Apart from the HUGE 4head, not a bad likeness, got it done in q'town market a few days ago.

We had been given a lot of mixed reports about c'church, but like with Dunedin we were both pleasantly surprised. A very English city, we were able 2 go punting dowm the Avon river when i fell asleep. The art gallery (recently opened in 2003) was gr8, there was some moderm stuff from s korea which was real funny, nice 2 c people smiling rather than stroking their chins 4 a change. we went and saw North Country and Walk the Line, both highly recommended. Went 2 pizza hut 4 first time since uni. Unlimited dessert consistin of choc cake, choc mousse, jelly, ice cream, choc sauce and choc pieces 4 on top. I only realised dessert was free after stuffing myself with pizza (sans crusts, that's how they like 2 fill u up, also ask 4 water not pop which is extra fizzy) so i was gutted only 2 b able 2 have 2 bowls. Have begun panic eating ar new fitness regime kicks in on Wed on r return.

overcame the nerves 2 go up the mountain by skilift, gr8 views of c'church and surrounds.

We stopped off 2 view the rather strange boulders at moeraki, and took some pics of a's tummy next 2 one of them. Beware the offensive $2 fee via the restaurant, take the 'alternative access' in which is the official public free access! Timaru was a bit overcast but we had our first indian in ages, and read our books, all very civilised.

we both really liked dunedim from the start. Easy 2 walk around in the centre, lots of cool shops and cafes, it had a very positive vibe. We had dinner and then went 2 see the abysmal River Queen!

this is a really cool drive across the se coast 2 dunedin. There r many stop offs, but as it was so windy (a couldnt open her door at one point!) we managed only 2. The first was a famous cascades which has a long name i cant remember, and 2nd was nugget point, a cliff walk 2 above a seal colony. We havd yet 2 see any penguins though. Quite a long drive 2day, arriving in dunedin just after 6.

2 b perfectly honest i cant really recommend invercargill too highly as a holiday spot. the weather turned nasty as we hit the south coast, and we arrived at the beach road motel, which oddly only took cash. when we entered our 'room' it was pretty clear it hadnt been cleaned in months if not years. dust, woodrot and a strange musty stentch were its main characteristics. the showers were worse, unusable really, whilst the tv room was like something out of a 70s Pinter play. After rushing down 2 the beach 2 get away from it all we decided 2 go back and clear off pronto. We found somewhere decent on our 2nd attempt, and complained 2 the council aswell! The good bit was going 2 the southland museum and a trip down to the coastal town of Bluff where we saw an amazing sunset over stewart island.

We drove down up to Milford Sound in the Fiordland National Park, the best drive of the holiday so far, and not to be missed. Milford Sound itself at the terminal was pretty hectic, lots of tourists and so we were a little wary the sounds would be full of boats. However, once we set sail we hardly saw another boat for 2.5 hours and were greeted with waterfalls, seals the odd dolphin and the most astounding scenery i've ever seen. No mobile pictures i'm afraid, but quite a few uuality ones to be posted up on our return next week. We were pretty lucky with the weather as aparrently they get 220 inches of rain down here a year, over 200 days a year are a washout!

We were planning to do some of the many walks available along the Te Anau - Milford Sound highway, but were both pretty exhausted by the time we went home. I've just spent 30 minutes under a cold shower and am still feeling pretty zonked to be honest. Tonight will consist of pizza and falling asleep on the lakefront before the sandflies start to bite.

It's nice to get all the comments people, makes me feel like i'm not talking to myself like some madman. Anyway, Lucy Howard, can you please post up a comment to let me know you're still alive, i've been old you're checking every Monday but you've been very quiet and Annabel and I would like to make sure you're still alive.

Captain Chris, can you please post up your blog address, as your wedding one is busted and i think you changed your main one.

Nasty Marlon, are you still out there?

There's a big fence of bras on your way into Wanaka. Apparently a farmer put up 5 of his wife's bras when she left him and tourists have added hundreds since. If anyone has more information on this bizarre piece of art, please let me know. I'd like to build a website allowing people to put advertising on the bras, or perhaps purchase them, a real winner methinks. Should really have stopped to take a picture, i know it sounds weird.

