Ok, so I finally got off my lame butt and resized and compressed all the pics for the web. So here they are, it’s the same album as before so this link will take you to the start of the second batch – or just view the full slideshow to relive the start too! Lots more blog updates to go with the …

After our glow worm extravaganza and in light of the discussion with the Welsh lady in the shop that sold Possum goods, we called up and booked today’s Milford Sound trip. Against Swansea-lady’s advice we decided that although yesterday’s 40-minute return catamaran trip was nice (for some more than …

Having hoovered up most of the itinerary for the Catlins the day before, we only had a short stop left down South for the obligatory snaps at Slope point, New Zealand’s actual southernmost point. The touristy Bluff is as false as it’s name suggests, being many metres to the North of Slope Point. And …

Reality check… We’d only been away for just over a fortnight; about 16 sun-ups and scarcely 4,749 episodes of Hollyoaks had gone by since we were soaked in Kennington. Yet so easily had we adopted this life that I was already brushing aside the cobwebs of Heathrow; straining to recall the movements …

I can kind of see the logic of calling Balclutha the ‘Gateway to the Catlins’. It certainly isn’t part of the naturally beautiful Catlins reserve, but it is right next to them. Kind of like calling Treorchy the gateway to the Brecons. Seriously though, it’s grim – think of a Milton Keynes industrial …

Finally, we found internet robust enough to upload our 200-odd pics, check them out: CLICK ‘VIEW ALL’ TO SEE THEM IN ORDER or view them here

SCENE: Fresh faced traveler enters small, lakeside town offlicense Handsome traveler: Good Morrow Shopkeep, one is stocking up on energy drinks for a fantastical voyage, have thee any Relentless™ or Mother™? Shopkeep: Sorry bro’, We have VK in the small cans only bro’ is that Mother™ stuff any good …

Unfortunately the steep drop in temperatures led to few photo ops on the way up to Mt. Cook. Thick fog masked Lake Pukaki most of the way, clearing up with around 20kms of flood plains left to Mount Cook, fortunately we managed to capture a few snaps of Lake Pukaki’s astounding turquoise water. The …

Even though it wasn’t strictly on the way to Lake Tekapo, Sumner had been recommended to us as a pretty little town on the coast and it didn’t disappoint. Although it was cloudy, the sun was highlighting an eerie mist across the whole bay, it caught the light in such a unique way and gave the beach …

Having had a good night’s sleep in the Olympian beds we divvied up Somer’s fantastic tips for Christchurch, but where to start? Dmitri’s for Souvlakis? Dux De Lux for their fabled ginger beer? Or check out the cathedral? The hostel staff also booked trips, campers and travel for the inmates from the …