Wellywood

Ant and his trusty van in Wellington.

We have just got back from a weekend in Wellington visiting Ant, Jeff and Patty, old friends from Berkeley, and thought that it was time to make a little posting from an internet cafe in Blenheim. It was a nice relaxing weekend, and a chance to enjoy some of the Cafes and good food that Wellington has to offer.

Our trip North has been quite interesting so far. We got stranded for most of the day in Kaikoura due to the car failing to start - grrrr. It is starting to get to be a bit of a stress - so far we haven't been stranded too badly, but I suspect its only a matter of time. Swimming with the dolphins in Kaikoura was a fantastic experience - although not being able to swim made it a little stressful for me! It is quite phenomenonal how fast and maneuvarable they are in the water, you literally cannot keep up with them. They would circle around you, but they could literally swim two circles around you, looking at you all the time, in the time it took me to turn about half a circle! Made me look a bit stupid

Vhere is zee ship zat vee shall blow up? Dorthe about to get in the water, swimming with dolphins, Kaikoura

From Kaikoura we headed north to Blenheim, the major wine region of New Zealand, where we stayed with family friends, the Brunsdens. Thursday was spent touring around the vineyards, tasting wine, and buying a few bottles. That was quite fun, and I think we both learnt a lot about wine. I was trying very hard not to drink too much though, seeing I was driving, but Dorthe took full advantage of the free "tastings"... )

Waihopai spy base, hidden amongst some of classic Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc vines near Bleheim, is New Zealand's contribution to Project Echelon.

On Friday we crossed over to Wellington to see Jeff and Patty. Most of the weekend was spent touring cafes and the like. On Saturday we had a picnic at Kaitoke regional park, which is where the Rivendell set from Lord of the Rings was filmed. On sunday I went mountain biking with Ant, while Dorthe toured the pedestrian malls of wellington. And then we headed back here to Blenheim last night.

From here we now head west, across the top of the south island, through Nelson, to Able Tasman National Park. There we are going sea kayaking for about four days or so, camping along the beach, and hopefully, seeing lots of seals at one of the big seal colonies there. Then its down the West Coast for a few days, before heading back to Christchurch for the One-day cricket international against Australia on the 22nd Feb. Should be good.