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Riverside Drive We thought we might like New Zealand but were wrong - we loved it. The scenery is stunning. The people we encountered were friendly, helpful, and present. And we could get things done. New Zealand has some very skilled people, and the quality of work...

Lake Pukaki Driving to Christchurch, we passed Lake Pukaki, 178 square kilometres of water and another joy for cold water masochists because the Tasman River feeds it from the Tasman and Hooker Glaciers. It is also another primary source of hydroelectric power....

Steam Punk and Steam Train What a whacky place this is. The Steam Punk HQ in Oamaru is completely bonkers inside and out. The machines outside have a slot into which you can deposit your hard-earned cash for them to spring into action. Or, in the case of the Mad...

Bluff Bluff became an important port for whaling and sealing ships in the mid-19th century. And it retains an industrial feel with industries of a different kind, thanks to the Tīwai Point aluminium smelter and the port of Bluff that handles over 3.5M tonnes of cargo...

The World's Fastest Indian In the centre of Invercargill is a large hardware store, E Hayes & Sons. Inside that store, among all the tools, parts and accessories to support a thriving agricultural community, is the Indian Scout motorcycle ridden by Burt Munro....

Te Anau Te Anau is known as the "gateway to the fiords" due to its proximity to the more famous Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound. In Maori, it means "cave of swirling water," a reference to the underground waterways that flow beneath the town. On the subject of water,...

Road to Wanaka We were considering staying in Wanaka, but because of the Warbirds over Wanaka festival, we couldn't find a campsite with space. Instead, we stopped on the way over at the Makarora campervan and caravan park, which has a petrol station and cafe at the...

Franz Joseph There wasn't much time to hang around. I'd booked a helicopter flight for the afternoon to take us up to the glaciers. The flight we booked was supposed to take us to Franz Josef Glacier, Fox Glacier, Tasman Glaciers, the Southern Alps and the Main...

Hokitika We drove our van into the Shining Star campsite late afternoon on the 27th of March. Apparently, we weren't the first Riverside Drive Marina residents to check in here. Only a couple of weeks before, our sailing friend Jeanne Socrates also checked in at the...

Greymouth We only went to Greymouth to meet Charmaine, one of our Riverside Drive friends who was staying in Greymouth for a while. But we are glad we saw the town too. It has a rugged charm - and some good OP shops from which you can grab a bargain. Hats off to the...

Te Waikoropupū Springs - Pupu Springs This is a special place, both culturally and geologically. The water here is some of the clearest on the planet. And there is a lot of it. Underground springs here produce approximately 14,000 litres of water per second. Māori...

Kaiteriteri Kaiteriteri is lovely in March. It isn't too cold, the sun is shining, and, more importantly, the holidays are over. This place must be rammed full of people at peak summer time. But hardly anyone was around when we visited. Although Kaiteriteri is a...

Blenheim Our first stop on the South Island was a Department of Conservation campsite in Blenheim - a bargain at just $20 NZD per person per night. Unfortunately, there is a different sort of price to pay. Generally, no power is available at DOC sites, so if you don't...

Cuba Street Our destination in Wellington: Cuba Street car park, because I know how to treat a lady. The advantage of having a certified self-contained campervan (certified by a sticker on the van) is that you can park in places other vans cannot, such as our chosen...

Boatyard Bonkersness So far, we have shared where we have been and what we have seen in New Zealand, but not what we have been doing on the boat. And we have been doing a lot of stuff: New cockpit windows New cockpit upholstery Cockpit cover repairs Sail repairs and...

Hamilton Gardens Hamilton Gardens is a gem of a place - 54 hectares of themed gardens, some classical and some stark-raving bonkers. We spent a few hours here stumbling around and coming across these visual treats. There's not much to say here - it's all about the...

Hobbiton "I'm going on an adventure!" - Bilbo Baggins And to get to our adventure, we stepped aboard a coach at the tourist office in Matamata. Our driver, who had the rare privilege of being an extra in the films, provided commentary, and so did Peter Jackson,...

Rotorua The sulphurous pong of Rotorua assaulted our nostrils as soon as we got near the city centre. After parking the car in a relatively odour-free multi-story, we set off on a hunt to find the source of the smell. We found it near the government gardens, where...