One day in Paradise

Doubtful Sound putting on a spectacular lightshow at 8 am

A cabin with a view

Overnight cruising with the Fiordland Navigator

A glimpse of Doubtful Sound

Good morning! The view from Etienne's balcony

Duncan's brother Etienne in his bar Tardis

Autumn in New Zealand

Lovely Queenstown

A brief stop on our way to Queenstown

Paradise

The mysterious forests of Mt Aspiring National Park

New Zealand just keeps getting better and better and better. This week we did three really cool things:

- Drove out to Paradise (northwest of Glenorchy) where they shot large parts of the Lord of the Rings movies.

- Stayed with Duncan's (Toni's housemate in Cape Town) brother Etienne in Queenstown.

- Went on an overnight cruise to the Doubtful Sound, part of the Fiordland National Park.

We don't have time to write much so all we can say that all places were amazing and true New Zealand highlights. Eight more days to go and then we are off to the sun in Samoa.

Dinner at the Ale House

We wish every tour would end like this

Speights Brewery

On our way to Dunedin

Mount Cook (approx 3800 m)

Hooker Valley track at Mount Cook

lakeside walk at Tekapo

On our way to Lake Tekapo

Some more Akaroa

Akaroa

Christchurch

Kaikoura Winery

We left Kaikoura on a misty morning, but not entirely until we had visited the local winery located on a hilltop. A cheese platter and six wines later we headed down to Christchurch, where we made a brief stop to do a city tour with the old tram.

Next visit was to Akaroa, the old French city once claimed by one of the first European settlers. Even the street names were in French!

Eager for some more great walks we then headed to Mount Cook, with stops at Lake Takapo and Lake Pukake, known for their turqoise waters. Once on the foot of Mount Cook we did the Hooker Valley track - an easy four hour walk to the spot where the mountain ice melts.

Now we are in Dunedin. Yesterday we took a tour of the 100+ year old brewery Speights, followed by a dinner at the adjacent Ale House. The journey continues...

Tramping, drinking ... and watching some sheep

40 million sheep; and here are seven of them

Seal baby

On our way to Kaikoura

Camping at one of the cheap sites provided by the Department of Conservation

Tasting some grapes in the Marlborough winelands

The view from the Old MacDonald Farm

Marahau - the end (and beginning) of our walk

Abel Tasman National Park

By taxi boat to Bark Bay - let the long walk begin

Pelorus Bridge

Another week has passed and we are enjoying every second. We started making our way along the north shores of the south island. We made a first stop at a pictouresque little creek at Pelorus Bridge. You can really sense that the tourist season is dying out, and most of the more remote campsites are empty. After Pelorus we left for Marahau where we embarked on a 20 km trek in the Abel Tasman National Park. We took a taxi boat to Bark Bay, and walked back to base camp - the Old MacDonald Farm.

As our legs were resting we spent a day in the Marlborough wine region, enjoying some of the finest white wines New Zealand has to offer. We ment to do this wine tour by bike but it was raining so we took to the comfort of our car.

Now we are on the east coast, in Kaikoura. Yesterday we went to a sheep shearing show, feeding some old ram and watching the sheep shearer at work. The sun is shining and the mountains are no longer covered by clouds. Beautiful!

Rafting, riverjet, and hiking

2000 metres above sea level

Mt. Ngauruhoe

The Tongariro Crossing

Life in the outback

Lake Taupo - the result of one of the biggest volcanic eruptions in the history of our planet

Orakei Korako

The Hamilton jetboat

Rafting outfit - hot stuff!

A couple of action-packed days have passed and we are making our way to the south island. We did a grade five white water rafting along the Wairoa river, outside of Rotorua. It was the first time for both of us and we loved it. Then we went on a Hamilton jet boat to the Orakei Korako Thermal Reserve - a thermal national park with lots of hot springs, geysers, mud pools, caves; a remote gem outside of Taupo. Last but not least we did the Tongariro Crossing hike, passing Mt. Ngauruhoe (doubling as Orodruin or "Mount Doom" in Lord of the Rings).