Moeraki, place of large balls

There is a complex geological reason why these strange spherical rock balls emerge from the cliff-side in Moeraki, roll onto the beach, then slowly crumble like honeycomb into the ocean. However I never did look it up. The boulders were too large to pinch as souvenirs, so Emma had to make do with some beautiful shells from the sands instead.

Milford Sound

Milford Sound is actually a fiord, it's a huge opening from the Tasman Sea that comes in between staggeringly large mountains. It's one of the UNESCO world heritage sites, along with cool towns like Carcassone in France. We took a coach from Te Anau, where we saw some great glowworm caves, along to the Sound, and took a cruise all the way out to the sea and back. On the way out the tops of the mountains were misty, and when we started to come back in from the sea the sky cleared and sunlight opened up the route back. It was stunning. On the first picture, look at the small white dot at the foot of the mountain side bursting from the water to give you an idea of the scale of this place... that's a massive ferry! The second picture is called The Lion Rock, and the third is one of many waterfalls that cascade down the mountainsides along the Sound, this one called the Bridal Veil waterfall. Emma particularly enjoyed the cruise because she got to drive the boat at one point (luckily we survived that one, I don't know what the captain was thinking). We also went into one of the waterfalls, so just for the fun of it we stood on the foredeck of the craft and let the waterfall gush over us. It was so powerful that you couldn't actually open your eyes for the spray when you got within ten feet. It was a spectacular day!

Mmmmmmmm...

....New Zealand coffee

On the road again, heading West

Wow- what can we say... we drove out west from Christchurch over the southern alps that run down the centre of the south island like a spine. The views just got more and more stunning as we went along. We stayed in Arrowtown, just down the road from the famous Queenstown- the home of bungee jumping and mecca for adrenalin junkies (and completely surrounded by beautiful mountains & lakes). There's a view here of Queenstown from a gondola. The hills are aptly named 'the Remarkables'. Tim was in his element snapping away some fantastic shots. see his Flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10199214@N02/sets/72157612979741951/

Arrowtown was a goldrush town now given over to tourism and LOTR site of 'Arwen crossing the river Anduin' scene for all you fellow geeks out there. A really pretty little place with the best icecream EVER.

Tranz Alpine... for those who liked the trams....

You'd have loved the train! some great pics here taken by tim who became our official photographer for his stay. The train wound high up into the southern alps through some amazing wild scenery until it got to Arthur's pass where we walked up to this beautiful waterfall. Seen here is the cheeky mountain parrot the Kea who'll chew the fixtures off your car or open the zip on your bag in the blink of an eye. They pretend to be flightless but are actually quite nifty in the air if they know they're in trouble. Which is often.

One of the great railway journeys of the world, we're told and we could see why. Shame it was an hour and a half late going home. Still, we had the chance to play the worlds longest round of eye spy. I think 'b for beverage' was the low point. Or perhaps Lee's 's for steel'. Still debating that one. anyway, a fantastic day and little did we know the scenery was about to get a whole lot more dramatic...

The lettuce patch

We took this flat bit of grass in Patrick's back garden, removed the turf, turned it over, bordered it with some sunken bits of wood, and planted lettuces and spinach, which we are now eating! Which proves that wwoofing teaches valuable skills and when we get back we're straight on the allotment list...

A special treat for lovers of trams

You know who you are! The tram service runs around the main town centre tourist spots in Christchurch, and in the evenings you can enjoy a meal in the special dining carriage.