Week twelve: Wellington and the Kapiti Coast

We arrived into the city living up to its name of windy Wellington which made the landing a bit bumpy. We are staying with friends in a suburb and have a bungalow in their garden all to ourselves. Alex's sons arrived on the same day from the UK so we had dinner with them on Cuba Street where they are staying. On Sunday they came up to the house for a meal with the family.
On Monday we explored the city including a ride up on the famous cable car (which is actually a funicular railway) then walking down through the Botanic Gardens. The weather improved as the week went on and the sun was shining for a day out up to the Kapiti Coast for fish and chips by the sea, followed by a drive back through the hills and Hutt Valley.
On Sunday we went to the Te Papa museum which has an amazing section about the natural forces forming New Zealand and it's earthquakes and volcanoes - brilliant for a Geography teacher! Other exhibitions about plants and animals include a preserved colossal squid. There  are also interesting displays about the various waves of migrants who have settled here.
Only one more week in New Zealand before heading back to the UK.

Week eleven: Dunedin, Southland and Otago

Last weekend we hired a car and travelled south along the coastal scenic route through the Catlins. It was stunningly beautiful and we were lucky to have glorious weather. We stopped at the Whistling Frog cafe for lunch and again at Curio Bay, famous for it's fossilised forest and yellow-eyed penguins, although they were hiding from us.
We stayed the night in Invercargill which is one of the world's southernmost towns. The couple we stayed with has a classic old Chev so we drove in it down to Oreti Beach which was stunning. The next morning we drove in it again up Bluff hill (I didn't think it was going to make it up the steep road) and saw spectacular views along the coast and across to Stewart Island.
We then drove north to stay in Alexandra which is a small town with a giant clock on the hillside. The drive the following day took us across some amazing Central Otago scenery with dry plains, brown mountains and blue sky, as immortalised in many art works here. We finished the journey with a drive down the coast north of Dunedin to Port Chalmers where the cruise ships dock and along to the end of the Otago Peninsula to see the albatross colony, but unfortunately no birds were flying.
The rest of this week in Dunedin I have visited the museum, art gallery, Botanic Gardens, rugby stadium and Olveston House, which is a fascinating house built in the early 1900s by a wealthy merchant and preserved as it would have been at that time. It is full of amazing art and furniture and has a beautiful garden. Yesterday I caught the us back to the Otago Peninsula for a picnic and walked back in the sunshine. Today is our last day in Dunedin so we hope to return to St Clair beach for dinner tonight, although the weather is quite cloudy.
Tomorrow we fly to Wellington - the final leg of my travels.

Weeks nine and ten: leaving Auckland, arriving in Dunedin

I made the most of my last week in Auckland by visiting the art gallery, Mission Bay and the harbour and Wynyard Quarter. A marquee was put up on the lawn of the Old Government House to host various events. On Saturday morning Cyclone Lusi hit Auckland with wind and heavy rain which meant our flight take-off was a bit bumpy. We overtook the storm so it was quite nice when we landed in Dunedin, but it hit hard on Sunday.
We are living in UniCol, one of the halls of residence with over 500 first year students. It is an interesting experience! They were very noisy on Saturday night and again on Monday which was St Patrick's Day. I have to stop myself from telling them off. The positives are that we are on the 9th floor so have good views of the city and we get three meals a day included.
I have been on a tour around the Dunedin area to see some of the main sights including the Otago Peninsular and the steepest street in the world. The beaches are beautiful and I watched a school triathlon competition at St Clair beach today. I think the teachers were enjoying drinking coffee in the sunshine between cheering on their pupils!

