Not so happy apres ski :(

No pictures just pissed off. After a great day skiing we thought how about a pint and a bite to eat in front of a roaring log fire. Every other night we've enjoyed staying in the van, eating and drinking. Parked right outside the pub. We left the pub about 8pm to find some nice chaps had broken in and nicked all our kit, boots, rucksacks, passports, driving licences etc etc. Just perfect! In through a back window. Even took a pack of coffee. The local police took some fingerprints off the window so hopefully they'll nail em some point down the line. Well that's that, the van wasn't badly damaged and we got passports replaced. Thanks to great friends back home and Diane's family here in NZ, it made 5 really bad days better. I'll finish with a smile, Di said as long as we have each other that's all that matters :)

Great day skiing Ohakune North Island

Having missed a fantastic ski season back in Europe, it was great to get out on the slopes in NZ for a day. We hired all our clothing, boots and skis from a shop in town for less than 20 quid and the lift pass was just another 25. We drove up to the car park at the bottom of the lifts - luckily we didn't need our snow chains. We carried them but god knows how you fit em!

Stuck to the runs at the top of the mountain as it was a little stoney on the low slopes but great skiing.

Blue skies and sunshine all day :)

Thought of you guys Gary and Neil.

One happy bunny at the end of the day and now off for apres ski :)

Home sweet home

Could be the Tewkesbury Road back home heh. You'd be way out, that's 70km not mph ! It's a little place on the North Island between Palmerston North and Ohakune. Think I prefer the place back home :)

Cavendish House ?

Not quite the Queens !

One for the boys

This was one of those "Ice Cold In Alex" moments. Like a man coming in from the desert I turned the corner in the supermarket and lo n behold, a vision appeared before me. My eyes flitted from label to label , blimey makes you proud to be English.

Like a fine summer rain after a drought, cheers lads :)

Weta

Well I could not wait to visit the Weta Cave in Wellington. We couldn't tour the workshops for legal reasons. New films are being created there all the time and the producers like to keep everything under wraps. Instead they created the Weta Cave with stuff we can see and explained how the whole thing came together. Just brilliant, so good I went twice !

For those who don't know - Weta Caves is the Lord of the Rings studio.

Me and my mate Alan, only jokin buddy I know you don't eat raw fish :) Anyways I've got some new Manuka honey moisturiser for you to try; good for the complexion !!:)

This is my other buddy Graham apparently he just fitted a boiler for someone and they had the temerity to say he was a messy worker, no patience whatsoever bud.

Ay Ay Cap'n

This is the Bluebridge ferry trip from the South island to the North island. It goes through the Marlborough Sounds with some stunning scenery and flat, calm water.....

then it gets closer to the open sea of the Cook Strait and the forecast was not too rosy.....

so the waves started crashing and the ferry started rolling.....

and Jonny started turning white and then green which was a real shame as we had been invited up to the bridge by the Captain. We met Peter (a real nice Kiwi chap) on a bus in India heading to Nepal. We'd hoped to visit him in Nelson where he lives but his shift pattern meant he was at sea so we caught up with him on the ferry instead.

It was great as he explained all the equipment to us.

and I loved it when I got the chance to steer the ferry.

Nelson and Picton

Here's a picture of a nice car for Gray. You won't find this one on Forza 2 bud.

Gorgeous scenery enjoyed best with a brew.

Another pukka campsite for the night.