Hola ! South America...

We have arrived !! lets tango xx

see ya pissy rain !

We dropped the camper van back 3500km later ... and caught our long uncomfortable flight to Chile... It was a an 11 hour flight with a time difference of nine hours , so we were not feeling that chipper !! It would appear that being able to order a couple of coffees and a bottle of wine is not going to be enough ...I tell you this Spanish is like a foreign language to me ...
Got a taxi to our hotel , but due to some political coup we were dropped off about a mile away ... and barked at in Spanish, I think he was saying " get out you English pigs and walk you lazy gringos" so we walked.. in too many clothes from dull New ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZealand and with our heavy packs and Ukulele in tow we eventually found our hotel.. phew wee !!

hola .. Chile !

Our first night in Santiago and we love it, leafy avenues, really friendly people, we found a restaurant and ordered ... we were not sure... but the beers we lovely.. It happened to be Karaoke night and boy do the Chileans like to sing.. they Bam Bam Bammed and Chicky Chicky Chooed the night away, it was great fun.
We were both awake at 3am .. damn you longitude , so were up and at it , zombie fide ... we had to get to the bus station to book our tickets to Argentina ... This meant negotiating the underground then finding the station , booking tickets across a border and finding our way home.. Now this is back packing.. it's exhausting but exciting in a challenging way ... I don't imagine my Spanish is that acoustically pleasing to the ear, but with a lot of smiling and 'gracias' we seem to be getting there..

Football winners.. gggoooaaalllll !!!!!

We wandered around this lovely city and were fortunate enough to see the football winners of South America cup, University de Chile on their open top bus with the trophy.. so hundreds of people were in the street blowing whistles and banging drums.. the buildings are beautiful here and we spent a hour or so in Musuem de Arts just staring at the ceiling..
Up again at 2am... we both look dreadful.. have not had jet lag like this before.. it is awful.. so we were at the bus station in plenty of time... having got the tube with our rucks on .. check us out !!

Barren Andes.

The bus was amazing.. it was like sitting in Jim Ill fix it chair.(rip). huge leather armchair with full recline, snacks and films.. The journey was stunning over the Andes.. we completed 30 switchbacks, which were a little hairy.. at the top we had to get out and clear Chile immigration then go to the next booth and enter Argentina, all very easy and friendly, it was downhill from there on.. not in a negative way, on the bus.... passing rivers, vineyards.. it was nice to see civilisation again.. those Andes are so barren.. snowcapped but very loamy sandy .. no wonder when that plane crashed they had to eat each other .. there is nothing on them mountains.. whenever I board a plane, all passengers are potential meals... I have a quick look about and bag my meal... Asian rim can sleep easy... their food gives me a bad head,  all the msg they have consumed I shall be leaving them till last ... Anyway.....

Deserted Andes.

We arrived in Mendoza and it is wonderful.. dramatic, snow capped  mountains with vineyards at their feet, clear blue skies, tree lined boulevards, pavement cafes with fountains and parks... just what we have been looking for.. everyone is so friendly and helpful.. and the Malbec wine is wonderful..  In the evening families are out promenading with their children and a carnival was on with drums and scantily clad girls donning a lot of feathers..it is lovely just sitting sipping wine, eating olives and watching the world go by..

Now thats a switchback !!

The following day we caught the local bus !! hmm no phrase book prepares you for this.. we climbed on to a full bus.. everyone staring at us.. you have to buy tickets at the door in a machine.. it only takes coins.. we only had notes.. the driver was driving like a maniac.. so we were being tossed around like a wet rag !! eventually an elderly gent threw his "oyster card " at us !! so we bought 2 tickets.. to who knows where on his card and gave him 5 pesos !!! the only seats available were at the front facing the whole bus !!!! my cheeks were sore from laughing and smiling the whole way there...
We got off at Maipu, this is the wine region of Mendoza, and we hired two bikes for the day, so with map in hand and trusty stead between our thighs !! we headed off... it was so hot.. and uphill, and the cellars were quite far apart.. we would arrive with tongues dragging , gasping for water rather than a nice warm glass of red wine...still it's not everyday you get to ride a bike around the foothills of the Andes with condors soaring over your heads..

Hungry ?