Week eight: Devonport, Pericles, Mamma Mia, Mission Bay and Pasifika

It's March! I can't believe we've now been in Auckland a month. Last Saturday we caught the ferry across to Devonport and clambered over the rocks at the base of North Head around to the beach. It was then a climb up to the top with amazing views across to the CBD. There weird lots of old naval defences and we were surprised that New Zealand ever felt they might be invaded by anyone.
On Sunday I walked to The French Market in Parnell and back through the Domain. The glass houses contain some amazing tropical plants and I particularly enjoyed the fernery.
All week the cast of the Shakespeare play Pericles have been performing on an outdoor stage next to our apartment. They make a lot of noise doing their warm up right outside our window and the live band is quite load too. Who knew that they had the theme from Rocky in Shakespeare's time!
On Monday I joined in an Aqua Zumba class at the gym. I've done aqua aerobics and I've done Zumba, so it was fun to put the two together. On Wednesday I caught the train to Newmarket, a swanky shopping area. It rained so I spent most of the time looking around the shops and trying not to spend too much money.
On Thursday we met up with friends for dinner before going to see Mamma Mia at the Civic Theatre. I was very impressed by the show and the interior of the theatre is amazing.
We cycled to Mission Bay on Friday and ate fish and chips in the sunshine with a beautiful view across to Rangitoto. After a cold spell the weather has improved, but they have gad terrible storms and flooding in the south.
On Saturday we went to the Pasifika festival in Western Springs. Each Pacific island nation has it's own village with stalls and a stage for performances. We sampled food from different islands and especially enjoyed the Hawaiian and Tongoan dancing.
We spent Sunday up in Red Beach with friends who invited us for lunch. It is a beautiful location with views across to Coromandel and the Barrier Islands.
It is now our last week in Auckland. Better make the most of the sunshine before we head to Dunedin!

Weeks six & seven: trip up north and cookery course

I'll losing track of time now. I'm not sure what we did last week, but on Friday we hired a car and drove up north. We drove up through the kauri forests and saw the largest kauri tree which is thought to be nearly 2000 years old. We stayed a night in the small town of Rawene, staying in a cabin with the most stunning views across the harbour. We sat on the deck with a glass of wine watching the sun go down, then the next morning we had breakfast at the Boatshed cafe which is built on stilts in the water and visited the Koutu boulders which are perfectly rounded rocks along the beach.

On Saturday we drove to Kerikeri to meet my cousin who lives there are go to the Orchard and Ocean food festival. There was live music, lots of food stalls and competitions including the oyster eating competition. It was very hot and it was a relief to get back to their house to stick our feet in the pool. Our bedroom had a balcony overlooking the beautiful Bay of Islands. On Sunday we caught the ferry across to Russell for lunch before driving back down to Auckland.

On Tuesday I visited another school, this time in Massey, west Auckland. It was very different to Macleans with a majority of Maori and Pacific Island students. There was a great focus on the performing arts and I heard an amazing band practicing for the graduation ceremony that evening.
On Wednesday I attended a cookery class at the fish market and learnt how to cook crispy fish fillets with potato cakes and lemon sauce. I was pleasantly surprised how well the finished dish turned out!

So it's now the end of February and we've been in Auckland a month. Two more weeks to go before we head down to Dunedin so I better make the most of the sunshine while it's here!

Week five: Mount Eden, lanterns, Eminem, school visit and humidity

On Wed 12th I visited the University School of Education to find out how they do things here and to arrange some school visits. Since it was out near Mount Eden I decided to climb to the top before catching the bus back. It is an extinct volcano with a very deep crater at the top and offers spectacular views across the whole of Auckland. It was well worth the climb!
Friday marked the start of the Lantern festival, three days of celebrations of Chinese culture in Albert Park with amazing lanterns, displays of art, dance, music and food stalls. We enjoyed watching a demonstration of dragon and lion dancing by some boys, including some who looked very young, and the lanterns looked wonderful once it got dark. Some were a bit strange though, including an Arctic scene including penguins and polar bears together, which we all know live at opposite poles!
On Saturday night we went to a BBQ in the suburb where Eminem was performing a concert, so we were serenaded by his dulcet tones while we ate our dinner. It was very busy because there was also the Nines rugby tournament in the same area. They estimate that those two events and the lantern festival attracted an extra 200,000 people to Auckland last weekend, not including the three cruise ships that were docked.
On Sunday we hired bikes and cycled along the coast road. It was a beautiful sunny day and the views across the harbour were amazing. We got back in time to watch a huge cruise ship sail in to dock. In the evening there was a firework display to mark the end of the lantern festival.
Yesterday I visited a school out in the eastern suburb of Bucklands Beach. It is a high school with 2600 Y9-Y13 students. It was interesting to see what was similar and what was different to the UK. The students were very polite and well behaved and barely spoke in lessons. They all have to wear school uniform until Y13, including regulation brown sandals or clumpy black lace-up shoes. I can't see that going down well at Belvoir!

