Singapore

Arrived in Singapore to great weather for 2 nights. Spent the first day on the hop on - hop off tour bus which went all round the city and walked all along the Orchard Road shopping area, oh dear. Had an early dinner and went to the night safari which was great.

Spent the last day around the pool in the sunshine, swimming and having a good lunch before getting ready for the flight home.

See you soon!!!

Freemantle

Went on a river cruise along to Freemantle with Carol today and had a walk around the markets and watched a crazy punk musician who was actually pretty good.Took the train back to the city and Carol & Julia went to do a bit of shopping so I slunk off elsewhere, actually back to the hotel as the bus tour I wanted to do had finished.

Another lovely evening meal on the waterfront and then we all got a taxi to the Burswood Resort & Casino and had a few drinks on an upper bar balcony watching a solo pop musician playing infront of a large dinner crowd outside, he was apparently well known in Australia.

Goodbye to Carol, it was great meeting up with her, and off to Singapore in the morning.

Perth

Arrived in Perth after a long flight from Christchurch and then Sydney where we had to collect our luggage and re-check in for the onward flight.

Arrived very late and arranged to meet Carol for the following day.

Carol kindly came to pick us up from our hotel to take us on a tour of the beaches for the day which offered gorgeous blue skies. We spent the morning on a beautiful beach called Sorrento with lovely soft white sand, swimming and sun bathing. Then off for a bite of lunch a bit further along before another swim at the famous Scarborough beach and then icecream at Cottesloe.

The 3 of us had a fabulous evening at a very lively restaurant in South Perth right on the waterfront looking towards the city.

Christchurch

We took the Tranzscenic Alpine Express across from the West coast to the East coast, Greymouth to Christchurch, about 4 hours train journey which was quite scenic in parts but the train itself was not very comfortable and was 1 1/2 hours late.

Had 2 nights in Christchurch visiting the lovely Botanic Gardens and Museum where we saw a display of Ivan Mauger the famous speedway rider from my younger days including the actual world championship trophy, Julia thought this was very boring. We took the tram ride around the loop that passes by all the interesting bits including the River Avon where you can go punting, oh really.It is a very attractive city with some interesting buildings.

The hotel we stayed in was superb with a great restaurant where we had a superb valentines dinner. The morning we left for the airport it poured all day, so we were glad to be going on the flight to Perth via Sydney to meet up with Carol Leith from the golf club.

Glacier Helicopter Flight and Snow Landing

Went to book a heli-hike but fully booked so we also had to wait until 1.00pm for a scenic heli flight and landing taking in the 2 glaciers around Mt Cook, very booked up at the moment because the weather has not been good so no flights for last couple of days but today is a beautiful sunny day.

Spent the morning doing a walk around Lake Mathieson which was great with some good reflections of the mountains in the lake until it was time for our flight.

Only the 2 of us in a fairly small helicopter but very comfortable. What a fantastic experiance zooming close to the mountain face and popping over ridges with superb views. Landed high up on top of the mountain area and walked about a bit on the snow, brilliant. We will never forget it.

After we drove on up the coast to just past Hokitika where we stayed for the night in a lovely house with 2 other couples with drinks before dinner and a 4 couse dinner all together cooked by the hosts. All went outside to watch a beautiful sunset and continued with the banter and wine inside. What a good day.

Drive to Wanaka and the Fox Glacier

Left Queenstown to drive over the high pass to Lake Wanaka on way to Fox Glacier. A very scenic drive again and the lake was stunning, didn't stay long but Wanaka looked a very nice place as an alternative to Queenstown.Continued past the lakes on way to the Haast Pass and the coast where we passed some great sights including a large seal colony.

Arrived at Fox and Richard did the walk to the face of the Glacier about a 40 min trek. The ice seemed very dirty and the ice face has moved down the valley an amazing amount in the last 5 years when you look at comparative photos taken at the time.

Queenstown

Started on the Shotover Jet which both of us enjoyed through the gorge.Richard went on a paraglide after lunch from the top of Coronet Peak, great fun, had to do it, even with a sore back which was worse after a slightly heavy landing but got the bug for it now.Julia went on SS Earnslaw an old steam ship on a cruise around the lake which was really enjoyable. We had a stroll round the lakeside part of town which is very pretty but the town itself is not much but fabulous views from the gondola and around the lake.

Milford Sound Cruise

Saturday 9 February

Left Motel at 7.ooam today to drive along the Milford Road to the Sound for our 10.30am nature cruise. Unfortunately the weather is dull and a bit wet with low misty cloud as we head towards the Sound.

The cruise was 2 1/4 hours seeing loads of seals and wild birds, this was a smaller boat which was great as we could get right up close to the waterfalls even with the water falling on everyone at the front of the boat.

Afterwards drove onto Queenstown past Lake Wakatipu which was a beautiful drive along the lake shore and checked in to the Sofitel Hotel. Fabulous room.

Glow Worm Caves

Friday 8 Friday February

Left Nisbet Cottage to drive across to Te Anau about 4 hours.

Had enough time to visit the Te Anau Glow Worm Caves on the other side of the lake which was an interesting tour through underground water system.

The Yellow Eyed Penguins at Dunedin

Thursday 7 February

Looked forward to today for a while.Up at 4.30am to set off for the beach at 5.15am with our nature guide,Steve, for the day. Drove to Sandfly Bay (wind) to see the penguins and had to climb down some steep sand dunes in the dark using torches to guide us over the dunes etc until we reached the beach.Fantastic being up early and in the wild coastal area walking along the beach to the hide as the light gradually increased. Made it up to the viewing hide to watch as the penguins slowly started to make their way down the steep hillside to the rocks and the sea. These are some of the worlds rarest penguins and only a few small colonies in NZ.

They were worried by a couple of playful fur seals that kept swimming up to the rocks to see them and the penguins very quickly retreated up the hill. After some time they plucked up the courage and made it to a rock where they were able to leap into the sea when a decent wave arrived, superb to watch.

We walked back along the beach with the sun up and past a very large sea lion sleeping on the sand, took no notice of us, and back up the seemingly even steeper sand dunes. It was a wonderful walk and then back to the house for breakfast before taking off for a tour of Dunedin including all the old buildings. Had a picnic in a lovely spot by Hoopers Inlet with loads of wading birds before going on a boat in the harbour to see the Albatross breeding colony at the point. Loads of gannets on water, quite rare, lovely tour around the Otago Peninsular with stunning views and a great dinner to finish the day. A very, very memorable day.

Lake Tekapo

Wednesday 6 February

Drove up to Lake Tekapo and visited the Church of the Good shepherd the smallest church in NZ right on the lake. Beautiful views of Mount Cook etc over the lake in the distance in glorious sunshine giving the water a lovely turquoise colour. Lots of Japs here.

Drove on up to the Mount John Observatory up a steep dirt road with fantastic views 360 degrees around the mountains.

We drove the loop road past Lake Pukaki and Twizel and took the dam road a very scenic road past several lakes back to the coast at Oamaru. Visted the Moeraki Boulders on the beach which were fascinating and then went onto Dunedin and Nisbet Cottage for 2 nights run by Eldergarde and her husband Ralph. Lovely spot with views over town, met Ed and Cathy from Colorado who were also staying for 2 nights, only 2 bedrooms here. Went to dinner in town with them where for the third time in a large city they were celebrating an event, this time it was Whitianga day. Very busy.