That night we caught a cab to the fashionable side of town where if you are anyone you don't go out till 12am ... it was fabulous, people strutting their stuff, the seen wanting to be seen , we managed 1am, then headed home for our flight to Buenos Aires.
Hooray ... it is our anniversary ... our whole journey we have been upgraded and showered in wine, champagne, flowers and cake... here . one of the lesser of our hotels and a room in the basement.. there again is a lesson there somewhere.....
I cannot believe we are here, it is fantastic, vibrant, busy, noisy, beautiful,.. we checked into our basement and booked ourselves on a Tango show for our anniversary ..
OMG... we had the best table in the intimate restaurant and had dinner first , with free drinks all night ..

Carnival ...

Then the show began... we were totally mesmerised for 2 hours, intense, passionate, sexy...the dancers gave everything.. you could almost feel the heat and passion coming off them, some dances actually made me cry.. one dancer sang " dont cry for me " and I don't think a song has ever moved me so much .. what a romantic way to spend your anniversary.. I showed Brian some tango moves later that night, but the old kick of the leg between the old swingers put an early night to that ..  

Ahh Condor 

Samba ..

We are really enjoying BA, we have decided to stay for Christmas.. so to all you blog followers, a very Happy Christmas and 2012... Can't believe we will be home soon.. Enjoy your time with your families and friends.. I will be missing all the people I love very much . xxxxxxxx

Land of the long white cloud !!

Wooo Hoooo

In fact the cloud is so long it has covered the North island for the past week, all I have seen is low cloud, drizzle and gail winds.. fantastic..I can get this in Whitstable, no trouble.. The weather is so debilitating.. it really can make or break a day... Unfortunately it has broken a lot of days here, which means we have been continuing with our extensive wine tasting hobby of trying as many New Zealand wines as possible..

Father and son getting some air !!

So what else have we been up to !!  Well we left Rotorua and headed North through countryside which looked like Yorkshire, moors and hills, and rocky outcrops, and horsed it straight through Auckland where we met some traffic... yikes ... but no trouble for Chief Brian... it was all moving on a 4 laned motorway.. and decided to pitch at a town called Orewa, a seaside resort with the pitch right on the beach...
It was lovely but blowing a gail, fantastic for all the kitesurfers and windsurfers who were out.. we played on the beach for ages.. watching a kitesurfing father tow his son behind him on a boogie board...That night the wind really got up and our camper was rocked to sleep ...

Yep , another beach .

Woke the following day to grey sky and wind and rain.. decided to take the scenic route up to the bay of islands... couldn't really see much as the visibility was awful.. we stopped at Manghawi heads to watch a brilliant race, of two guys in a blow up dinghy with an engine on the back, they race around markers, but have to crash over huge waves... it was very exciting and lots of capsizing and noise and danger .. it is so windy we could hardly stand up..
On to Whangarei a town in a basin with sleek yachts lining the harbour walls, a pretty town, but bugger all to do !! we walked the boardwalk even visited the clock museum and art gallery... we do everything we are told to do in guide books and tourist information.... ho hum.. onto Paihia... It is like a ghost town ... more wine I suppose..

up yours weather !!

We stayed on another site on the beach , this is where the very famous treaty was signed between the Maori and the English.. however , one was written in Maori, and one in English... it appears they were slightly different, and the English one seemed to allow land to be free in the South Island !! oops .. This has caused many factions over the years with the Maori people ...( can't understand it myself) No wonder they bulge their eyes out ..

Rib boat racing

Whoa ....

It has been a long drive up here to see the bay of islands.. Not only can I not see an Island, I can not even see the Bay, what a pity... we took a small car ferry over to Russell, which I am sure in sunshine is idyllic... in drizzle it is miserable.. we found a lovely site on a headland apparantely overlooking a bay..We put on all our wet weather gear and headed into town.. It is very pretty, small coves with sandy beaches, yachts bobbing about in harbours waiting for owners who seldom come, (did you know 80% of yachts never leave the harbour ) shiplapped bungalows with ornate verandas.,. it is very lovely, peering through your baseball cap and rain splattered sunglasses ...we splashed around the quaint town and found a lovely restaurant overlooking the jetty in the harbour, it had laid back charm, cool sounds being played and plenty of wine ......

Bay of rain, I mean islands .

'bingo'..we staggered home and I challenged Brian to an aggressive game of dominoes whilst listening to Bread on the Ipod in memory of dad !! Brian beat me by one point, so I drew all over his arms with the scoring biro.. which he is still trying to wash off... after pulling faces at each other for an hour we ended up watching Moulin Rouge drinking more wine and waiting for Mum to get up with kids.. as it was Christmas cake making day.. and boy did it sound messy !!!

