13 March 2008 - New Zealand

Day 155 - We left Geraldine and drove to Christchurch. This is a very english town and whilst there we had a look round the town and enjoyed a sample of some local fudge! We then drove to Kaikoura where we spent the night.

Day 156 - Up early for our whale watching trip. Unfortunately the sea was quite rough and although neither of us has been seasick before we both were on this occasion! Ricky spent most of the trip inside the boat and had to take his photos through the windows! We still managed to see two sperm whales and a large number of dusky dolphins so it wasn't a complete waste of time!

Day 157 - We had booked to go on a seal swim in the morning but unfortunately this was cancelled due to the sea conditions. We were both a bit gutted as it would have been an amazing experience. We then decided to leave Kaikoura and drove to Blenheim.

Day 158 - Back to the North Island on the interisland ferry. We passed through Wellington and stayed in a small town called Upper Hutt just outside the city.

Day 159 - A longish drive to the Hawke's Bay area where we had a relaxing afternoon sitting by the river in the town of Hastings. We also organised our wine tour for the next day as this region is famous for its wine.

Day 160 - Our wine tour started in the afternoon and we visited three vineyards (Matariki, CJ Pask and Moana Park). We bought a bottle in the last winery as it was the best we had tasted overall. After the vineyards we went to the Filter Room - a boutique brewery. Here we sampled some local beers and ciders. We were starting to feel a little drunk at this point! It was a great afternoon!

Day 161 - We paid a visit to the local Farmers Market in the morning and bought some veg and sausages for our dinner that evening. We then drove to Napier for a look around at the art-deco town. We started heading back northwards and stopped at Lake Taupo for some lunch. We also bumped into Gemma and Adam again (they spotted the "Clint" van!!). After a quick stop at Huka Falls it was onto Rotorua for the night.

Day 162 - A day of driving (about 7 hours) up to the Bay of Islands.

Day 163 - We walked to the town of Paihia in the morning and Ricky decided he wanted to try parasailing! We organised to do this in the afternoon. It was great fun - we went up to about 800ft on a tandem parasail and got amazing views of the islands.

Day 164 - We left Paihia in the morning as we were heading back towards Auckland. We stopped at a few scenic places along the way - Hararu Falls, Rewas Village (a reconstruction of a typical Maori village) and Rainbow Falls - all close to the Bay of Islands. After another hour or so driving we viewed the Whangarei Falls (apparently the most photogenic in New Zealand). We then spent the evening in the small village of Waipu Cove.

Day 165 - Back to Auckland where we had to say goodbye to "Clint" the campervan!

Day 166 - We spent most of the day doing errands and buying last minute bits for our South America adventure. We had a lovely meal in the evening down by the Quay in a restaurant we had visited on our honeymoon.

Day 167 - Packed our bags and caught our flight to Santiago.