Uruguay (7-13 May)

Uruguay is just a short hop over the River Plate from Buenos Aires, and our first stop is the UNESCO registered Colonia Del Sacramento. The boat ride over is pretty uneventful apart from the fact we're feeling a little under the weather having to get up at the ungodly hour of 700am, after a final night in Buenos Aires on the red wine and steak. Fortunately Uruguay is home to a good few gauchos, so we're hoping that we're not leaving the prime steak behind for too long...

Colonia is a cute little place - all cobbled streets and coloured houses and a very touristy vibe. Its a nice place to hang out, so we decide to book in for a couple of days as we've found a cute little hostel that is really comfortable. And the sun is shining, which makes everything seem better. Its a tiny place with not a lot else to do but wander around watching a chap flying his kite by the port and hanging out. So thats what we do.

We're back on the bus to Montevideo on Saturday morning, fully refreshed from two nights good sleep in the Hostel El Viajero in Colonia. Its only a couple of hours along the motorway so we get there in time for lunch. Recommended in our guide book is the market, so we head for one of our favourite lunches of the whole trip. The market is buzzing full of Uruguyans out for lunch. On all sides are enormous BBQs full of sizzling meat, so we pull up a chair at the bar and order away. Its great theatre watching the butcher chopping up great sides of beef and throwing them onto the grill, and it tastes great too. Meanwhile there's music drumming and dancing to a Brazilian salsa beat going on all around. Its a great place that we really enjoy, and would recommend to everyone for an afternoon. Not content with 2 bottles of wine, once we find another bar with 3 drummers, a couple of guitars and a sax playing outside, we grab a seat and a bottle of Patricia, a pretty decent beer and hang out for the rest of the afternoon, enjoying the music, and starting to make a few Uruguayan friends. Eventually once the band is finished playing we head off to another bar with a group including Germans and Canadians and meet up with some local filmmakers, who had a film in Cannes last year, and then we dont remember very much until the next morning with a very bad head.

COuldnt really manage very much on Sunday apart from heading out for some lunch, which would have been great if we had been feeling great, and a stroll around town, which is all closed down as its Sunday. In the central square though we find a big exhibition of these bears, each one designed to represent a country of the world. They're about 6ft tall, and quite unique. Its the second time that we have seen them though. Last time back in Berlin a good few years ago.

Still a little under the weather on Monday, we find our way on the bus to Punta Del Este, getting closer and closer to Brazil. Its a proper seaside resort, that in the summer would be buzzing but in rainy Autumn, its dead. After stopping off for lunch and sheltering from the rain all we can do is head back home and wait for the rain to stop. It doesnt. Even the next day it rains pretty much endlessly, stopping just long enough to let us go out for a stroll around, with the obligatory dogs accompanying us. Not a huge amount to report back apart from the good news from other Ozzie and Yankie travellers is that they have to pay about US$150 for their Brazilian visas, as well as having to pay for Chilean and Bolivian, whereas us Brits are welcomed in with open arms. I like to think its because the Brits introduced football to the region, whereas the Yanks brought McDonalds, and the Aussies are also yet to do anything of note.

So all in all Uruguay is a pretty cool country. We kinda got a bit over it towards the end of our week in Punta del Este, which with a bit of sun would be great to hang out in. Otherwise, its not. Colonia and Montevideo are great places to hang out in for a couple of days. Anyhow, next stop Brazil on a rather expensive overnight bus.

Buenos Aires (1-6 May)

We're relieved to arrive in Buenos Aires after 3 hours on a plane rather than about 48 hrs on a bus for obvious reasons! Once settled into our hostel in San Telmo (up some very narrow stairs, a real challenge to get our enormous packs up) we head out to find some steak. The area we're in seems to have a really cool edge to it - we find a group of drummers in the local square who attract more and more dancers and there's a good number of bars and restaurants. We're not quite o Argentinian time, finding steak at the rather early 930, but we both enjoy a quality bit of bife de lomo, which doesnt have the layer of fat that makes a bife de chorizo so tasty, but is still prime stuff.

Next day the sun is shining and it is warm! A joyous event after being chilly thorughout Patagonia, and we head out for an explore. San Telmo is equally as hip by day with lots of clothes boutiques, designer homewares and antique shopw in amongst galleries set up by local artists. Further into the centre, we find much more European architecture, many churches and a huge cathedral amongst the government buildings including the famous pink house. After a stroll back home, we head out to a local place lauded by all the guidebooks, Desnivel, and have possibly the best steak yet. Fuelled by more red meat and red wine, we stop off for another glass on the way home, which all of sudden has turned into 4. Its still pretty early by BA standards when we fall into bed at about 2am.

