New Zealand - South Island: we are a weiner

The inter-island ferry took us through the beautiful Queen Charlotte Sound and into a warm and sunny Picton Harbour. We spent a relaxing evening in Picton, largely due to being given a free upgrade from a backpacker room to a self-contained apartment. And we didn't even have to say we were on our honeymoon!

We then took a coach to Christchurch to pick up our camper van. The city is still suffering from after-shocks from the recent earthquake - the last after-shock took place on 19 October and registered 5.0 on the Richter scale! To keep on budget we had selected the 'El Cheapo' camper van and weren't sure what to expect. We don't want to jinx a van that we are currently driving ... but we aren't quite sure how the old girl is still going! To say it's old is an understatement - we're currently not sure whether we should be returning it to the rental shop or a museum!

From Christchurch we headed to Lake Tekapo to camp and do a few walks. The lake is an amazing turquoise colour which is caused naturally by rock 'powder' mixed in within the water.

From Lake Tekapo we continued South passing the imposing Mount Cook - the highest mountain in Australasia. Meg was relieved that Mark didn't have further harebrained mountain climbing ambitions as a staggering number of people have perished trying to conquer this peak.

En route to Dunedin we headed back to the East coast and travelled South passing some peculiar boulders on a beach at Moeraki. Meg decided to do her best nesting on one to see what hatched.

Unfortunately for her, it was another Jerzak!

After continually being overtaken by every vehicle sharing the road with us we decided to put our van to the test and time its speed in accelerating from 0 - 60 mph. We found a flat, straight section of road (surprisingly difficult in NZ) and put the pedal to the metal. Tragically it took 57 seconds and almost didn't get there! On the North Island we had driven a zippy little hire car and Meg had taken to calling every slow vehicle we caught a "Weiner". It suddenly dawned on us that we had become a "weiner". We pootled on to Dunedin ....

New Zealand - North Island: a hot bath on a cold beach

Our first two nights in New Zealand were spent in Auckland at a hotel which must be one of the skinniest buildings in the world. We felt like giants as we squeezed around our room which measured only half the width of the thin building. While there we climbed One Tree Hill for 360-degree views of Auckland - a view however that should at least have been obstructed by one tree. The original tree was cut down by British settlers in 1852 and their replacement was cut down by Maori activists in 2000.

After Auckland we headed off to explore the Coromandel Peninsula in search of Hot Water Beach, where we'd heard that hot water bubbles up from under the sand. Two hours before low-tide we headed down to the beach with a shovel to dig our own personal spa pool. It was a cold morning and when our first hole filled with cold water we became skeptical - however our second attempt incredibly filled with scalding water oozing up from beneath the surface. We needed to dig a trench to the sea to bring in some cold water before we were able to climb in.

Our next destinations on the North Island were Rotorua to see the bubbling mud pools while holding our noses to keep out the eggy sulphurous gas smells; Taupo for a great four-hour hike around the scenic lake; and Napier for its Art Deco architecture - the town was rebuilt after a deadly 1931 earthquake in the popular style of the time.

We arrived into Wellington on Saturday afternoon and stayed with Mark's friend Tom and his girlfriend, Rhi. After a trip around the botanic gardens and a ride on the cable car, we went for dinner and drinks around the lively areas of Courtenay Place and Cuba Street. On Sunday we woke slowly and went for a walk to the seal colony at Sinclair Head. It was the end of the season but we were lucky enough to find a few seals lounging around on the rocks- their smell gave them away! On the return leg of the walk we understood why the city is nicknamed 'Windy Welly' as we struggled against gale-forced gusts whipping sand, gravel and sea-spray into our faces.

In the evening we were entertained with a Bollywood dance competition and a bite of curry at a Diwali festival. We then met up with Tom's housemate, Stu who took us up to his city-centre office for front-row seats of the Diwali fireworks display. It had been a nice relaxing Sunday until we arrived home and Stu spotted and then caught a Tunnelweb spider (related to the Funnelweb but not quite as poisonous!) which had emerged from our bedding!

The next morning we did a whistle-stop tour of the Te Papa museum before taking the inter-island ferry to Picton where we would commence our tour of the South Island.

Melbourne - hospitable hosts and a dose of football

Inbetween our travels around Victoria and Tasmania, we spent a few enjoyable days in Melbourne with Meg's family. While staying with Meg's aunt Judy & uncle Ross in South Yarra we found time to sample the bars and restaurants of Chapel Street, and to dust off our running shoes for 'The Tan' four kilometre running track which loops around the botanic gardens and along the River Yarra.

