Well it had to happen after weeks of little exercise I decide to try and run for 20 minutes. Pathetic cant believe what has happened to my legs they will not work. Oh dear. Anyway its a hot day and we decide to hike to Purple Peak around 4/5 hours all round... that is if you dont go wrong and can read the map. Three hours later we are walking up...

We left Oamaru to go swimming with the dolphins in Akaroa! It was absolutely amazing, one of the best experiences we've had! The photos don't do it justice, I promise there are dolphins in there somewhere!! We were out at sea for about 1 1/2 swimming in the freezing cold while they played around us. We were all given snorkels so that we could si...

29.06.07 Es hat geregnet wie am Weltuntergang. So sind wir mit dem LWC lustig in der Gegend herumgefahren, als wir das Westpac Stadium entdeckt haben. Dort war zufaellig eine riesige Boot-Show, die die neuesten Yacht Exemplare und Wakeboats zeigte. Leider viel zu teuer fuer uns (95.000NZ$ fuer ein kleines Wakeboat von Malibu), so haben wir uns m...

It was a terrificly scenic drive here in our mushroom coloured Nissan Sunny rental, as the roads winds its way up and over and down the Banks Peninsula, what was once mistakenly declared an island by Captain James Cook. We set up our tent and though the temperature by night is pretty parky we found ourselves to be surprisingly snug, like a coupl...

We arrived in the sunny little seaside town of Akaroa which is situated o the Banks Pennisula. It has alot of French names in this village as they were the first europeans to land here. Our accomodation was very cosy and along the sea front. We went on a nice harbour cruise and saw loads of marine and bird life including pods of the '"Hector" Do...

Last night I went to a bar around the corner to meet a friend I met on the bus from Picton to Christchurch (different friend). We had a couple drinks and learned that the bar was havig a contest for a trip to the Lord of the Rings Tour (normally NZ$200!). We thought it would be fun to play along, especially sice we could work as a team. They ask...

We slept great last night, finally. After a brief stop to get groceries and a cell phone car charger we headed out toward Akaroa. It was a 1:45 drive in partly rainy weather. We passed farms with grazing sheep, LOTS of sheep. There were rolling hills where stock grazed and patches of trees lined the hillsides. It reminded me of Marin County in N...