Sore heads all round the next day, but Sunday is when San Telmo is rammed full of an antique street market. In amongst all of the stalls and vendors bands are playing, street theatre is up and running and there are people dancing the tango for all our entertainment. Its a shame that we're feeling so rough, but after a steaky interlude that proves even the most basic cut used for a steak sandwich is far superior to anything back home, we manage to find the energy to head up to the cultural centre where local groups are putting on some open air music and dancing. The tango is great to watch - no idea if they're doing it to a high level or what, but it looks good - much better than on Strictly Come Dancing anyway.

We've discovered that the little hotel next door to our hostel offers bigger en suite rooms with a TV for less money (and without the narrow stairs to clamber up), so moving next door is the first order of the day. Then we head off to Recoleta, one of the more upmarket boroughs, and to the cemetry, which may seem like an odd place to visit, but its firmly on the tourist trail as the home of Evita's grave. There are also 100s of enormous 2 or 3 storey sacorphagi housing the bodies of all the great and the good families of Buenos Aires. Its an interesting place to potter around, if a little eerie. Its also home to lots and lots of cats - some much less friendly than others.

Back on the streets, we think we were targeted by a group of scammers, who came rushing to our aid when we suddenly were covered on our backs by some liquid, that we were told was bird poo. Now these must have been some pretty enormous birds, and with people mopping us up, it was definitely hands on pockets time keeping them away from our valuables. All in all a bit odd, but no flies on us, you've got to get up early to get one over on us, and all valuables still in place. So it did put a little of a downer on events as we felt inclined to head home to have a shower and clean up.

Admitting that youre a bit steak-ed out in Argentina is a bit like going without pasta in Italy or sliced white bread in the North East, but we were a bit steak-ed out. Fortunately we'd spied a great Arabic restaurant called Habibi a couple of blocks along from home, and head there for some great veggies. The quality of produce here is just second to none.

Next day though, we're back on the beef hunt and head for lunch to a place called La Cabrera in the upmarket Palermo district, which comes out top of many online lists of best steakhouse in BA, so we're hoping for a treat. We werent disappointed. Stuffed full, but very very happy. Imagine a joint of beef for about 4 people that you'd roast on a Sunday. This was served to us for a Tuesday lunch. The most enormous but juicy and succulent bife de chorizo ever. We'd also ordered a chicken skewer too, which also was the best bit of chicken ever. Simply cooked, meat like this just cant be beaten, and the 12 or so small rammekins of various condiments alongside made this the best meal in the world ever. Its a shame BA is so far away from home, as we'd happily book a weekend away on the basis of this place. Its all we can do to stumble back home, and spend an evening in front of the TV. Like everywhere else in the world Friends is on some channel that we find. We've watched episodes all over the globe and yet to see one twice - yet!

Our final day in BA has come around all too quickly, and, still full of yesterdays blowout, we head down to Puerto Madero, a modern redevelopment of the port area with 5* hotels, bars and restaurants in a Darling Harbour sort of set up. Its a great place to wander, have a coffee, and then settle down to while away the afternoon in a bar over a couple of beers. It kind of makes Buenos Aires complete. There is the trendy, artistic San Telmo area, alongside the main central area full of European architecture, and shops. Then the upmarket areas of Recoleta and Palermo where the expats have found their homes, and then this modern vibrant harbourside. Argentina was somewhere I have been looking forward to visiting for a long time, and it does not fail to deliver. Having beef and red wine as the staple diet is a real treat as the quality is second to none. And Buenos Aires is quite possibly our favourite city of the trip offering everything you could want from a city to keep you entertained for a long time. It should definitely be on everyone's must visit list, and a place that hopefully we will return to one day soon.

The longest bus ride ever to El Calafate and the Perito Moreno Glacier (28 April - 1 May)

We're sad to see Bariloche disappear into the distance. Not only because the next 30 hours are going to be spent on a bus, but also because its a really lovely relaxed place, where its easy to hang out and do nothing for a couple of days to recoup some budget, but also get out and about for some great walks or water based fun on the sea. And also some of the best meat yet. We do get some great views from the front of the bus, the Patagonian Steppe (cant remember exactly what that means, but remember it from Geography) with the mountains in the distance, and the odd lake along the way. There's some great wildlife too - lots of llamas wandering across the road, more road runners, and as sun sets, lots of rabbits popping out and about. We manage to sleep quite a bit, and also get through a number of varying quality movies (I didnt think Morgan Freeman made bad movies, but jees, this one was a real turkey) but nothing can take away from the fact that 29 hrs on the same bus is way way too long. Fortunately, we saw the light early on, and have booked a three hour fight to get us back up to Buenos Aires.