Feeling very grey .. like the sky !!

We both felt a little fragile the following morning and even more low when we peered out of the window to more pouring rain... the weather forecast said it would be like this for 4 more days so reluctantly we decided to head south to Auckland ready for our departure from this country... It rained the whole way south , we pulled in to Takapuna a lovely site right on the beach with loads of surfers and kite surfers on the water.. if only we could see them !!

Russell in the rain.

We caught the passenger ferry into Auckland the following day to wander around and get our South America, Rough Guide... we have been listening to the Spanish CD in the car , and quite frankly should have no problems whatsoever !! both entirely fluent in ordering " 2 coffees with milk, a bottle of red wine and a glass of water , please " ... what more does one want..
New Zealand has always been on our bucket list, we have really enjoyed the wonderful hosts who are so friendly, the simply breathtaking scenery, the amazing wildlife, and safe healthy living, it has been a real pity about the weather, and although that tends to 'cloud' ones thoughts on a country, we have really enjoyed 'the land of the long white cloud '  ... Kia Ora .. lets see what South America has to offer .. AAARRRIIBBAAA..xxxxxxxxxxx

Auckland.

North V South

Cuba Street - Wellington

Well so far the South is winning ... a lot more dramatic and heaps more wildlife.. but I guess they are so different thats what makes it interesting !! honestly I want so much !!

Paekahiri beach

So we arrived in the North Island and went straight to the famous Wellington musuem' Te Papa 'which was fabulous - very interactive, there was a floor on geology and you got to go into an earthquake house which shakes and things are thrown around, gives you a real idea of what it would be like... try drinking a glass of wine during that... spillage .. On the 6 th floor was a Maori exhibition... as I wandered around the highly decorated war canoe that is elaborately adorned with curly Albatross feathers , I found one on the floor .... I was so excited I put it in my pocket !!  ( children it is not theft !!) as we exited I told Brian , who kind of was only listening with one ear ( like the swiss fella) anyway we mooched upto Cuba street a great studenty cafe lined pedestian area adorned with buskers .. when I went to retrieve my feather to show him ..... guess what .. it was gone ... I was more distressed than I should have been at which Brian mentioned to me " oh I saw a white feather flutter down back at those traffic lights and it makes me think of Forrest Gump " ..... stupid is as stupid does ..so we went back to look for it .... doooohhhh ! this town is nicknamed 'windy city ' .... There is a message in there somewhere.
We decided to head up the coast for the night to a seaside town of Paekakariki , a lovely sandy dune beach, we took a bottle of wine down the beach and watched the sun go down.

Hot stream ( spot the munter !)

Woke upto a grey old day, arrgh.. and it got windier and windier as the day went on.... the scenery was fairly non descript so we carried on driving through ghost town after ghost town, we stopped of at a great Army Museum which depicted New Zealands commitment to war through the ages, it was very interactive and brilliantly laid out. We ended the night at the bottom of a huge mountain which is a ski resort in the winter and spent the night virtually on our own in a forest..

Get in the hole !

We woke to a beautiful day -  thank the lord , as I am not the best company when the weather is poor and of course it is all Brians fault..... we headed off and followed Lake Taupo , it is huge 18 miles long and 18 miles wide.. being watched over by snow capped mountains and volcanoes, very dramatic, we booked into our site and took a walk with our swimmers and towel down to the river. A boiling stream from a volcano joins the freezing cold river from the lake.. you can swim and lay in the shallow river bed in this unusual pool .. it was like sitting in a faulty mixer tap, or like being in the Camper shower when Brian turns a tap on and you either get scalded or frozen .. brrrr - arrgh .. it was a lovely experience and lots of people just chatting and swirling around in these clear blue spring waters ... We headed back and booked 2 bikes and our floatplane flight for the next day, the plane takes off on the lake and flies over the volcano so that you can see the blue pool in the crater ..

Huka falls . still with tache !! from Movemeber..

Up very early and it is bloody grey .. and very low cloud... I am so pissed off.... we rode down to the lake and realised two things were very wrong about our flight ( apart from the weather) firstly the pilot was female, secondly she looked about twelve... - she then said the clouds were too low to take off ( I mean what would she know ) so we left her to play with her barbie dolls ( other dolls are also available) and we rode off around the lake.

Bad eggs !!