Week four: Auckland life

Things have settled into a relaxed routine now that we're settled into Auckland life. We are staying in the Old Government House on the University Campus, just across the road from Albert Park. I am trying to have a walk around the park most mornings and there has been some beautiful weather to do that in. They are now setting up the park with Chinese lanterns ready for the lantern festival later this week. The only problem with where we are staying is that any trip out requires a steep climb back up the hill, but at least I'm getting fit!
I have started to explore Auckland, including the zoo with my cousin and her children who were down from Kerikeri for a few days. I am mostly limited to places within walking distance, including the waterfront, fish market, the Domain, Parnell and the CBD. On Saturday we went out for a curry (which are a lot milder than at home so you have to ask them to spice it up a bit) and then to see Dolly Parton in concert - certainly an experience! On Sunday I took the ferry over to Devonport which was just beautiful in the sunshine and the views from Mt Victoria back across to Auckland were stunning.
Yesterday I went to an outdoor yoga class at the waterfront overlooking the harbour. It was very hot and the views were amazing. Very different to my yoga class in Nottingham! I followed that with a swim in the Tepid water baths to cool off. The water seemed more cold than tepid after the heat outside, but it was certainly refreshing!

Week three: the camper van adventures

Week two: Lake Tekapo, Queenstown, Wanaka and Queenstown again

On Tues 21st we picked up our hire car on from Jucy (don't ask!) and left Christchurch on a dull, rainy day. After driving across the flat Canterbury Plains and a brief stop at Geraldine for lunch and to pick up provisions we started climbing into the Southern Alps. The clouds cleared, giving us a view of the stunning mountains and valleys. We arrived in the small resort of Lake Tekapo to the sight of the dazzling blue lake caused by rock flour washed into the water from the surrounding glaciers. It is really hard to describe the colour - it seems almost unnatural.
We climbed up to the observatory at the top of Mount John which, it's fair to say, was a lot steeper and higher than I anticipated, but it was worth it for the spectacular views from the top. Our motel room opened out onto the lake so we ate dinner and breakfast looking out over the most beautiful sight over the lake with mountains in the background.
After one night at Lake Tekapo we drove onto Queenstown, stopping briefly in the pretty fruit-growing town of Cromwell. Our motel in Queenstown also had stunning views over Lake Wakatipu with the Remarkables Mountain range in the distance (so called because they run exactly north to south). During the two days in Queenstown we went up the gondola to Bob's Peak then rode on the luge and in the afternoon took a spin in a jet-boat across tha lake and up the Kawarau River, getting soaked when it turned. We met up for a drink with an ex-pupil Jess Palmer and her boyfriend who had been living in Australia and were travelling around New Zealand before heading back to the UK. It's funny how you still bump into people from home on the other side of the world! We also enjoyed huge Fergburgers, a speciality of Queenstown.
On Saturday we drove over the mountains to Wanaka, stopping at the old hotel in Cardrona for coffee. The motel room again had beautiful views of Lake Wanaka and the mountains behind. Is it possible to get bored of these amazing views? We went for a walk along the lake, did some shopping and went for a delicious Italian meal. On Sunday it was raining so we had a lazy lunch then went to Cinema Paradiso to watch a film where you can sit on sofas or even in an old car!
Today we have driven back to Queenstown for the night before picking up our camper van to drive up to Auckland. That should be an interesting trip!

First week - Bangkok, Auckland and Christchurch

What a week! We flew overnight on Monday to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. We stayed for two nights in an amazing modern hotel in a room on the 35th floor with fantastic views over the city. We had a day of site-seeing, visiting the Wat Pho temple to see the giant golden reclining Buddha statue and the beautiful old wooden buildings and gardens at Jim Thompson's house. It is obvious that Thailand is a rapidly developing country with many new skyscrapers being built, huge shopping malls and a modern Skytrain transport system. However, there were glimpses of the poverty some Thais still live in.
We then had another 11 hour flight to New Zealand and stayed for one night in Auckland on the North Island before catching yet another flight to Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island. This beautiful city was devastated by two earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 which killed 185 people. It is very eerie and sad, seeing a once beautiful and bustling city centre, which was full of tourists when I visited in 2002, reduced to dust, empty boarded up buildings and rubble. Three years on from the earthquake people here are trying to rebuild their city and there are examples of this in the temporary shopping centre made of shipping containers and the new cathedral made a giant cardboard tubes.
Yesterday we travelled to the Banks Peninsular which used to be a separate island formed by an ancient extinct volcano, but is now linked to the mainland. The crater of the volcano is now open to the sea, forming a large sheltered harbour in which the pretty town of Akoroa sits. The weather was hot and sunny so we enjoyed sitting on the harbour eating fish and chips, watching the boats come in from their whale and dolphin watching trips.

Tomorrow we hire a car and head off for a tour around the South Island. Wish us luck!

Getting prepared

Getting excited about our trip. Feels a bit weird not being at school now everyone is back. Need to start packing soon, but I need to remember to pack summer clothes!