We had arranged to go hot air ballooning (a present from Mark's father in honour of the big 3-0) on the Friday before we left Melbourne but it was unfortunately postponed due to storms - we'll try again in a month or so when the weather should be better. In a fitting end to a day that began with an unfortunate natural event, that evening Meg's cousin Lucy took us to an exhibition of recovered artefacts from the Titanic which included reconstructions of the cabins and the grand staircase. Seeing passengers' possessions from the 1910s and pieces of wreckage which hadn't seen the light of day for nearly 100 years was very compelling.

On Saturday night we went to the Etihad Stadium to watch a 'proper' football game. The local newspaper billed the game as "The biggest rivalry in football" - a claim that a few European and South American football sides might refute. The final result was 3-0 to Melbourne whose hardcore fans behind one goal kept us entertained with 45 minutes of non-stop bouncing throughout the second half.

We spent our last few days staying with Meg's cousin Anna and her husband Jamie, who took us on a day trip to the Dandenongs to see a few of the sights and have Australian pies and Devonshire tea for lunch. After a cosy family dinner on Sunday night, we made an early start on Monday morning to fly to New Zealand. It was great to have such hospitable hosts which allowed us to recharge our batteries before our next bout of noisy hostels, smelly backpackers and budget dinners!

Tasmania - Part 4: escape from Port Arthur

On our last day in Tasmania we went to visit the formal convict settlement at Port Arthur. From 1833, until the 1850s, Port Arthur was the destination for the hardest of convicted British criminals as well as those who were secondary offenders having re-offended after their arrival in Australia.

The settlement is located on the Tasman peninsula where the dramatic environment created the ideal natural prison for the convicts. The combination of 300-metre high sea cliffs, deep ocean and thick forests made escape an almost impossible prospect.

A few days earlier we had been given some top-secret advice from a couple of friendly hikers. We were told that it was possible to get into Port Arthur without paying the entry fee! We were given details of a little-known path along the coast which turned out to be completely true and lead straight into the settlement. Any feelings of guilt about not paying were countered with the knowledge that many long-suffering and long-dead convicts would have approved!

Port Arthur had some of the strictest security measures of the British penal system. We silently took in the somber surroundings of the cruel 'Separate Prison', which included a quick spell in the solitary confinement 'Punishment Room'. As soon as the door was shut, the absolute darkness was terrifying and we could each stand about 5 seconds before knocking on the door to be released.

After a few hours in the settlement we successfully made our escape without incident, vowing to donate our entry fees to a more worthwhile cause.

That evening we decided to cheer ourselves up with a tour of the Cascade Brewery in Hobart. Built in 1824, the original building still operates producing over 30 million litres of beer each year.

After donning high-visibility vests and protective glasses on the tour, we made it back to the safety of the brewery bar where the full Cascade range was enthusiastically tasted. Mark's favourite was their "First Harvest Ale", which unfortunately never leaves the island due to limited availability - each year the first hops of the season are harvested to supply enough for a single day's brewing. This could be reason enough for a return visit to 'Tassie".

Tasmania - Part 3: a land of contrast

We were continually amazed by the contrasts of Tasmania - in the space of a day we went from the sunny beaches of the East coast to the snowy lakes and mountains of the central highlands.

We were both still feeling the pain of our climb up Mt. Amos so we decided to do a couple of flatter walks in Cradle Valley. Even at the lower altitudes there was plenty of snow around, giving Meg the opportunity to get her revenge for an earlier snowball assault by Mark!

Next stop was Lake St Claire where we did a 5 hour hike through rainforest, sub-alpine moorland and highland eucalypt forest. It was still the off-season so we seemed to have central Tasmania all to ourselves - seeing nobody on a 5 hour hike was strange enough, but to continually have entire hostels to ourselves was both relaxing and disconcerting. When you start finding comfort in a possum trying to ransack your kitchen, it's time to get back into civilisation!

Our last stop before Hobart were the impressive Russell Falls, where all of the melting snow was producing a huge amount of cascading water.

The 80+ metre-tall swamp gums in the forest were equally impressive.

Before returning the hire car in Hobart we decided to 'climb' Mt. Wellington. After a hard week of walking and climbing, our aching legs were grateful for the winding road that we could drive all of the way to the summit. The views from the top were impressive, but only when the gale-force winds subsided enough to allow us to open our eyes!