At the top was a golf hole in one , where you hit a ball off of the cliff onto a floating pontoon moored 102m away.. Brian like all other men had only one thing on his mind ( well apart from the obvious) the cash prize of NZ $10,000 for a hole in one . Of course all the men took a club too short ( male ego huh ) some of them were so crap I could have thrown it further !!, Or I know some places in Bangkok where a certain part of the female anatomy could have fired it further.... However my hero , my Brian hit the pontoon on his 2 nd ball, I was so proud of him, he then hit it 3 more times, quite a crowd was forming , largely due to a coach load of Chinese tourists who had got off, but none the less he was firing on all 2 Irish cylinders... I thought at one point he was going to fire me, and confess to numerous affairs.. on national TV ..
We went for a lovely bike ride and fed the ducks then headed back to check on our juvenile pilot who was playing in a sand pit, she reconfirmed the flight was definitely off and to try again the next day. So with our head hung low we decided on a lakeside lunch to drown our sorrows..
Woke up very early again to rain ... I hate this country - the disappointments of never knowing what the weather will be like brings flooding back the frustrations of living in England.. never knowing what clothes to take, too hot too cold.. oh listen to me - so hard done by !! anyway the flight was cancelled, and as we were up so early, packed up and headed off.
First stop Huka falls, they were very impressive, what they lacked in height  they made up for in volume, a narrow gorge plunges over a shelf with a foaming maelstrom of blue glacial water - made one feel quite agoraphobic watching the swirling waters under the footbridge.

Champagne pool -  cheers.. 

we then drove onto Rotorua . Stopping first at Wai - o - Tapu a boiling pot of various bubbling pools.
We had prepared ourselves with boiled eggs and toast for the day( word up, salt and pepper the toast not the egg) as you can smell Wai o Tapu way before you arrive... it was a geothermal extravaganza, like being in a very busy kitchen...bubbling mud, mineral deposits, fluorescent yellow, radioactive looking lakes, - Champagne pool was fabulous, a bottle green cauldron of tiny bubbles on the surface, wreathed in swirling steam with a dusting of burnt orange and sugar around its flute !! very eerie ...I kept encouraging Brian to go in for a paddle, especially the gloopy chocolate mud fountain... I mean , man what is going on beneath us .. I am sure one day the whole thing will just go 'bang' !! someone once said that's how it all started !! Pah !!

Monster in the mist !!

From here we followed our noses all the way to Rotorua but not before visiting the blue and green lake and the buried village.. a village covered in ash from an old volcano explosion... it started raining again, so we headed for our site for some tunes on the Ukelule and chat to Chloe and Mum on skype.

Go on, dip your toe in Honey !!

Lady of the lake.

Chief to Chief !!

The next day was beautiful, we headed into town walking through the beautiful park which has geothermal pools all over it,,, fenced off areas with steam belching out from under the ground... ducks swim in lakes which bubble in area, it is like walking through another planet. We walked along the beautiful lake and onto government gardens, where we were rewarded with a Georgian bath house, croquet lawn, quintessential English gardens and a graduation ceremony from 'University of Canterbury ' no less... they were led around the quadrangle by four wonderfully dressed Maoris doing the haka .. they looked very cheeky , with their tattooed butt cheeks !! a 'w' on one cheek and a ' w' on the other ... only joking .... kids ... naughty Aunty Gab .We headed back to the site to enjoy the sunshine and get ready for our night out ... oh yes we were headed for Mitai Maori Village , our Maori driver picked us up in his bus , his name was nutter !!! and he was , he remembered everyone's names and was great fun, and very humorous, so much so Brian thought he was hilarious and laughed his head off the whole way there... It was no surprise then that Brian was chosen to be our 'chief '!!! to represent us to the warrior chief of this village - a job to be taken very seriously and under no circumstances must you show , fear, humour, or aggression .. oh lord !!

Maori Village

Chief with his warrior

Me and the boys ..

Kia Ora xx

We all gathered around Brian in a circle.. he stood very proud in front of his tribe, like a gladiator, awaiting the warriors coming towards him... It was spine chilling, their chanting and haka and spear wielding , |I was laughing so hard at poor old Brian, looking petrified, it was actually really scary, eye bulging, tongue waggling, scantly clad men threatening my husband were not on my top ten things to do on a world tour as flashpackers !!.. Brian's duty did not end there, whilst I wandered around the village on my 'own' watching the Maori villagers showing me various arts and crafts, my 'chief' was being put through his paces with various warrior games .. running through twigs and twirling sticks.. when the conch shell was blown he scuttled into the 'meeting house' I am telling you life as a chief sucks ... we  were all herded into the meeting house, where the most amazing dances were performed , songs sang and the finale of the Haka ... awesome.. it was then onto dinner, our food had been cooked in the ground on volcanic rocks then covered in ash and soil, Brian had to help to uncover the food, then lead us to the eating area, the food was yummy , if a little bland.. The evening closed to ... oh yes ... Brian having to do the Haka to all of us ... a true warrior... I learnt a lot about my Chief that night .. I did not realise his tongue was quite so long !!!!!

