• grueling workout with personal trainer
• more laundry
• left lovely Whananaki at noon
• lunch on beach near Waipu Cove, sun burn, friendly Maoris
• drove through Auckland, on to smelly (thermal baths) Rotorua
• hard to find accomodation, got a kitchenette at Cosy Cottage Intetrnational Holiday Park
• scared (they warned us), reserved a Dec 27 Nelson doss on the phone
• stir-fry dinner

Pepa at Waipu Cove

Auckland

Sunday December 26 - Picton ferry

• laundry, tepid hot springs bathe
• visited park with boiling mud holes
• drove on to Wellington
• visited my old flat on Glenmore Street
• dinner at cineplex, "National Treasure"
• called Rachel at her Mum's place, with her sisters. We disappointed them (and me) by not visiting
• drove around til about 11pm, then to the ferry terminal
• ferry ride 1:30 - 4am, slept in upright chairs

Rotorua

maybe the coolest one-room apartment I ever had (1968)

Monday December 27 - Nelson

• from Picton in the dark, drove on under a full moon to the dawn
• slept 1.5 hrs in Havelock waiting for the gas station to open
• bakery breakfast, arrived in Nelson at 9am
• went to beach - Tahunanui - sunburned!
• did stretching to relieve Dec 25 workout
• checked into Brook Valley Motor Camp, 2 room motel unit with kitchenette, up in the hills above Nelson
• grocery shopping, drove around, watched kite surfers at Tahunanui
• pasta and schnitzel for dinner

Tahunanui beach, Nelson

Tuesday December 28

• Jesse and I walked up to a ridge overlooking Nelson, a Grouse Grind
• walked in the rain on the beach at Tahunanui
• dinner: salmon and scallops
• they have Tuesday night at the movies in NZ too - saw Bridget Jones Diary II
• reading "The Crossing"

who's that purple guy?

Wednesday December 29 - Greymouth

• adios to Nelson in the rain
• missed Buller Gorge - looked exciting
• Richport to Greymouth seascapes - Tasman Sea storm, amazing waves, hillsides of fern trees
• stopped at the Pancakes and blowholes (tide too low), raining too hard to photograph
• South Beach Motel
• dinner: hamburger patties, strawberry cheesecake
• HARD rain (350mm in 24 hours)

Tasman Sea

Thursday December 30 - Christchurch

• still raining in the morning
• stormy beach, full rivers
• continued south then east to Arthur's Pass
• kea bird at pass. These birds are reputed to kill sheep.
• cave stream at lunch stop, fields of purple lupin
• Hotel Grand Chancellor near Cathedral square
• lamb chops for dinner
• movie - Ocean's 12 (worth missing)

kea at Arthur's Pass

Friday December 31 - New Year's Eve!

• gym workout
• Avon River row boat, sore bum
• went to South New Brighton beach, windy, cool, kite surfers
• hard to find a restaurent open at 10pm, dined Thai finally
• concert in Cathedral Square, fireworks

on the Avon River in Christchurch

kite surfing

New Year's Eve

Saturday January 1 2005 - Mount Cook

• left Christchurch at noon, hung over
• lunch at Lake Tekapo
• Mt. Cook clouded over
• bunks in full 10-person dorm at Glenntanner Park
• pasta dinner cooked in communal kitchen
• walked down to torquoise lake, early to bed at 10pm
• Pepa wished death to an old Belgian geezer with sleep apnea

Lake Pukaki

sacking out in the dorm at Glenntanner Park

Mt Cook from Lake Pukaki

Sunday January 2 - Queenstown

• early breakfast - Mt Cook clear
• 8am coffee at the Hermitage
• walked to Hooker Lake - 3.5 hours
• lunch in Twizel
• in Queenstown, Discovery Lodge, backpacker hostel in the town centre with bar, internet lounge
• Jesse and I walked 1km to a supermarket to buy dinner
• stirfry in amazing stainless steel communal kitchen
• evening walk on esplanade
• street noise - sleeping with earplugs helped

looking back to Lake Pukaki

Mount Cook, 3755m, the highest peak in Australasia

Monday January 3

• Jesse and Sid do AJ Hackett bungy jump
• dull weather

the before-jump picture

Jesse during

Tuesday January 4 - Kaia Poi

• have to race back to Auckland - hard drive to just north of Christchurch: Kaia Poi
• rainy
• funky motel
• Sid broils awful stuffed lamb for dinner
• hedgehog

Wednesday January 5 - Hastings

• we learn that our ferry reservation was for Jan 4 so we forfeit $285 - BASTARDS!!!
• hard drive to Picton, make the 1pm ferry with seconds to spare, $325 for a car, 3 people for 3 hr ride
• calm ferry crossing
• we drive straight off the ferry onto the highway towards Hawkes Bay
• spectacularly rainy through Wanganui Gorge
• motel in Hastings, beside the racetrack

Picton ferry

Thursday January 6 - Auckland

• Napier is so pretty. The town centre burned down in the 1920s and they rebuilt it in art deco
• Jes and Pepa went for a run on the beach esplanade while I climbed Bluff Hill for the view
• lunch in McDonalds in Taupo
• Hyatt Regency in Auckland
• we had chinese take-out dinner in the suite with Rachel and Malcolm

Bluff Hill, Nelson

Friday January 7 - en route to Bangkok

• worked out with Jesse in the gym
• Jesse checked into the Auckland Central Backpackers. His flight back to Vancouver is on the 10th.
• shopping: oven thermometer, egg beater, write pictures on CD for Jesse to take home
• stopped at Rachel's to return her coat, watched her son Ted risk hands and sight making bombs out of firecrackers
• drove to drop off car at rental office, meet Malcolm
• Malcolm took us to the airport
• Jesse took the bus into the city (sniff)
• flight late leaving Brisbane

airport farewell

Saturday January 8 - Dhaka

• arrived Bangkok 5:30am
• arrived Dhaka 12:00