El Calafate is a small town built up around the tourist industry heading for the nearby glacier. One main street full of tourist tat shops, bars, overpriced restaurants and money changers. As we fit that tourist label, we head to one of said restaurants, Ricks, for an all you can eat meat fest. Blimey its good stuff though, and endless bits of good steak (not Bariloche standard) chicken lamb & sausages (including black pudding, mmmmmmmmmm) mean that we need two bottles of wine to wash it all down. Having thought that we'd worked out portion control in Bariloche, we soon forgot all about that, and reverted to type eating far too much, but it was good.

We've two full days in Calafate, which is fortunate as there is no chance of us moving too far too soon the next morning after the over consumption of the previous evening. We're in one of the finest hostels thus far, America Del Sur, more like a hotel really, which is just as well so that we can rest of the previous nights excesses, and head off to the glacier the following day.

We do manage a wander down to the lake and see some pink flamingos hanging about. The other major animal in residence in Calafate is the dog, There are dozens of them wandering around like The Littlest Hobo looking on forlornly. Now and then, one will take a particular attraction and follow us around town waiting outside shops, tail wagging on our return. Not a little odd!

El Perito Moreno glacier is one of the most awesome sites we have seen all trip, easily on a par with the stunning scenery in New Zealand, including Milford Sound. You can pay (muchos) to hike on the glacier, have lunch on the glacier, but we go for the simple boat trip and wander through the viewing platforms. However, this is absolutely perfect. The glacier is enormous, equivalent to a 20 storey building high, and about 5 km long in total. The first view of it is breathtaking, and you're still about 30 mins away. The boat takes you up as close as possible, about 300m away, but close enough to understand the enormous natural phenomenon in front of you. Cant get any closer as periodically enormous lumps of ice crack off the side causing huge waves, and then icebergs float off down the lake. Its all very Titanic with the icebergs effortlessly gliding by. The viewing platforms give great views all along the sides of the glacier we can spend hours here just waiting for a thunderous collapse of ice. The sounds of such a huge glacier are immense too - constant cracks like gunfire echo around the place, and we're lucky enough to be there during the low season when there are far fewer tourists to get in the way of our enjoyment. A truly stunning day out.

We're both very pleased that we made it this far south to see the glacier, despite it being bloomin freezing, and pretty darned expensive too, not to mention the 29hr bus journey to get here. However, we're looking forward to heading back north on a plane for 3 hrs, to the big city where we're expecting the best meat of all, and also to put the warm fleeces and hats back into the bottom of the bags for a while.

Mendoza - Bariloche (22-28 April)

The bus down to the Argentinian Lake District town of Bariloche takes 19 hours. That is a long time! We're sad to leave behind Mendoza, a great little city, with some of the best vineyards in the world (funny how we can say that now with a note of authority) but we're also looking forward to our next destination, when we eventually get there. The bus actually isnt all that bad. Not quite as spacious as the one from Chile, but still pretty good - on a par with a short haul European business class seat. And food too, on a par of economy class plane food. We sleep quite well through the night, and then enjoy some beautiful mountain scenery, with a few road runners during the final daylight hours to Bariloche. The taxi driver from the bus station is the first Argi to mention Maradona and the hand of god incident, but as his first game in charge recently resulted in a 6-1 thrashing in Bolivia, he soon shut up (but told his mate on the phone that he was carrying a couple of gringos to the hotel)

If it wasnt for the people speaking Spanish, you could easily be in Switzerland in Bariloche, all wooden chalets with snow capped mountains in the distance over the lake. Its beautiful, but very windy and pretty chilly. We've booked into another really cute place called Perikos, a wooden chalet, which is almost as good as the last place although doesnt have a TV, but the en suite is as good as we have seen since leaving home. After overdosing on the steak in Mendoza, we're back on the self catering - still beef mind you, but rustling up pasta bolognese is different - the quality of produce in the supermarkets is much superior to back in UK.

Next day we're off to wander the circuito chico, the easiest walk available in the area alongside lakes, and viewpoints through forests and past snow capped mountains. Its a really lovely walk out, although we end up having to go a little further than planned due to the very limited bus service to return us to Bariloche. Although not as panicked as we would have been if it had gone dark, we were very relieved to see bus 10 pop up the hill to our rescue.

After a night off the steak and red wine, we're back on it with a vengence, choosing the comedy named Tarquinos, described as hobbit like by the Lonely Planet. This is serious bife de chorizo, and earns a serious gasp of appreciation. Luce has the lamb and that too is glorious. With a bottle of malbec to wash it down, happiness and snooze soon sets in.

We're planning to kill a bit of time in Bariloche, cook ourselves a couple of meals and get back some budget, so spend the next day with a picnic lunch at the beautiful lakeside setting, and supper that concentrates on vegetables to balance out the red meat intake.

