Kia Ora

Cyberworld, Motueka

Watched Invictus on the flight from Sydney to Christchurch and thought it was bloody excellent. Just thought I'd mention that.

Landed in Christchurch to see rain falling outside and feel an immediate and almost-forgotten chill in the air. We prolongued our stay in the warm of the airport itself by discussing campervan options with the very freindly and helpful campervan company representative there - Dennis - and agreed to pick up a van the following day after a night in the city.

Our night in Christchurch was uneventful, but memorable for the shepherds pie and real ale we had in a cosy pub in front of a roaring fire, lending an impression that has been reinforced every day since that New Zealand gets the idea of a pub better than Australia, where the pubs/bars/clubs are, as far as I could tell, universally terrible.

The next morning we collected our motorhome from the depot, and after being instructed in the intricacies of toilet waste disposal (take lid off and turn upside down) drove off in what would become our home for the next three weeks. It has made a pleasant change from three months of hostels and motels, and cooking for ourselves has been a particular pleasure. Whether the rigmarole of erecting and folding away tables and beds twice daily will remain a worthwhile price to pay for enhanced freedom and reduced expenditure remains to be seen, but for the first five days it has been a fun experience. The only drawback has been the daily visits to various repair centres in every town we've visited in an attempt to fix the faulty tap - we are hopeful that today's mechanic, our third, has done the trick.

From Christchurch we drove first to Hanmer Springs, where we bathed in natural springs ranging from 35-42 degrees Celsius which stink of sulphur but remain a thoroughly relaxing way to spend an afternoon. From there to Kaikoura, where we decided against spending $140 per head on a whale-watching expedition (Tweedie has the Planet Earth DVDs at home anyway) and opted instead for a highly scenic walk along the peninsula where we got up close but not quite personal with some seals. Disappointingly they were all asleep so did neither the parping noise nor the back-of-the-hand clapping thing - I made the rather hilarious joke that for this reason they failed to gain my seal of approval. Thanks.

After a day in Blenheim in the heart of the Marlborough wine region sampling Sauvignon Blanc at the various vineyards we ploughed on, with an obligatory and afore-mentioned stop at a campervan repair centre, to Havelock, the self-styled 'Green-Shell Mussel Capital of the World', for lunch. The green mussels were enormous. From there we headed to Nelson, just about the northernmost point of the South Island, where we spent yesterday visiting the excellent Saturday market and stocking up on presents and nik-naks, and walking up a hill to the 'Centre of New Zealand' monument, which supposedly marks the geographical centre of the country but I suspect was actually erected simply to make tourists walk up a bloody steep hill. Excellent views of the city and surrounding lakes nonetheless. Nelson might be the place I would most like to live of all the places we've seen - trendy cafes, cosy pubs and a pleasing bay with spectacular views over to the mountains which lately are covered with a magical misty cloud which gives the whole thing a very Middle Earthy feel.

I write from Motueaka, but we only arrived here this morning after a half-hour drive from Nelson and it's only a small place so I have no obvservations really. The place is mainly used as a gateway to the neighbouring Abel Tasman National Park, which we are due to explore by boat and on foot tomorrow. I will therefore save that particular piece of chatter for another time.

There are a lot of rugby pitches in New Zealand. You'd think they'd have won more World Cups.

Over.