Last stop in South Island.

110 m swing bridge.. nope not scared.

WHOOO Hoooo

The finish of our kayak trip .

We left Westport with a relieved German family in our rear view mirror, and headed for Nelson, It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. We followed a spectacular gorge and river the whole way, stopping at Buller's Gorge an old gold mining site.. It has the longest swing bridge in New Zealand crossing a raging icy river... we decided to walk/crawl across it and bounce each other up and down, whilst shouting 'stop.. stop it ' We had a walk around the gold mining site and decided to take the zip wire back to the other side.. now what a jolly good idea.. we were strapped into our harnesses, and decided on the tandem zip as it is 'quicker' OMG  we whizzed back across the raging river at lightening speed.. me screaming, Brian whooping and a hollering .. I was still shaking an hour later ..

teachers pet and side kick

We arrived in Nelson and wandered around the uneventful town, through a lame botanical garden and booked our kayak trip for the next day.. then back to the camper to make our sarnies and get ready, boy am I looking forward to it..

Anchorage Bay

We were up and very much at it the next day, very early, and waited for our bus to pick us up, we waited with an extremely dull Swiss guy who seemingly had had his ear cut off and sewn on again !! maybe he was like Van Gogh !!! or had ear cataracts or something, anyway ... the bus arrived and our group for the day clambered on..a Dutch guy who had hair like Chewbacka .. to which Brian kept groaning like.. and filling me on the role chewbacka played in star wars and the general life of a wookie..two fat american students who had had a huge row and were not speaking and sat in different seats, 2 Taiwanese who did not know each other, a very boring German called Rupert and a weird English girl called Karina.... do you know it's a good job we are completely normal !!- I wonder what people write about us in their journals....we arrived at Abel Tasman national park to meet our guide Gloria .. G.L.O.R.I.A ....who lost control of the group immediately, people wandering off, Taiwanese chatting, it was carnage... she then made us all play this painful ice breaking game of telling our name, country and something interesting about ourselves.. oh man... it makes me cringe just thinking about it.. so ya I am Rupert from Germany, I want to know why zis national park is so famous !!! he had bought his GPS with him and kept checking our co-ordinates all the time .
etc... so my turn came !! Hi I am Gabby from UK , I have been in Jail for murder for the last 15 years, have had a sex change and used to be Graham , .... ( tumble weed ) .... we eventually got our kit sorted and jumped into a tractor trailer with our kayaks and trundled off to a gorgeous beach..  this is where it all got a bit frantic... the safety brief was well ... brief and Brian suddenly became teachers pet ...helping girls into there spray skirts, doing up lifejackets, rubbing in sun cream !!!! meanwhile I had been chosen as the volunteer to demonstrate how to get out the sodding thing, and was stranded in my kayak , being tossed around like a salad....The Taiwanese had clearly been booked on the wrong trip, were wearing jeans and looked a little wide eyed at getting into a Kayak.... the steering with the feet for the rudder was as foreign to them as using a knife and fork !!!!, they were quickly in trouble and neither were paddling or steering... the guide left us beached , Brian was trying to get us launched and get his spray skirt on.. we then realised we had not put our rudder down ... so back to the beach ... meanwhile everyone else was happily paddling off into the surf with all of Brians help.....no bother !!!!!

Pant beard

The Taiwanese were really struggling so it was decided to swap a yank with a Taiwanese ... like a Mc Suey combo ...this worked a treat as the yanks were not speaking anyway....  it was all a bit fraught and frantic with all the faffing about !! so we were really having to work the guns against wind and tide!!  However ... it was beautiful, blue glacial sea, fringed by perfect forest headlands, stingrays and manta rays gliding underneath us stealth like, seals on rocks and penguins swimming to catch fish.. it was awesome... we eventually beached on a perfect sandy cove , like a fingernail strip of sand , and had our well earned sweaty damp tuna sandwich !!! this is where we left our trip as we had decided on a half day hike then water taxi home !!! it was very very steep but the views were fantastic ... the beach we were headed for was Anchorage !! no not in Alaska but it may as well have been is seemed that far !! the beach was wonderful and we found a lovely nook to lay down and doze, it's times like these I wish I had given the old lady garden a bit more attention !! only to be woken by a German father singing an irritating rhyme to his son in German which had us humming it into late in the night .. our water taxi came , but hold on , 3 people missing and we were the last boat home !! what to do ? - yep we left them and endured a 20 minute rodeo ride back to base where our bus was waiting for us back to the site.