I have stubbed my toe. On the way back from a big dinner at the Moose bar and sunset food smack grassy knoll snooze, i jammed my jandle/flip flop into some gravel. I'm ok, don't panic. The nice ladies at the Top 10 Holiday Park have given me 2 band aids and the general opinion is that i will make a full recovery in time for our big day tomorrow. Te Anau is about 2 hours drive from Queenstown, and yet again, the scenery is astounding, changing all the time.

Te Anau is mostly a tourist stop off point for delving into Fiordland National Park in the south west of NZ. As Annabel is pregnant we won't be doing anything too adventourous but a 2.5 hour cruise tomorrow with a 4 hour return drive to get there will be action enough i think. We would both love to come back to do the 3-5 day walks such as the Milford track that are out here. As with Abel Tasman you could easily spend many holidays in this neck of the woods, but we only have 2 days.

It's been a bit of a whirlwind tour, but we've managed to balance the 2 days breaks with 1 day stopovers pretty well so far I think. On Monday we're off to Invercargill, then we're taking the Catlins drive over the Southeast coast (not many people do this apparently, so we're special) up to Dunedin, then Timaru, 2 nights in Christchurch and 2 nights in Kaikora before heading back from the mainland;)

 

 

too hot! we arrived 2 find our holiday park didnt have a pool, disaster! we then realised we were next 2 a huge lake and so cooled off in there b4 falling asleep under searing sun. i tell u this holiday lark gets harder day by day. despite q'town being action capital of world, were doing nothing more strenuous than dinner and stroll.

a quaint old mining village that contains the best sweetshop in the world! www.remarkablesweetshop.co.nz. There's one in Queenstown as well.

ive never seen these b4, available only at haast lodge.

heat for the mind is wind for the feather.

Wow, the coolest cinema in the world, real sofas and even a car! Thanx 2 the person (Todd!) who recommended the place on recent post. Red star burgers r fab!

We set off by 9am today, getting really good at packing the car. Stopped by a little place called Blue Pools. I've been trying to figure out what it is that reminds me of the colour of the icy blue water, and realised it's the Colgate Gel you get in those pump packs. So it's like swimming in diluted toothpaste, but not really.

We stopped off at the amazing trip highlight (for me, annabel tolerated it) puzzling world, just outside wanaka. there was loads of optical illusion stuff and a huge maze, which i successfully completed, testing my theory of 'stick to the left' which worked a treat. Annabel was very impressed at my orienteering prowess. She took a picture of the leaning tower of wanaka from distance as if it was poking me in the arse, which i'll be posting up on my return, this caused much merriment, a very carry on moment.

Got into Wanaka, still very hot. We've spent a few hours by the pool, and did 3 cycles of swim, dry off, swim, dry off etc, until we got hungry for chippies and pop. We're going to go and see Little Fish tonight at the indie cinema Cinema Paradiso which is supposed to be very cool. Red Star Burgers has been recommended to me as a colleague Simon N has a friend called Trudy who runs the place, a full review will be posted in due course, as i am a connoiseur of gourmet burgers.

The internet terminal i'm at is scary, it's $2 for 15 minutes, and it doesn't tell you how long you have got left, so if it goes off someone will have access to whatever it is you were working on. I don't have a watch but can feel the 15 minutes approaching with every key stroke, so, farewell until queenstown..

 

have arrived in Haast, a stopover village on the west coast on the way to Wanaka/Queenstown. It's blisteringly hot, not what we had been led to expect, although the sandflies are starting to bite now. They love my ankles and the small of my back.

Annabel fell a little ill last night after dinner, but is much better this morning. She hasn't got much room in her stomach and we ate quite late, so there's nothing to worry about.

The trip down from Franz Josef was great. We had a walk around Lake Matheson, which is famous for showing reflections of Mt Cook and Mt Tasman in the lake, but unfortunately it was a bit windy although it was still pretty impressive. We stopped off for another break at Lake Pakaringa which was just lovely where we had chocolate and banana muesli bars.