Various photos from December's exploits!

These specks are all dolphins!

More dolphins

beautiful sperm whale diving

see we do camp!

Barrytown - Nick's Dad lives here!

Layered rocks at Pancake rocks

Big surge pool - pancake rocks

more pancake rocks

Big waves that day

Blow hole in the rocks

Lovely hosts Julia and Brian

(if we'd spent any longer there Brian would have been off on our bikes!)

Looking back to the wet west coast from the tranzalpine train

Looking East to Christchurch and the sunny East coast ;-)

One of the many tuneful Tuis that live all over NZ
They make sound like R2D2!!

Akaroa - Christmas by the beach (23/12 - 28/12)

Met Estelle at Cathedral Square in the middle of Christchurch and then the 3 of us cycled to Akaroa. I was full of cold and my legs felt like lead and it was the hardest day of cycling in my life. It was so hot and the we had 5 hills to get over (one big one and 4 small ones). Estelle was cheering when I finally got to the top of the big one!

I was so relieved when we arrived at the hostel and we had a Christmas card from my M&D and a present from Emma and Michael in our room and I cried!

During our stay in gorgeous Akaroa we had a meal with the other guests on Christmas eve and Christmas evening and we did lots of sleeping, eating and drinking.

On Boxing Day we went kayaking and a pod of Hector's dolphins (the smallest ones in the world) swam around us for about 30 minutes - amazing!

On Mon 28th we cycled back to Christchurch and the hills were much easier this time!

Christchurch to Kaikoura (15/12 -17/12)

On Tuesday 15th we cycled to Waikari. Getting out of Christchurh was fine and Nic got his haircut for $5 (about 2 pounds!). The roads were ridiculously flat and straight - one was 22km long without so much as a curve or a hill. Due to the flat roads and our high speed we decided to head for a Cyclists B&B that was recommended in our guide. We phoned ahead and left a message and when we arrived Julia and Brian were there to greet us. They live on 10 acres and have a small farm and stunning views over the mountains. They treated us like royalty and we are so grateful for their kandness and the enornous amount of great food that we ate.

On Wed 16th we cycled up hill and down dale to Mt Lyford. The road was quiet and we had 360 degree views of mountains. We stopped for lunch at a place called Rotherham! We camped at a lodge and enjoyed a beer with the mountain views - bliss!

On Thurs 17th we arrived in Kaikoura (a 3 day cycle ride or 2 hours in the car from Christchurch!). The ride was challenging as it was very hills but the views made it worthwhile. We decided to stay 5 nights as there is so much wildlife here. We found a nice quiet hostel with a hot tub!

Merry Christmas

A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our family, friends (and people from BAE ;-)), people we've met over here, people we have stayed with along the way especially Dorothy and Peter, Julia and Brian and The Wardle family.

We are having a fantastic if bizzare christmas in Akaroa getting over colds and the ride here yesterday ;-)

hope to go swimming tomorrow, but missing the snowmen making.

Love to all

Nick and Jeanette

NZ law enforcement

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8427624.stm

this was sent by Mike Hall

made me smile, I gues you wouldn't do this in the uk at the moment ;-)

Rain, rain and more rain

Wed 9th Dec

This in Nic on a very long swing bridge over the Buller Gorge. Just after this Nic's bike broke and then it started raining and it did not stop raining until we left the west coast on 13th!!!

Murchison/Inangahua/Westport/Greymouth/Christchurch (9/12 - 15/12)

After Nic's bike broke we managed to get to a hostel near Inangahua (Berlins) and for some stupid reason decided to camp. The rain was shocking and the tent was leaking and we hardly slept all night. Luckily we only had to cycle about 40km to Westport the following day and due to the heavy rain the waterfalls coming down the cliffs at the side of the road were gorgeous.

When we got to Westport we stayed 2 nights at a motor camp in a cabin. All we did was get Nic's bike fixed, read, eat and sleep, as the rain was still pretty much constant.

On Sat 12th we cycled (in rain) to Punakaki. The veiws along the coast were amazing despite the weather. We stayed at a hostel and in the evening the rain stopped and the sun came out a tiny bit and we cycled to the Pancake Rocks, which were amazing. (photos to be added on a separate entry).

On Sunday 13th we cycled with a heavy sky but no rain to Greymouth and about 10 minutes off reaching our destination the rain came down big time. As the TranzAlpine train to Christchurch (on the sunny East Coast) was due to leave in 45 minutes we made the decision to be on it. The train took 4 1/2 hours and it was fantastic. Just after reaching Authur's Pass (the highest point) we saw the sun and cheered.

We found somewhere to stay for 2 nights in Christchurch and it was such a relief to escape the rain.

Amy has had the baby!

For those of you who know my gorgeous friend Amy she has had her little girl. She was born on the 8th and was 8lb 7oz (what a whopper!) and her name is Talia Shai. Look on facebook for photos. Lots of love to all the family, we wish we could meet her!