Saturday, and we're heading down to the artesenal market in El Bolson, which is renowned as being a hippytown where many of the more artistic Argentinian escaped to during the oppresive dictatorship years. Its moved on a bit despite the large number of dreadlocks we spot, there is also now the world famous native Indian pan pipe group who treat us to such local delights as Unchained Melody and the theme from Titanic while we browse the stalls and much on a couple of delicious empanadas, an Argi speciality of meat and onion wrapped in pastry. There's not a great deal else to do in town, most of the activities involve getting out of town with your hiking boots, so we settle down for a rather bland pizza, and rather delicious bottle of Malbec.

Back in Bariloche, and its dinner out at another fantastic parilada, Albertos. Not sure if the main man himself is in town, but he's got a great theatrical set up - in the middle of the room is a huge BBQ infront of which the chef chops your steak from an enormous animal and throws it on until a punto. Happiness is. We reckon we have got it sorted now, order about 1/2 kilo of meat and a bit of salad, dont forget the bottle of red and thats enough for two. And you'll spend about £15 for an amazing feed. Albertos meat wasnt quite up to the standard of Tarquinos, but still wipes the floor with anything you could buy in London for double that price.

Our final day in Bariloche is another chilling out pottering around the shops, which are very much aimed for the ski-set, and knocking up another home made delight. Sausage pasta tonight, and as we have come to expect, the quality of meat is superb. Its going to be a real let down when we we're back in Tescos for meat.

Next stop is El Calafate down in deepest Southern Patagonia, so that we can visit the Perito Moreno glacier, a decision made back in the rain sodden caravan in Franz Josef in New Zealand. Its a 29 hour bus journey this time, which we are not looking forward to at all - and we've been warned that unlike previous bus trips, food is not included. So we stock up on another Argi delicacy for breakfast - dulce de leche, which is a caramel slightly runnier that you get in a twix. Spread on sliced white bread makes it substantially more unhealthy, but equally more delicious. Obviously it was just as well we managed to shed some kilos on the outdoor adventures in the Antipodes as they're all coming back now.

Over the Andes to Mendoza, Argentina (18-22 April)

The bus over the border to Argentina is pretty comfortable - National Express could learn a thing or two. Large seats which recline almost horizontal with lots of legroom, and snacks served. Its a great bus ride over the Andes, stunning scenery that rivals New Zealand (OK that something that National Express cant help.) Although it takes a while to get through, we have no problems this time with border controls and rogue fruit!

We're a bit delayed getting into Mendoza, and despite the warnings of the guide book against thievery, we feel pretty safe in the bus station. Whereas in Chile everybody looked Spanish or just like Gael Garcia Bernal, here in Argentina, they look more native American Indian. We're a short walk to our hostel, which is the really cute family run Chimbas, and then off to hunt out our first steak. English isnt widely spoken, and all the different cuts of meat are a bit of a challenge for my 10yr old GCSE Spanish, but we struggle on through with a great bit of meat and a lovely bottle of red wine all for under a tenner. We think we're going to like it here.

Next day is Sunday, and we're thrilled to have had a good nights sleep for the first time in a while. Its on e of the best places we have stayed in, and also one of the cheapest with TV and even en suite shower room. We spend the day roaming around the mainly shut centre, but do find a good place for lunch and wine, and up the steak stakes with a bife de chorizo, apparently the best cut of meat. It goes down very very well, even as part of a budget friendly menu del dia. After a bit more of a tramp around, very little is open so we head home to watch TV, and use the free wireless.

We're set for a great day of cycling the vineyards on Monday. After a 45 mins bus ride, we're in a little town called Maipu where we pick up our bike from Mr Hugo. The man is there himself to set us on our way. Whilst far from cycling experts, we're aware that we're on a pretty budget bike, but the sun is shining, and there is snow on the Andes in the distance, and its not long before we find ourselves at our first bodgea, El Cerro, a small intimate family run place where a glass of wine, not a taster like in Oz, but a decent glassful is about £1. We get three that we want to try and settle down in the sun on beanbags to tuck into the booze and chat with the other travellers who are around. People are a little bit older in Argentina, and therefore more on our wavelength, and we have good wine quaffing companions from London, Australia and Holland. We've soon wasted about 2 hours - time to move on to the olive farm the furthest point about 9km from Mr Hugo. Not too sobered up by the cycle, we tuck into oil, bread and sun dried tomatoes, even buying some souvenirs - a good idea to get some glass jars to weigh us down. Fortunately there is another bodega opposite for us to drown our sorrows. Time is starting to press on, and we stil havent had some lunch, but we do have a Mr Hugo voucher for a free glass of wine with some food at another bodgea, so head there as fast as possible. One glass isnt enough of the delicious Malbec, which is our new vin du choix, so we neck another and play with the house kitten before heading back to Mr Hugo (via the chocolate factory) who is waiting for us with another glass of wine. By far our favourite wine tour that we have been on, much more relaxed and good value here than in Margaret River, and a lot more intimate and friendly than the big businesses of the Hunter Valley, we vow to drink Argentinian red from now on.

