252 Beachside Motels & Holiday Park Hokitika

I took the TranzAlpine train from Christchurch to Greymouth (through the tip of the Southern Alps) this morning and experienced some amazing scenery (I have added a couple of pictures to this short blog).<br><br>Aside from making the most of the stunning mountain scenery, I managed to finish reading Chris Evans' autobiography ...

... space on the afternoon tour, which turned out the better option as the weather was clearer and the seasickness warning had been downgraded to mild. The whale watch was excellent, I saw 4 sperm whales and got some really good photos of them diving and flicking their tails &#8211; they are not pretty but it is really something to see these huge creatures up quite close. At the beginning of the trip we also came across a pod of dolphins &#8211; there must have been ...

We did a steep hike up to an old Trig station where they did the surveying of the area during the 1870s. It had great views of the Southern Alps including Mt. Cook. We drove up the West Coast for two days. We stopped in Hokitika to shop for some greenstone (jade). Sandi got a pendant, while I hung out in the ...

22nd March 2009 Next destination Lake Mahinapua, we journeyed down the spectacular State Highway 6 that stretches 435 kilometers along the rugged Tasman shoreline, from Westport in the north, to the Haast Junction in the south. The road wound through a diverse series of landscapes which included fertile farmland, sparsely populated towns, deserted goldfields, lush green rain forest and the snow capped Southern Alps. After a short drive from the town we ...

... fierce wind had blown up. Our B&amp;B is in a very modern house high on a ridge above the beach would have been a brilliant place to sit and watch the sun go down, but it was just too cold and windy and later it also rained. Today they are forecasting a blast of wintry weather in the South Island with gusts of wind up to 120km per hour so it's probably a good job we'll be driving again and hoping this weather has gone before we ...

... full cooking facilities as well as being a bargain at NZ$15.50 per night. In the evening we went down to the beach which is only a couple of hundred yards from the campsite where the sand is a grey volcanic colour and the sea was very rough. We only paddled a little and D decided fishing was out of the question. We had feared that the weather might be a little cold for camping at night but were pleasantly ...

I took this picture in the plane flying back from Christchurch. Aotearoa - the Maori name for New Zealand means Land of the Long White Cloud, although some people think it relates to the snow capped mountains of the Southern Alps seen from the sea rather than the clouds. Probably neither is true as Aotearoa only referred to the North Island until the 20th century. Anyway, I think it is very impressive ...

19 &amp; 20/12/2008 South Island Introductions Picton is a relatively small town with not a huge amount to do - its key feature and benefit of course is that it's the port of entry to most people coming to the South Island. After a quick look round we headed for Nelson - a larger town and region famous for vineyards and wineries. It was a nice drive through and we arrived after a couple of hours. The town was okay, but not a huge amount to do unless ...

We went from North Island to South Island on a ferry across something called the Cook Straight. It didn't look very straight to me - very bendy in fact. The weather wasn't very good to take photos, we're hoping it'll be better when we do the crossing the other way round in 10 days time ... The bus was waiting at Picton and was quite full, we managed to find a seat to ourselves though - little did we know that would be our last! We stayed at a place ...

... they said, and they loved NZ. they had a son, Jason with them but he plans to find work and leave the Hostel. The couple plans on renovating the whole place and on making their home downstairs below the Hostel area. We had some nice pork for supper, very lean and we bought it from the world famous butcher that they had in town. Said to have the best meat in all New Zealand. It was the first time me and mom talked to the other guests in the Hostel we were staying at for any ...