For all of you who were left a little confused by the end of our last post where we said we waved goodbye to our mums and picked up our Spaceship James May, here’s a little explanation, no we’re not off to the moon.. not yet anyway. The Spaceship is a campervan, with built in bed, fridge, cooker and everything else you’d need, including a steering wheel and a dvd player! Many backpackers hire them to see the sights in New Zealand and they all have individual names, ours was James May.

We got off to a bad start with James, first of all it was raining and second of all as we got to Ashburton Taylor was clocked by a speed camera and we got fined. Did I mention Ashburton Sucked!! Anyways we headed back to Wanaka to meet up with Rachel and Tony again. A bushcamp on the way and a stop at the home of Shrek (Tarras) and we arrived (in the pouring rain) to Wanaka, checked into a campsite with a Spa and made ourselves at home. Unfortunately there’s not much else to do in the rain in Wanaka so we hid out in the Spa (which was inside) until we met Rachel and Tony for some Pud Thai (or as most of us know it as Pad Thai) and a drink in the local Monteiths bar.

As we say a sad farewell to Rachel and Tony, we hope to see them again around New Year, we head off to Gore to meet up with Hamish, Craigs cousin (the one who drank his house in Scotland)

We stopped off in rainy Queenstown, after driving through a blizzard, for what was hoped to be some jet boating and another Ferg-Burger instead we opted for the much warmer option of the cinema, a cookie time and a few drinks at a cute bar which brewed its own beer – Dux deDeluxe. A couple of Black Shags later (that’s the name of the beer) and we set off for another night in James May. Who is really comfy!

Gore was our next stop and Hamish and Taryn put us up for a while.  Gore is a very sweet place, a town and hour or so from Invercargill, Queenstown and Dunedin so is quite busy even though it seems to be in the middle of nowhere. A big fish in the centre of the town is the major attraction and we spent some time watching the locals go by in a cafe. We were treated us to a proper kiwi BBQ and attempted to poison Taylor with some out of date Do Bro (double Brown Beer, Thanks Rob and congrats on the proposal! The sudden burst of sunlight was in perfect timing for the BBQ and we had a great  great catch up, thank to Hamish and Taryn for putting us up, we hope to be back for Christmas, might even help you put the bar back together!

Back on the road with James May where we’re planning to find Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson to race them back to Christchurch, before we have to pay for more fees!

This headline has to get a mention, we just love how Stories like this make the front page of the Newspaper:

Queenstown has to be seen to be believed, with a cinematic backdrop of mountains and lakes it’s easy to see how people lose track of time and run their bank account dry with the multitude of activities on hand. Known as the “adventure capital of the world” you can Jetboat, jump out of a plane, jump off a bridge attached by an elastic band and then spend the next week recovering from the adrenalin surge.

We treated ourselves to a stunning 3 bedroom apartment on the outskirts for 2 nights which was well deserved after our expedition down the West Coast. Nestled beside Lake Wakatipu we slowed down for a few days and just enjoyed even more of the sunny weather we somehow lucked upon the whole time the MnMs have been here.

Queenstown is within a stones throw of Milford Sound but takes a full day trip as there is only one road there and back and takes 4-5 hours to reach. We hopped on the BBQ Bus which included transport to/from Milford Sound a cruise plus a BBQ on the way, it was the closest thing we could find to Calypso this side of the world . The drive is spectacular as it winds through U-shaped valleys caused by departing glaciers millions of years ago topped off with snow capped peaks of the southern alps. The road rises to 945 meters above sea level at Homer Tunnel, which totals 1.2 kms long is one serious tunnel! It’s bored through solid granite and opens into a near vertical mountain side. Sheila took a few deep breaths as the bus negotiated the various switchbacks, we arrived at Milford Sound just in time for our cruise.

The cruise takes in Mitre Peak and various huge waterfalls as it heads to the mouth of the Tasman, we were lucky enough to spot a few Yellow Eyed penguins and Seals. The sun kept it’s cheeky face the whole day which is very rare as this is the wettest part of the world with around 7-8 metres of rain annually! And I though Penicuik got some rain!