We're pretty exhausted by the time we get back to Mendoza, but hike up into the main town to find some supper (this time with beer!) and then early to bed.

Tuesday is our last day in Mendoza, but our bus south to the Lake District town of Bariloche doesnt leave until 8pm, so there is nothing else to do but go to find a good menu del dia and a bottle of malbec for lunch. Not difficult at all, but we decide to vary the meat intake a little and have some chicken, bacon and even vegetables alongside the traditional beef.

So all in all a good start to Argentina, somewhere that I have been looking forward to visiting for a long time. The steak and red wine is as good as people say (although we havent had super melt in the mouth stuff yet, its all looking very promising) and also as cheap. Its easy to get around, and much more developed than we were expecting, wifi is everywhere, and did we mention the steaks?

Chile: Santiago, Valparaiso & Vina Del Mar (12-18 April)

After the difficulties in getting through customs, we get into the centre of Santiago safely, and cant believe how Spanish the whole place feels. We're in a trendy little barrio called Bellavista, with lots of colourful houses, bars and restaurants spilling out onto the pavement. We could easily be in Barcelona or Madrid, except that we're a lot further away than a 2hr Easyjet flight into Gatwick. We dont allow ourselves too much of a rest to try and combat jet lag before heading out for a stroll around, along with many other Santiagans.

Although we can speak a bit of Spanish, the language here is a bit different - sounds very lazy, and whole sentences merge into one. The local beer, escudo sounds like 'sou' but we manage to order a few to have at a sidewalk bar while the sun goes down. Its nice to be back in shorts and flip flops after the chill of New Zealand. Definitely not chilly in Chile. Practically next door to our hostel is a retso offering traditional Chilean food so we settle in for a parrillada, which is best described as a mixed grill. Not something we would normally go for at home, but we are in Chile, and tuck into sausages, chicken, chops, steak, and some surprisingly good black pudding. No veg though, apart from a couple of huge potatoes. Its good food though, and we are stuffed as Easter Sunday comes to an end - at last.

Monday we spend wandering central Santiago. Not a lot to report, some old Spanish collonial buildings, couple of big Catholic cathedrals, and a nice park on a hill to climb up and get good albeit smoggy views across the city.

We get more views the next day from the Cerro San Cristobal, a huge hill on the to pof which a huge white statue of teh Virgi Mary looks out over the city. You can almost make out the Andes in the distance, but the pollution gets in the way. Too exhausted and jet lagged to do much else, we spend the rest of the day snoozing and skype-ing and generally catching up with everyone at home, before heading out for supper in the local trendy area of Bellavista patio.

We're out with our bags by 1100am next day down to the metro station (which is as warm as the tube in summer) to head over to the bus station and onto Valparaiso. Its only 90 mins on the bus, but as we descend down to the coast, the weather changes and cloud comes in. We squeeze on the local minibus at the other and find our digs for the next few days. Not in the same league as our place in Santiago but at least it has wifi. We head out for a stroll around, and find some lunch in a restaurant which is showing the champions league - its good to keep in touch back home. Valpo is a pretty little town, built in between a number of steep hills. There are about a dozen ancient funicular lifts, built at the turn of the 19th Century, rattling up and down the hills so you dont have to use the steps. Most of the buildings are really brightly coloured, and stand out on the hills, making the whole place look really pretty, and there are lots of good look out points over the very busy port.

We dont get a good nights sleep as our hostel is one of the noisiest we've been to, and have to politely ask some locals not to watch youtube with the volume on full at 100am.

Next morning, we're awoken to the sounds of Vivaldi, which is definitely a step up from Spanish you tube. We're off to Vina Del Mar for a daytrip, a seaside town further North along the coast that is the upmarket end of town. Sadly its pretty chilly again in Chile, so we cant make the most of the beach, but its a nice town to stroll around and we find a place for lunch that has an amazing red wine that we tuck into, having moved to be in front of the real fire. Almost like being in a good pub in England on a winter's afternoon. Warmed from the fire and teh wine we head back to Valpo, and considering the number of mini busses going back and forth, its amazing that we get the same driver who recognises us, and rattles us back along the coast, with only a couple of near death experiences.

After a quick rest back home, we head out to a bar up in the Cerro Concepcion, one of the nicer areas of town that we found yesterday Instead of just a couple of beers we end up staying out until after 100am. Hoping that the party is over back home, we're faced with the closing moments of a party as the rest of the hostel, and about 20 other randoms are heading out. British gap year students off their heads seem to let the side down. We're feeling like the old grandparents asking them to be quiet, and recognise that arrogance that we get in return...

