Lake Rotoroa Lodge Nelson

... tasting and all was very hard work and we were glad we had a proper lunch break at a restaurant at one of the vineyards we visisted. Quite a few of the vineyards have restaurants or little bistros where they offer excellent dishes of course complemented by the wineries' own wines.

On Monday we took the ferry from the North to the South island, which was apart from the usual stunning views pretty uneventful. Of course we ...

We have just arrived back after our Easter holidays. We flew down to the south Island again, this time to see the northern half of it. Our adventures began on the 10th April when we flew out of Auckland at 7.30am in the morning (a very silly time to fly if you've had very little sleep due to going out the previous night!) We arrived in Christchurch and took the tram through the city and headed on a gondola up Mount Cavendish. There were amazing views over Christchurch ...

... visit Abel Tasman national park and do either the kayaking or maybe the snorkeling with dolphins but given the time constraints (and the water would be Baltic!!) and the fact we've still a lot planned for the North Island, it was a good thing we just recharged the batteries with some well deserved R&R. And sure that gives me another reason to come back in the future to fulfill what I may have missed out on!

... with today and gave us a ride back to town saving us another 2 hours of hiking. I want to describe the beech forests because they are hard to capture on camera and their scent is the most memorable. The forest floor is blanketed in moss and ferns with little sunlight considering the small leaves on the evergreen trees (they do shed leaves year round, but always keep leaves on as well). The air smells a little like home with the damp earth and decaying leaves ...

... the world with the amount for sale in the shops. Most entertaining were some of the menswear being donned, and a Gandalf look-alike in full dress! We then started a long drive to Murchison, back over Tekaka hill, and then along the beautiful Motueka highway. More often than anyone would really hope, we had to stop in awe at the scenery. This continued once in Murchison, at our camp site and then along the walk through the Six Mile Matakitaki walk.

... the TV lounge! We are doing nothing tomorrow apart from the massage, and i sleep in til 11.30!! So happy! The massage is amazing and i can actually go up and down stairs afterwards, my calfs are still pulling slightly, but i am not in pain anymore!

... slices of rock have been piled on top of one another and are now balanced precariously in the swell of the sea. There are also blow holes which are said to be amazing during a storm. There was still some spurting in the relatively calm seas we saw and that lead to me trying to capture the moment on film (or digital equivalent..... 'card' I guess). After about 10 minutes and very limited success, I gave up and we moved on to the Punakaiki Cavern. This is a cave that ...

... Couple from Henley in Berkshire. They were really lovely and no sooner had we been shown the room and agreed to stay then we were offered a cup of tea and we sat down in front of the fire for a long chinwag. They actually lived in a separate little house which sat next to 'the guest house'. The guest house had a big open plan kitchen and living room with a log fire. The décor was all natural wood, sumptuous sofas and big lamps. Really homely and it was so nice to have a living room ...

It was cosy sleep time at the campervan. The fan heater really makes a difference. And the lounge kitchen area really is quite cosy. We had to settle stuff, meanwhile Jaykin had a fun time chasing ducks, as well as the friendly cat and puppy that roamed around the campervan park. We drove off to the Picton town centre and near pier but there wasn't much. Admiring marlborough sounds through queen charlotte drive. We headed off to the West coast, through a ...

... realise the terror of the flies -getting out of the car, starting to slap their faces in panic and running back to the car. No amount of insect repellent helped at all so we had lunch in the car and quickly left hoping for less fly traffic in the smaller lake. The lake was beautiful though but those flies... The second lake (Rotoiti) was fortunately not as busy on the flyside of things and we did get ...