Queenstown was also the venue for Katie’s birthday extravaganza, in the morning we opted for a morning Skydive and despite our best efforts the mums refused to come along. Very well run operation, we were up and down from 12,000ft before you could blink and no option of bricking it! Amazing experience and the photos just can’t do it justice!(Photos to follow) I also managed to find Katie’s wedding ring 3 years later which won’t turn her finger green and it represents our time in NZ as it’s made from Paua shell, as was the jewellery from Sheila and Helen,  all topped off with a Kiwi Birthday cake and a toastie.

Next destination was Dunedin for 3 nights, and our last Bach of the trip we had our own 3 bedroom cottage and even a deserted beach for our enjoyment. Apparently penguins dock in at night but despite our best efforts we couldn’t find any! Dunedin was founded by Robbie Burns nephew and decided to base the new city on Edinburgh. It’s quite bizarre to see Princes Street and George Street over here. Didn’t feel like Edinburgh though and we were a wee bit disappointed with it so we flocked to the peninsula instead to spot an Albatross. These birds have a 6 metre wing span and the peninsula is the only mainland place in the world to see them. Before we left we also visited the steepest residential street in the world which has a gradient of 19 degrees it would be a killer to walk up after a night out!

Our final destination before the final goodbye to our mums was Christchurch. It’s hard not to spot the impact of the recent earthquakes and after being in the country during these quakes we felt it important to take it in. Tours are run into the red zone now to raise funds for the regeneration and it brought it home the destruction and it’s so sad to see! Huge cracks in the ground, demolished buildings and landmarks destroyed, made us feel lucky we weren’t there at the time.

We waved goodbye to our mum’s from the airport as we picked up our Spaceship, named James May as we continued our Kiwi Trip in the South Island. Thanks Helen and Sheila for trekking all the way over the other end of the world to see us, we hope our tour guide skills were suffice and you enjoyed New Zealand after 3,246kms travelled, 3 bach’s and far too many portions of chips!

Finally, after being in New Zealand for 10 months we have arrived in the South Island, A place completely different to the North and a place where Kiwis would say we’d love. They were right - here’s the story so far.

The 3 hour Inter-Islander ferry trip between the North and South was spectacular, after crossing the main body of water we weaved in and out the Queen Charlotte Sound luckily without any seasick passengers. Arriving in the small commuter town of Picton, we hurried off in search of Abel Tasman National Park, 3 hours away. The winding roads proved to be worth it for the coastal view and a quick stop in Nelson, a small town “Hailed as one of NZ’s most liveable cities” (as per the Lonely Planet). I can’t say that' I’d want to move there in a hurry but it was a lovely bustling little city, a good place to pick up the essentials for a roast dinner at our next stop – Orinico Cottage.

Our Bach for the next two nights was positioned on the outskirts of the Abel Tasman National Park, a cute 3 bedroomed cottage on a farm. It was definitely a home away from home with everything from books and games to a lovely dog called Tess.

The National Park offers lots of day walks as well as a number of longer options, all accessible by water taxi. We arrived just in time for the last taxi of the day to take us to the start of the walk, which gave the mums no time to panic at the thought of going out on the water. After another seasick free water adventure we started our walk from Torrent Bay to Bark Bay weaving between forest/jungle terrain to beach and coast line – absolutely stunning! The rain held off until we arrived at Bark Bay awaiting our water taxi return. Another water trip, passed some sleeping seals and we were back in the batch being cooked a lovely lamb roast dinner to warm us up – much better than our dinner the previous night (burnt sausage rolls and pizza.)

Up to now we had all our accommodation pre booked and left the next two days free to see how far we would get. We had a 12 hour drive down the west coast to Queenstown ahead of us to do over 3 days and on the way we aimed for Pancake Rocks, Greymouth, Hokitika, Franz Josef Glacier, Fox Glacier, Haast, Wanaka and Arrowtown before making it to Queenstown. All boxes ticked, and excellent accommodation found in Hokitika and Wanaka, the following piccies will explain the rest!

