Had a proper Sunday morning chill today involving breakfast in bed and a good natter before eventually exiting the van at around 10.30. The views from our bed at our lakeside spot were pretty ace, despite it being overcast. Once up, we got straight on the road, stopping at the next major lake (Lake Tekapo)… Read more

Mt Cook was gone this morning. Low grey clouds hid all trace of the glaciers above us and the temperature was distinctly wintery. There were no spectacular views. Today Mt Cook village was just the end of a valley – there was no trace to be seen of the mountains that make this place famous.… Read more

“Stick around guys, it’s ya lucky day”. We’d only met Roscoe, the tall and typically laid back kiwi for a couple of minutes. He was a man of few words, but those were the words that I’ll never forget.  I’ll never be able to describe in enough detail the excitement of the day we’ve just… Read more

The day dawned clear again after a star filled night. Despite some strong winds, our tent had survived the night, but only just! The fabric flapped and pulled noisily all night long giving us a restless night. Clare took the brunt of it though as she was on the windward side and the tent would… Read more

Wow! Wow! Wow! Now we’re really getting to see what New Zealand has to offer! What a place! We drove up to Mt Cook village on what must be a contender for one of the best roads in the world! It’s 55km long and great white peak of Mt Cook is just sitting up there… Read more

Although Queenstown is far from famous for it’s rock climbing, we thought we ought experience what they’ve got before  we left town. After dismissing the Coronet Crags as really not worth the bother, we tried our luck at Gorge Road. Here we did a fun little two pitch climb, but had to agree with the… Read more