Welcome to South Island, New Zealand!

Wow! What a change of temperature! We landed in Middle Earth about two weeks ago and we've gone from fun in the sun to chills and thrills in the snow! We've been rushing around the South Island, trying hard not to miss anything, but a lot of time has been spent pulling our little rented car (El Cheapo) over and taking photos of the spectacular scenery (like the one above). This place is seriously stunning!

"Spider-Pig! Spider-Pig! Does whatever, a Spider-Pig does!"

Without wanting to steal any thunder from their number 1 fan (Nathan), we felt we had to pay homage to the Simpsons who provided us with a great evening's entertainment when we went to check out the movie in Nelson (our last stop before we left the South Island). Our expectations for the movie were pretty low as we'd met someone earlier on in the day who said it sucked, but suffice to say (and not wanting to set too many expectations either way), it didn't suck at all. ALL HAIL MATT GROENING! ALL HAIL THE SIMPSONS!

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Breaking news...spotted...a humungous butt!

If you ever wanted to get up close and personal with sea critters, Kaikoura is most certainly the place to do it. We landed yesterday, and decided to head out to see whether we could spot some whales. Kaikoura hosts all year round feeding grounds for Sperm Whales (the males only), so chances looked good, and the weather (for once) was playing ball. Not only did we spot one...but we spotted seven (some of them were probably repeat whales to be fair), including this beauty:

Some interesting facts on ...Sperm Whales:

* A Sperm Whale is the largest whale with teeth, and each tooth weighs one kilo.

* The Sperm Whale was named after the white gooey substance found in his head which was initially believed to be sperm. This oil was one of the main reasons they were hunted because it was used in all sorts of things like to grease machines, make soap and even margarine.

* The Sperm Whale has the biggest brain of any known species, alive or extinct, averaging 7kgs (15lbs).

* When whaling was all the rage, Sperm Whales were often hunted - but they bit back, tossing the boats of hunters and swallowing them whole...GO WHALES!

* Unfortunately, because of whaling, the average size of a Sperm Whale has reduced in size because the larger ones were killed first.

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It's time to board, dude!

Who would have thunk! Snowboarding in New Zealand! But here is Marc... strutting his stuff on the slopes outside Queenstown. My apologies for the commentary which for some strange reason, I felt compelled to add (best to watch this with the sound down).

And he didn't fall once on this run, so watch out Dean and Vikki, you may have to book an extra place next time you guys head to France (actually two places, I'll play chalet maid this time).

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Random rugby thoughts...

Since we got to New Zealand, we have noticed that, just like South Africa, the sporting teams here have funky nick names. The rugby team is the All Blacks, the national netball team is the Silver Ferns and the basketball team is the Tall Blacks.

So, what would the British teams call themselves if they were to go down the same road? Would the Scots be the Thistles? Or the Midges? Would the English be the Roses? Or the Bulldogs? Would the Welsh be the Daffs? Or the Leeks?

All suggestions gladly accepted at Comments

Speaking of the Rugby World Cup, we love the promotional poster distributed by the French Rugby Union. It's funny that the French (ahem) Roosters have chosen London to hang the posters as apparently a common French stereotype is that English men are all gay. This stems from English sitcoms (such as Fawlty Towers) which show English husbands and wives having separate beds. Hey...we're just the messenger ;)

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Is it my imagination...

...or is Marc starting to look a little scary? Admittedly I do end up taking a lot of photos of him, but there is something of the 'serial-murderer-hacks-his-victims-to-death-with-an-ice-pick-look' about this one.

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Happy Birthday Ms President!

Happy birthday to our niece, and future president of South Africa, MIA. Mia turned one on the 17th, and celebrated as expected - discussing current affairs and the state of the economy with her great-grandfather (oh, and eating cake too of course).

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Spotted...loads!

New Zealand used to be the country of birds. It has no indigenous land mammals (barring three bats), and now suffers (like Australia) with overpopulations of introduced mammals such as possums, rabbits, ferrets and stoats, all of which either eat birds, their eggs or their food.

As a result, many of the local birds are endangered, and can only be seen in conservation centres. So, we set out to see the Kiwi and Black Stilt (one of the rarest birds on earth today) at a conservation centre in Queenstown. The Kiwi is fascinating! Not only does it more closely resemble an animal than a bird, but it is quite big-boned for a small bird and has a very comical walk (a bit like Master Yoda). Our favourite Kiwi-ism...they have nostrils at the ends of their beaks (they're one of only two birds to have a sense of smell).

Since arriving in the South Island, we've also got to spot the Royal Albatross (and observe one feed it's chick), Fur Seals, Hooker Sea Lions and Spotted Shags off the coast of Otago Peninsula. Unfortunately we missed the penguins.

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Final thoughts on South Island

Filled with fond memories of snow-capped peaks, slow-moving whales and sheep everywhere (I have NEVER seen as many sheep before in my life!!!), we got on the ferry at Picton and headed north to Wellington. The South Island, as everyone will tell you, is stunningly spectacular, and a lot of our time was spent stopping the car to take postcard photos around every corner. The funny thing was, we weren't alone - so many other people were doing exactly the same. We've added in the last couple of photos for your viewing pleasure.

The North Island has roughly three times the population, and promises to be filled with volcanos, hot springs and loads more SHEEP! We've been in Wellington for the last couple of days and have really enjoyed the vibe of this city. And of course, the people, as with everywhere in this country, are helpful and super friendly - a thoughtful young hooligan even kindly spray-painted a bright pink "go-faster" stripe up the one side of our car - we thought it was quite funny (especially as we've got no insurance excess).

The only set-back we've had is with our attempt to get a visa for Tahiti (our next destination) - South Africans need one. Unfortunately, our efforts were thwarted by a weedy little French bureaucrat who wouldn't make the effort to remove the pencil from his derriere to help us submit our application - we are a little short of time and therefore haven't left a full 15 working days to process it. So, we took the decision, after much frustration, that we will take the hit and divert our flights straight to South America, which is our new (and very exciting) next destination continent.

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