Anyway, despite another disturbed nights sleep, we're in decent mood the next day, helped by apologies all round from noisy neighbours. Another day pottering around Valpo, this time though in the sunshine. Its a nice place to hang out with some great views, and also a decent pizza place to spend the evening. Weary and not a little wary we return back to the hostel, and its all pretty quiet, until some bloody night club starts up downstairs. With a if you cant beat them atitude, we pop to join in, but there is noone there. Its probably the worst nightclub in the world as they only seem to have about 5 tunes, and they knock off after an hour. But only until about 430, when we get the same tunes for another hour or so.

So a bit of an odd experience in Valparaiso, and not one that we want to repeat again anytime soon! We're glad to be heading out of Chile, even though we're leaving at 730am (sorry for waking everyone up so early) not least because of the lack of sleep and dodgy immigration officers, but there's not really a lot to recommend about Chile. Its nice, but like the food, in a bit of a bland way. Glad we came, but cant really see any reason for coming back. Hey ho, on to Argentina, which I've been looking forward to for ages!

S Island Driving Tour Pt3 - Queenstown back to Christchurch and off to S America (11-12 Apr)

Sad to leave the comfort of Jon & Alix's and also Queenstown. Its been a fun place to hang out for a few days, but onwards and the start of our journey from New Zealand to South America. We're heading back to Christchurch, to get on a plane to Auckland and connect through to Santiago de Chile.

So we've time for one more stunning drive through South Island, New Zealand, via Lake Tekapo across the snow-capped Southern Alps and Mount Cook, and it doesnt disappoint, although its a bit cold for Luce to get out of the car! We're back in Christchurch staying at the same place as the other week, and its a bit odd going back to the same hostel. A nice feeling though to be comfortable in our surroundings, and its very quiet for Easter weekend, everyone must be out and about driving around enjoying the scenery.

We enjoy our last night in New Zealand with a few glasses of top notch wine, and a decent enough curry. Its odd how excited we get at all of the food on offer. Indian is definitely our favourite still, but we're going to be a nightmare in curry houses back home from now on, as its never going to be as authentic as when we were in Delhi/Mumbai/Amritsar etc, and we will never be happy!

The longest ever Easter Sunday takes us first to Christchurch airport for the flight up to Auckland. Flying over all that we have just driven through gives us another great perspective on the place - definitely somewhere that we would come back to in an instant, and is to be recommended highly. Just a shame that it is so far from the UK - although that in itself is another great attraction.

We've 6 hours to kill in Auckland airport, which isnt the most exciting in the world, so we have a couple of glasses of wine before getting on the plane, and after a couple more drinks we're dozing away as the Pacific passes below.

Its a whole lotta ocean to fly over, but by the time we land in Santiago, its only just lunchtime on Easter Sunday, even though its about 30 hours since we woke up! Getting into Chile proves to be a bit more tricky as 2 apples have fallen loose into my bag, and are discovered by a sniffer dog while we are waiting at the carousel (fortunately its nothing more serious...) Despite there being bins to dump any stray fruit, and we're not anywhere near going through customs, we're still hauled into interview with an immigration officer, who speaks little English. Despite our protestations, they're following the rules to the letter and we are faced with a US$200 fine. Havent even had time to go to the cashpoint and the wallet is empty so am frogmarched off of the ATM with an officer who speaks a little English. She says that she cant believe they are fining us for two apples, tells me to play dumb and not understand anything, and she'll see what happens. So we pretend that my card isnt working in the ATM, and after much more deliberating amongst practically the whole immigration staff, the fine is cancelled, and we are allowed into Chile and to continue with our eternal Easter Sunday without having to use up the next 3 days budget!

S Island Driving Tour Pt2: Franz Josef - Queenstown & Milford Sound (7-10 Apr)

Its brightened up again - a little bit - the morning that we're setting off from Franz Josef and its second time lucky getting to see the glacier. There's clouds looming over the tops of teh mountains though, but we still get a good view. Fortunately though we've found a glacier in Argentina that we will try and get to visit where we'll have a bit more time to hang about until the weather lifts...

The onward drive to Queenstown and Jon & Alix lives up to the expectations of South Island driving, and as the weather starts to lift, we get great views along the River Haast plateau with its waterfalls and surrounding mountains, past Lakes Hawea and Wanaka where we stop for coffee and the view over Queenstown as we drive in.

Its great to see Jon & Alix again, and lovely to be in a home once more when we can chill out a bit more, use a strong shower, and generally relax and be looked after! Its pizza and a good catch up that first night.

There's great views out of their lounge over the Lake to the Remarkables Mountains in the distance which are beautifully snow-peaked. Throughout the morning we get tempting glimpses as the clouds lift, but they never disappear completely, and despite a beautiful rainbow, the rain sets back in, so we catch up on internet admin and do a bit of washing before having a stroll around the town centre, which is very picturesque and geared up for all the tourists passing through. We're also pleased to discover how efficient the NZ AA is. The car wont start, but they are there to help within about 15mins!