Auckland exploded into life for our final week after the All Blacks somehow managed to sneak a victory against the plucky French. I scored a ticket to the final, Katie was there too “working” but didn’t manage to catch much of it while being rushed off her feet for the final time. AB fans are normally a quiet bunch mostly paranoid that the worst may happen and they will actually get beaten, but luck prevailed and New Zealand heaved a huge sigh of relief and the party began - the week went past in a blur of parties/leaving nights mixed in with selling off our belongings in Auckland that wouldn’t fit into our bag, as we begin to get used to life on the road again.

Our mum’s were also on route as we counted down the dates for there impending arrival into New Zealand as they hopped from Scotland to Dubai to Sydney for a few nights until they get a glimpse into our lives as we take them on our “Kiwi” Odyssey trip, keep an eye on the blog to track their progress

They arrived on Tuesday afternoon to the Auckland monsoon experience and checked them into their hotel before having a kiwi meat feast finished with the obligatory chips and dip!  On Wednesday we had a whirlwind tour of Auckland including Mount Eden, Auckland Domain, CBD, Viaduct and a quick trip up my work for the skyline vistas. Our friends from Dundee were arriving also for a quick catch-up as they arrived after being in Africa for 6 weeks, was great to see even more familiar faces, we could have been mistaken that we were back in Scotland.

We left Auckland after having a great 10 months, meeting some great people and we will hopefully return again, with Vuvu in hand as our travel companion so keep an eye out for him on our travels (thanks Inken and Scoobs.)

We have hired a station wagon which has been renamed “Nessie” for the 4 of us to tour around NZ with our first port of call in Rotorua also known as “Sulphur City.”  Home to spurting geysers, steaming hot springs and exploding mud pools. Quite a touristy feel around the town with various activities available to whisk your cash away from your wallet, we opted for a walking tour followed by an afternoon in the Polynesian spa. Opened in 1882 with 40+ pools ranging from 36-42 degrees on the lakes edge each being beneficial to skin and muscles, hopefully Sheila’s knee gains full benefit from here!

Our first night activity here was the Mitai Maori Village for a taste of Maori culture and sample the hangi. It’s family run so maintains the personal touch as they enlightened us to the indigenous culture of NZ. The hangi is basically their food which is cooked under ground for 3 hours which was scoffed down after the showing of the Haka, dances, songs and a demonstration of weaponry all intertwined with stories throughout.  Very touristy and not one New Zealander was present apart form the “workers” but was actually well worth it! It was topped off with a night tour into a Kiwi Sanctuary to see these elusive birds, although we now know they are actually mammals and not birds!

We said goodbye to out lovely wee bach for our short hop over to Napier in Hawkes Bay via Lake Taupo. Stunning vistas and gorges whizzed by and even though we almost ran out of petrol in the middle of nowhere we rolled in bang on time to visit Mission Estate Winery for a spot of lunch and some tastings. It was also Guy Fawkes night so the night was spent enjoying a Thai meal on the waterfront and watching the fireworks.

Napier was destroyed in the 30’s by a huge earthquake and subsequently rebuilt in Art Deco style giving it the nickname “Art Deco Capital of the World” but to be honest it wasn’t that awe inspiring but well worth a visit, especially to the purchases from Mission Estate which we shall enjoy further down the line.

We have just arrived in our last destination in the North Island, Wellington. We have both been here before so I have left the girls to shop in the city/ view Te Papa museum  while I went for a run up Mount Victoria which has stunning vistas for the whole bay, tiring but well worth it. We leave early tomorrow morning on the Interislander to Picton and this is where our trip really starts. Everyone has always told us we will fall in love with the South Island so we have the majority of this trip on the South Island to enjoy all it has to offer so stay tuned……..