We had our safety briefing and got under way. It was a little windy, so after a quick blast up the fiord, where we saw some seals, we turned and moored up in Harrison Cove, our home for the night. While there, I ...

... over a deep gorge leading to the lake. Bridges - long and short are frequent on the tracks - 5 people can cross at a time but the sway factor is easier to deal with when you're alone on the bridge. The rain is off/on as we stay close to the lakeshore then up thru forest for one more bluff ascent then down thru grasslands to the pick up point- a hot shower and a good home cooked meal at Big Bush - wonderful - my first backpacker experience and I've survived to tell the tale.

... i have never seen such perfect water, this route also took us over many cattle grids but we haven't seen any cattle for miles & miles, just the birds singing away, & people swimming in these beautiful lakes as we are sitting eating our last mince pie & marmite sandwhich, looking across at mt. aspiring, these mountains really do aspire to. new years eve has arrived we wanted to go back to the blue pools, well ok i did !! it was so early in the morning i ...

... you do locked away in the privacy of your own bedroom along with, um, other things you normally do locked away in the privacy of your own bedroom. But in the middle of a crowded lounge area, completely oblivious to the numerous people seated around them giving them death stares, were a group of oldies enjoying the excruciating melodies of a mobile phone. And this was no new model either, it sounded like an electronic re-enactment of a cat being strangled. My attempts to ...