Its good that the car is up and running as we're driving down to Milford Sound the next day - a round trip of about 600km, but truly worth the effort. Its not nearly so far as the crow flies, but due to enormous mountain in the way, we have to cover three sides of a square to get there. But what a drive it is. Having had some stunning scenery so far in the South Island, we're blown away even more by this drive, stopping off first at the little town of Te Anau, which has a pretty lake and the best pie shop in the whole of NZ, and then endless viewpoints along the way to the Sound to look out over snow capped mountains, mirror lakes and waterfalls spouting from mountains looking like veins in the rock. And thats before we've even reached our destination!

Milford Sound is a fjord, presumably like the ones you find in Norway, surrounded by snow peaked mountains along the 2km or so passage to the Tasman Sea. We board our little cruise ship along with about 50 others, and set off mouths open with the sun shining taking in the vista. Its picture postcard perfect, and probably the most awesome place that we have visited. The pictures say much more than I can.

The reverse drive is through sunset, and, although hard to imagine, is even better than on the way. A stunning day out.

We're up to Good Friday now, and Jon & Alix are off work, so they drive us up to Deer Park Heights, a hill on the opposite of the lake to their house, Its lots of fun as its full of deer, alpacas, goats, donkeys and other farmyard fun animals all desperate to be fed. They know where the food comes from - tourists in their cars - so come ambling over to you when they see you have the silver tin of food, and wont leave you alone until they have had their feed! Meanwhile in the distance are equally stunning views back down to the town across the lake, and locations from the shoot of Lord of the Rings which must have been a cinematographers dream to shoot.

While our hosts go for their first midwife visit, Luce & I head into town, and up the gondola which is a cable car really to have a go on the luges, which is go karting really, and a lot of fun, even though Luce wins. I could go on more about the views we have while we watch some parascenders jump off the hill, but that would be just too repetitive, believe me they were great.

Once we're back in the safety of Jon & Alix, we head over to Arrowtown, an ex-gold mining town which has been lovingly restored to loo picture book cute in an old fashioned sort of way. There's also a great pub with a roaring fire, perfect to chill out in front of on an Autumn day. Its a bit odd that Easter is in Autumn, and the trees are starting to turn beautiful golden orangey colours and its April. Also odd that the rules say that booze can only be sold with food on a Good Friday, so we have to get some snacks first, They act as a good starter to the BBQ that Jon puts on for us that evening, some great NZ lamb cutlets. We've packed in a lot today, but there's still time for a skype chat with Jude, Simon & Ruby back in Sheffield!

S Island Driving Tour Pt1 Arthurs Pass, Motueka, Farewell Spit and West Coast to Franz Josef Glacier (3-7 Apr)

Setting off from Christchurch, we're heading North West through Arthur's passage. This takes us over the Southern Alps and some top notch scenery. Around every bend, over every hill is another view with the wow factor. Its a long way up to Motueka on the North coast, but its a very satisfying journey. We arrive to discover that Friday night is steak night at a local restaurant, so rather than another risotto, we're in for a treat.

We've been looking forward to the sea kayaking at the Abel Tasman for some time as its been highly recommended by more than one person. And it doesnt disappoint. Although outdoor pursuits are not usually high on our wishlist, the weather is glorious, and the sea is calm helping to make the three hour trip much fun. We've even time to get up close to a seal basking unsuspectingly in the sun on a rock, and disturb some starfish. One of the sites on our kayak is Split Apple Rock, where we beach up for a while to climb to the rock. Great fun, and food for thought when we get back home, could this be a new hobby? Probably more suited to the South of France rather than London though.

That afternoon, we drive up to Farewell Spit, the far NW point of the South Island Its a protected area so we cant get along the spit, but get some great views from climbing up a nearby hill - time is pressing on otherwise we would have completed our day of outdoor pursuits with a great cliff top walk, but its 4.5 hrs long. A good reason to come back. Back in our hostel in Motueka, we finish off risotto week in style with some added sausages!

Back on the road through more stunning forest and mountain scenery, we're headed down the West coast through unforgettable towns of Westpost and Greymouth, but stop for a good explore around Pancake Rocks - another geological formation that is on a windswept point, but has great blowholes and bridges that have been eroded by the sea over years and years.

We reach Franz Josef glacier in the middle of a seemingly endless storm. It started raining about 3 hrs into our journey from Motueka once we got further south, and shows little sign of stopping as we check into our hostel They're booked up in all of the doubles, but do have a converted caravan out the back. Its got a heater so we check in to our kitsch little two berth, which actually has more space than most of the hostel rooms that we have stayed in. It only has a video though, so we tuck ourselves in, with the heating on and some beers in while the rain thunders down on the roof and watch some old school vids.

