Even though the world scientific community won't admit it, it's definitely possible to travel through time. Take the trip from Australia to New Zealand which we…
This is a spooky place - not only do we feel like we're in the past, in a city themed on the mid-20th century, but we also feel that its been created to make y…
One of the key attractions in Christchurch is the International Antarctica Visitor Centre, a cross between an amusement park and a museum. Christchurch is the…
We're now in Akaroa, a small town on the Banks Peninsula, a two hour drive from Christchurch. It's a weird place, because it’s a 'french' town – there are Fren…
The spookiest thing happened today. Tom, the hostel manager, turned up with the old Visitors Books from the hostel, and we found our original comment in the bo…
Well, despite the rustic nature of the hostel, the girls were torn to leave. We all started the day with breakfast and a shower – you can see the shower cubicl…
From our hostel we drove across to Mount Cook. We'd been expecting to see snow-capped mountains, as we'd had a peek of them on our drive yesterday. But we had…
Having left Australia behind, we thought we'd waved goodbye to the long car journeys. But no - we've discovered that New Zealand is bigger than it looks on a m…
After breakfast we all piled back in the car and drove down the other side of the Southern Alps. Arthurs Pass is the key pass through the middle of the range, a…
We're now in our 5th hostel in New Zealand – the Old Slaughterhouse, in Hector. It's almost as far up the West Coast as you can go, just above Westport, where e…
After yesterday's quiet day, we woke to find the weather sunny, and great to be outside in. After walking down to the car, we drove to Charming Creek, which is…
As a result of being set in the bush, the Old Slaughterhouse is a bit different. For a start, it's entirely constructed of wood, which was carried up the hill…
As always, it was time to leave. After four nights we'd become very attached to the hostel, it's owner David, and had made great friends with Linda and Brigitt…
I have to be honest – we're not in love with our latest hostel. After the high of the Old Slaughterhouse, we had high expectations of this new hostel, because…
We've done our time on South Island, and got up at 6am this morning to catch the ferry to the North Island. This weekend is the end of the…
There doesn't seem to be much in Wellington to amuse us, but we found the Te Papa museum (The Museum of New Zealand) great with the girls…
Another 'driving' day – this time the destination made it all well worthwhile! We left Wellington and drove eight hours up to Mount Mangan…
While we've been on the South Island, we'd not seen many Maoris or signs of Maoris. But since leaving Wellington, we've seen more in a da…
After driving through Rotorua quickly to get to Mount Manganui, went back to see some more of the thermal sites, and to find out where t…
When we left England, we'd decided to get the girls typhoid jabs done in New Zealand, so that Emily was a little bit older. So this mornin…
The weather's taken a turn for the worse on the coast, with grey clouds covering up the blue sky, and delivering rain showers through the…
Well, all good things come to an end, and we've come to the end of our stay in Steve and Eileen's apartment. It has been an amazingly nor…
We've now moved to the west coast of the North Island, and are in a village called Raglan, which is where the surfers of New Zealand gath…
After another emotional farewell to Sarah's parents (with all the bird flu news, they're even more nervous about us heading to Asia next w…
Hmm...This morning Emily seemed okay with her ankle, but we weren't entirely sure whether it was okay or not. Our worry was that when we l…
Emily has quickly adjusted to life wearing a plaster cast. After the first night, it doesn’t seem to have caused her any pain, and she wa…
When we're travelling, 'having a treat' has a special meaning. It can be something small, like a decent cup of coffee or an ice cream for…
Handy travel hint: Getting through airports is made a lot easier when you've got a child in a wheelchair. Those people that push you aro…
