Arthurs Pass

Left Hokitika, went for a drive around the area and stumbled upon the most gorgeous milky blue gorge. The water running through comes down from the glacier which creates this spectacular colour of the water, we walked across the swingbridge, wobbling it as we went trying to freak Mum out ( as she's scared of heights). We drove through the forests, through the acres of farmland and stopped for lunch at the lake for our picnic, watching the kiwis enjoy their weekend pursuits on the lake and catching a few tiddly winks. After stopping off at another waterfall we ventured onto Arthur's Pass - famous road for it's engineering ingenuity. The scenery was again spectacular, Jamie's highlight was taking himself through a pitch black 368m cave 60m underground meanwhile submerged shoulder high in freezing water, holding our pathetic torch in his mouth for guidance.

Hokitika Gorge

We settled down in Darfield for the night, parking up in the rec carpark, I persuaded my parents that was completely legal!! With not much going on in Darfield we were delighted to find the pub open and not exactly heaving but still what do you expect for a pub in the middle of nowhere in NZ.

Hokitika Gorge 2

Sun 20th Jan

For Mum & Dad's last day of sightseeing in NZ we thought we would take them to a gorgeous little French harbour Akaroa, on the Banks Peninsula, not far from Christchurch. Mum and Dad went on a sail around the coves spotting dolphins, penguins and seals on the way. We grabbed BBQ'd lemonfish and crashed out to enjoy the sunshine.

I had arranged to meet up with Mark Hoskins a friend from home in Christchurch. It had been a while since we have had a night on the town so as you can imagine quite a few shandies were consumed, but a very fun night in the Irish bar.

Hokitika Gorge 3

Hokitika Gorge 4

Hokitika Gorge 5