Picton

Its 1st Dec and can only imagine the rows over who is going to open the first door on the advent calender.. not long now kiddos.. . We had a glorious drive to Picton, along the Queen Charlotte Drive, stopping at numerous anchorages for photos, it is as if someone has clawed a chunk of land away and left it as natural harbour, now 40 shades of blue ... We arrived in Picton, the port between the North island and the South Island, most port towns are awful, i.e Dover.. but this is perfect, in natural harbour, forest cliffs and headlands, clear blue sea, lovely cafes and restaurants, not a burger van in site !! we walked into the marina and booked our trips for the following day and found our way to the aquarium.. I was keen to go in as they had some seahorses in there... One of the males was heavily pregnant, yes the male !!!! oh you could almost hear him, rubbing his back, moaning how uncomfortable he is and can't get comfy, wanting a hot bath and a curry !!!

Blonde lady in black dress..

After this we treated ourselves to a pint of the blonde lady in the black dress, and back to the site to get ready for our trips..

Common dolphins.

Ready !!! 

Check that out .. awesome..

Couple of winos

The best day of our trip so far, we went to the marina to get kitted out in thick wetsuits, booties, snorkels and masks, and boarded our lovely boat for the trip out to the Marlborough Sounds, it was a lovely day but the sea was a bit choppy.. After 20 minutes we spotted a pod of common dolphins, very uncommon here this was the 6th sighting this year so a very happy crew, they swam away from us, so we moved on as we are not to chase them , they must come to us !! we then spotted a bottle nosed dolphin with her calf, and although showed some interest , not enough... we headed out into the beautiful sound, and turned around, disheartened that our opportunity was over for swimming with them, we had at least seen two types... but hang on a cotton picking minute.... a pod of dusky dolphins were spotted , about 15 of them, and they were following us , clearly wanting to play... it was all a bit frantic, getting masks on and getting into the freezing water, it really took your breath away.. it was pretty scary, we were in the middle of the sea, freezing cold, high seas, deep deep water, poor visibility, and we had our heads in the water, clicking and singing to attract a pod of 15 dolphin swimming at 40 miles per hour !!!! then they came, it was utterly unbelievable, they were loving it, darting under us, leaping over us, twisting and turning, I saw a calf feeding from her mother, a couple mating at speed, ( dolphin porn ) there were so many my mask was full of tears at the pure sight of it ... when we quietened down, they swam off, as we made more noise they all came back, swimming between us ... Brian got some great video clips from the boat... we were soon all getting very cold, and the tide was pushing us away from the boat.. so reluctantly we climbed aboard.. the dolphins followed us for another mile or so, playing in the bow waves.. the crew said it was the best display they had ever seen... must have been my singing.. it was a breath taking moment , I loved every second... after hot chocolate and biscuits and change of clothes we were back in the harbour, eating fish and chips and waiting for our half day wine tour ...

Blenheim

I was still a bit numb emotionally and physically so I didn't really care what I was drinking on this fab wine tour around Blenheim and sipping lovely Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs. We were with a really nice bunch of people and the craic was good.. We visited 4 different cellars and bought lots of yummy wine, the vineyards in rows with the mountains in the background, made for a wonderful afternoon... it was soon back to the van exhausted to dream of dolphins...
It was up early the next day to catch our ferry to the North Island, we had upgraded to the VIP lounge, but the journey was so breathtaking we only kept popping in to eat free food and drink ....

Rail deck for Ethan xx

Goodbye South Island .....

The ferry was lovely, and had a rail deck on the lower floor which I went down to investigate, pretty cool, rolling stock comes on. then is rolled off !!! thought Ethan would think that was pretty cool !!!! we journeyed out through the Marlborough sounds spotting more dolphins and working our way around islands. How Captain James Cook ever found his way into here is a mystery, we fondly left the South Island behind us and are very much looking forward to our 2 weeks in the North..