From Christchurch back to Brisbane

We arrived home from New Zealand yesterday after a brief stop in Christchurch following our fun in Hanmer Springs. At Hanmer we said an emotional goodbye to Sarah, Dan and Cam, as they got the bus back to Nelson to spend the rest of their holidays with family. It won't be too long before the girls and I see them again though, as we're off to England in 7 weeks time!!

Thanks guys for a super holiday!!!

Christchurch was very English we thought, and that wasn't just the weather! Whilst there, we visited the cathedral and the museum, and met up with an old work colleague whom Kevin and I worked with at Southampton General Hospital. We went up on the gondola. We also took a tram ride around the city. Anna and Grace had a great time with one of the entertainers in cathedral square.

Outdoor swiming?? It's only 9 degrees C!

Imagine this scene...you are in New Zealand in August, it's winter, there is snow on the mountains and frost on the ground; BUT, you are in your togs, (swimming costume/bathers for the non-aussies reading this), you are in a pool, outside, and the air tempertaure is only 9 degrees centigrade!!! Are you completely mad??

What an awesome experience. Hanmer Springs are a selection of thermally heated pools, which are suitable for bathing in whatever the air temperature. To be honest, I'm sure the experience would not have been quite so exciting at a warmer time of year. The pools temperatures ranged from 29 to 41 degrees. There was also a family pool with warm hydroslides which was great fun. We started off there and it was freezing walking up the steps to the slides but lovely when you landed in the water. The pools in the rocks were heavenly and the scenery around us just spectacular with snow-capped peaks. It was all very surreal! The really hot ones (40 and 41 degrees) stank of sulphur but it was so relaxing. We spent nearly two hours wallowing in the pools, getting frozen moving between them but then having an exhilirating feeling stepping back into the warmth.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow......

Yesterday we made our way from Nelson to Hanmer Springs (about an hour and a half north of Christchurch) via the Lewis Pass which is pretty high up and we were so pleased when it was snowing!! This meant Kevin had to put some snow chains on the wheels of the car: was a bit like something out of the Krypton factor!!!

Anyway we were very glad of them as the snow came down pretty hard as we got higher up..it was fantastic. We managed to stop for a few minutes so the children could have a snowball fight(Grace got Dan a beauty with a snowball that ended up sliding down his pants!!!) and then we moved on to Hanmer Springs.

Seeing the sights...

We've had 3 nights here in Nelson on the South Island and today we leave for our journey across the snowy mountains, but thought I'd update this before we leave.

Our acommodation here in Nelson is a converted train carriage. Very unique. Very clean and comfy. We would have been very welcome at Sarah's sisters just up the road, but due to the fact that Anna and I are both allergic to dogs, we thought we'd better not risk staying with them. My fears were proved after we stopped with them for dinner when we first arrived in Nelson on Friday night and I ended up at the local doctors surgery Saturday morning having had an asthma attack!! Anyway, it was short lived due to prompt treatment and I was feeling much better by Sunday afternoon.

We have seen some stunning scenery whilst here: Rabbit Island Beach; Kaiteriteri Beach (where Shania Twain owns an appartment apparantly!!) and we visited Abel Tasman National Park.

We're definitley feeling the cold having lived in Australia for the last 20 months, but it's just wonderful being able to travel and see these parts of the world.

More smells!!

Our journey to Wellington from Rotorua was uneventful (although Sarah was very impressed by the kiwi loo, and you can read more about this on her blog at: http://sarwrly.blogspot.com/)

We has a beautiful meal in Lone Star for Kev's birthday last night: the portions were enourmous!! So nice to smell the food cooking as we sat close to the kitchens.

Today we have had brunch in Mojo's (more beautiful smells!) and then we sat on the ferry for 3 hours whilst it sailed us from Wellington on the North Island across to Picton on the South Island. We were accompanied by a truck full of sheep so the smell of Rotorua haunted us yet again!!!

oooh, what's that smell?

Well, we've been in Rotorua for 3 days and we're glad to be leaving this morning as it really doesn't smell very nice!! To be quite frank: it smells like rotten eggs!! I really don't know how anyone could live here...the locals tell me that you get used to it, but I'm not convinced!!

Have had a fantastic few days of adventure.....Our first stop on the day we arrived was Skyline Skyrides; a fantastic place where you go up the mountain in a gondola and you come down on a luge. Now a luge is a bit like an overgrown tea tray, with handles to steer and a non-sophisticated braking system. Very good fun!! Especially in the rain. (Yes, it's still raining: a bit like being back in the UK!!)

On Tuesday morning we visited Waiotapu Thermal Park: this place had some stunning scenery (the place to see all the geothermal activity that NZ has to offer!!)

Tuesday afternoon saw us have some real adventure!! We went to Agrodome where you can do all sorts of weird and wonderful things, and today I did a thing called Swoop with Dan and Cam . There was an elastic rope which winched us up 40 metres in the air and then let us go. We were in sort of hang glider pouches...very scary... a cross between a bungy jump and a pirate ship. Supposed to be a 'flying experience'. I'm now ok with the fact that I don't have wings!!!

We also had a go at 'Zorbing' this afternoon....where you roll down a hill in a big rubber ball!!

An hour or so drive away yesterday morning took us to our next lot of thermal activity in the form of an area called 'Craters of the Moon' - it resembled the film set for Jurassic Park really and was quite spooky!! Yesterday afternoon we went to Huka Falls on a fantastic Huka Jet Boat. The ride lasted 30 minutes and was absolutely amazing !! The boat went about 50mph and weaved in and out, going very close to the edge of the cliffs, almost touching trees and doing fab 360 degree turns. We saw the waterfall half way thro the ride which was quite impressive and the water was a lovely green colour. The river views were stunning, and it was a fantastic ride. Our evening entertainment took us on a Maori night. We were greeted by warriors arriving by kayak and treated to a Maori show of dancing and Haka. A Hangi feast followed...Hangi means it has been cooked slowly underground for hours in the thermal heat so the meat and veg end up really tasty and tender. The Maori dancing was fascinating with lots of strange faces and tongues poking out! We were then taken on a walk through some of the bush area to see the glowworms around a spring. Very cold outside but a fun evening and a real insight into a very different culture.

Today is Kev's 38th birthday, and we're driving down to Wellington. We'll be going out to dinner tonight to celebrate.