Okuti Garden Christchurch

... Bob would have loved it!! We stopped for 5 mins at 11.40, sailed on to 12 stopping for another 5 mins. Nothing doing both times. Sailed for another 15 mins before stopping and seeing a whale. We stopped for about 10 mins and when it dived back under (around 12.30) it was time to head back! Cheers for that, not exactly the 'successful' day the guide suggested, though in fairness i suppose the objective was met. Would i do it again? Possibly ...

... been grey and cloudy on one side and was brilliant sunshine when we emerged. The train includes a viewing platform, which is basically a carriage without seats or windows. People would go in from their regular carriage for a little while, take some pictures and then scuttle back to the warm. Eventually we descended from the Alps onto the Canterbury plain and made a run for the city.

We finally arrived in Christchurch at just gone 6pm. The cases appeared on a baggage conveyor ...

... drinker.

2008 Waipara Hills Sauvignon Blanc – Tropical fruit and quite perfumed nose. Lots of minerality with tropical notes following through on the palette.

2007 Mud House Swan Sauvignon Blanc – Marlborough fruit. Gooseberry nose, sappy. Softer on the palette and nicely balanced.

2008 Waipara Hills Southern Cross C******nay – Five months on French oak with some new. No malo. Almost ...

... Wanaka and Em and Anna went on the dinosaur slide. Then it started to properly snow so we made a snow owl called Eliza. Had a snow fight. Then we had to pull over and put our snow chains on. Then we had to pull over again in Haast Pass because there had been some crashes on the road. We were by the side of the road for 2 hours having snow fights. Got back on the coach, watched some friends :-)!!! Arrived in Fox Glacier. Did the pub quiz as an England team (with some other ...

... tasmanske hav og alpene. Herer det vinter, så etter en frossen natt ble jeg å en japansk jentehentet fra hostellet og kjørt til en slags flystripe. Vell jeg sierflystripe men det blir vell mer et jorde.

Instruktøren min var Ungarsk og haddeved flere anledninger vært å basehoppet fra Kjerag i Lysefjorden.Etter en veldig kort introduksjon tok vi av og satte kursen for 12000 fot. Japaneren var først med sin tandeminstruktør, så fulgtejeg ...

... nobody - but nobody - is to use our poopchute for the duration of the expedition or ye shall fear of personal injury from me, as I will never emptyeth that evil recepticle again. I'd rather do a 24hr stint in a mexican hospital during a dysentry epidemic. Day 5 - All through the journey, our mobile internet connection was deplorable, even though It showed high signal strength. It was slower than morse code, but still managed to chew $90 worth. We were going to invade Wanakalakes fort ...

After our last blog, we went on a full day glacier hike up Franz Josef. We were kitted out with waterproof trousers and jackets as well as hats, gloves, uncomfortable boots and crampons. We has a breathtaking scenic walk up to the glacier before straping on our crampons and climbing up the ice. The crampons took a little ehile to get used to, but once you got used to them they were fine, It was a beautiful sunny day and we walked right up into ...

... The children are wonderful, helping (even more then usual) to lug and load the luggage and packs onto the bus.  One of our co-travellers is a physiotherapist, so I ask for a consult.  After pushing and prodding, and various manipulations, she looks at me and says, "I'd get an x-ray".  Great.  (I do not have an x-ray machine in my pharmaceutical kit.)  Mark tapes up his foot, and Gollum drives the bus into town.  He drops most of us at the grocery store, and then swings ...

... Skirt'. - The amount of cigarettes these guys smoke, one would think the Marlborough Sounds was sponsored by a certain cigarette company. - There is a strong sense to go green. Having been endowed with so much natural beauty, there is an obvious underlying desire to protect it. For example, all toilets everywhere have a 'half' and a 'full' flush to conserve water. - These guys seem passionate about their Rugby, and everything outdoors in general. Go Blacks!!

... So, we start to think someone's pinched them. And my passport. We charge around Wanaka trying to find the police (only open Monday to Friday 9-5!), cursing my persistent bad luck and wondering how i get out the country without a passport. I book a flight home, cancel my flight between LA and NY, cancel both my credit cards and my onward hostel accom. Then at 11pm ish Dad emerges from the bedroom with an apologetic look in his eyes ...