well my bones are still recovering from that Tongariro experience but it was all worth it. after a thrilling day in wellington, of shopping and laundry (it's not all fun and games you know) we caught the ferry over to Picton and are now camped in a lovely holiday park, kitted out with BBQ area, internet and spa/swimming poool. it's not quite like camping at home!
depite my aching limbs we are going to head off for a day walk tomorrow round Queen Charlotte area, not sure exactly where but there are a few options and sadly, we only have one day to fit it all in otherwise we'd love to do the whole thing. But hey, more adventures await and you can't stay still for too long otherwise work might find out where you are!
The current plans involve heading down from here to Blenheim to taste some of the local produce (i.e. wine), then heading to Kaikora to commune with nature (whales and dolphins), then "hopefully" with good weather we will do the hot air balloon trip outside christchurch which I bought paul for christmas. we have moved our booking for the Routeburn track which is a 3 day hike down south to give us a bit more time to head down there, but after than who knows! We fly back up to Aukland in a couple of weeks and then have about 4 days up north again before heading home atthe end of the month.
We spent last night in a YHA hostel in Wellington which was perfect for our needs, although I am really suffering from a stiff neck, which started on the morning of the Tongariro crossing, so in fact I was achign before we even started walking. I think it was worrying all night before if I could actually do it... so a night in a real bed was very welcome although it didn't actually seem to do much good so it's back to the old lilo again tonight.
anyway, thats it, you forget how nice it is to have unlimted internet access, theres nothing like a timer clicking down to stifle those creative blogging juices so farewell one and all......