There's a break in the clouds first thing, but by the time we drag ourselves from the surprisingly comfy caravan and get half way along the glacier walk, the rain starts, and I quit. Luce perseveres though, and has a lovely look at the clouds whilst getting damp. Its a bit clearer back in the town, so we head off to look at some lakes that we passed yesterday, but by the time we get there, the rain is coming down too, so we return to our hostel, and retire to the hot tub with beers in hand and decide that actually a hot tub would work pretty well on the terrace in Cannes.

There's no busload of 17 yr old gap year students arriving today so its a lot less crowded in Chateau Franz, and fewer people to admire the roast chicken dinner that we knock up in one pot. Its bloomin tasty though, and sets us up nicely for getting back to our caravan and downloading catch up episodes of The Biggest Loser!

Wellington - Kaikoura - Christchurch (28 Mar - 3 Apr)

Its an odd feeling turning up at someone's house who you have never met before, but is a friend of a friend, but Sue's friend Gabrielle couldn't be more welcoming, or entertaining. The beers and wine are soon flowing before we head out for some supper at a great Asian tapas place, and some nightcaps before strolling back. We have a great night's sleep with comfy pillows and warm duvet, a far cry from the budget hostels we have been used to since Trish's place in Bondi. It makes us start to realise how much we are missing our house. Not necessarily homesick, just missing all those little home comforts that you take for granted.

After we return the hire car, and pick up a new toilet seat for Gabrielle (!) she drives us around the Wellington coastlines, which give us a great view to the city, around the bay, over to the South Island, and then back to the city for a spot of lunch. We stroll back along the quayside via the Te Papa National Museum, which has a great giant squid exhibition and the portrait gallery to find Gabrielle waiting for us at home with chilled champagne, and some bluff oysters. We've got to fix the aforementioned toilet seat though (not damaged by us needless to say), before the treats are ours, and it proves a bit more tricky than it should. Luckily there is a man in the house and Jimbo saves the day leaving Lucy and Gabrielle wearing the marigolds and supervising.

OUr Sunday evening in Wellie is spent meeting an old mate, Clare, who is in Wellington for one more night only, before heading back to the UK after 3 years. So we time it just well to see her, and meet her mate Jas for drinks and supper. Its great getting to know a place with people who actually live there, and are so relaxed in the surroundings, rather than when we are on our own finding our way. It makes us enjoy a place so much more, even though in the case of Wellie, there isnt a great deal to do.

We're up and out early the next morning to pick up the ferry to the South Island. Its billed as one of the most scenic ferry journeys in the world, so take our place on the t op deck as the sun rises over the Wellie hills. As the city disappears in the background, we are joined by some dolphins crossing over Cook Strait into the Marlborough Sound. The South Island lives up to its billing, with lush, rolling green hills all around us, and we are joined by more dolphins.

The ferry drops us at Picton, and we've an hour or so to kill before our train heads off south to Kaikoura. There's a Subway in the station, so we break our Subway sarnie duck before boarding and chatting with the chap opposite us - an ex-MP, who we presume is tory. Some great views from the train on the way down of the coast on one side, the mountains on the other, and the occasional seal colony where the seals are snoozing away the afternoon.

Kaikoura is renowned for its whale watching, but we've read a couple of non-too complimentary reviews online, so opt for swimming with dolphins instead. Despite the best efforts of the weather - its rainy, and a bit windy causing choppy seas, that are also bloomin cold, it is the most amazing experience. The pod of dusky dolphins numbers about 40, and are very interested in having a good look at close range at the humans swimming around. We've been advised that they are more interested the more singing through the snorkel they hear, so despite breathtakingly freezing temperatures, we're singing away, and diving down to get them interested. They're beautiful creatures, and we're given the option to swim some more, but they're just as amazing to watch from the boat, even if its up and down motion is causing more than one sea sickness casualty, mentioning no names James...

Next day we have a great tramp along the Kaikoura headland, getting up close to the local seal colony and enjoying the hill top views along the coast. We're staying in a funny little caravan park that lacks any sort of decent facility - there's a kitchen, but nothing to cook with, or eat from - a far cry from the BIG4 caravan parks that we enjoyed in Oz. Still we have a chat with the other happy campers in our place, one of whom has been diving for Pauas - a type of large clam that attracts huge prices in China, and leave behind a beautiful shell, but are a bit unknown to us. He's got a couple left over, and cooks us one up - its a great taste, a bit squiddy, nice though.

Thursday morning and we're leaving Kaikoura on the bus down to Christchurch, and would you believe it, the weather is glorious, would have been a perfect day for swimming with dolphins, but no looking back, next stop is Christchurch. Its very British university townie - sits on the River Avon, has a Cambridge and Oxford Terrace, and generally all round pleasant enough place to spend an afternoon, but we're only there for one night, before getting another car, and heading North to the Abel Tasman National Park.