Half Around The World In 80 Days

Travelling with the Curran sisters has been great fun, but after Wellington our plans take us in different directions. I catch a ferry across the Cook Strait to NZ's South Island, passing through the picturesque Marlborough Sounds. As I ride the bus south from Picton to Kaikoura I get absorbed in a novel; when I lift my head after an hour I realise that I have arrived in a different world with high snow-capped peaks looming over the Pacific Coast.

Sailing away from Wellington toward the South Island

My first destination here is the town of Kaikoura on a tiny peninsula jutting into the Pacific. This is renowned as a place to view passing whales or to go swimming with dolphins. I have booked a dolphin swimming trip for Friday but the weather is turning increasingly inclement and none of the boats can take to the water on the day in question. One option is to go on a seal swimming trip but some hardy souls who survived this tell me that they were swimming around in the freezing stormy seas while the seals sat on the rocks looking at them; this doesn't sound like my idea of fun. In the end I have to leave Kaikoura for Christchurch without seeing a single dolphin even though I am assured that there are hundreds to be seen on sunny days.

At least someone knows what to do on a rainy day in Kaikoura

From the city of Christchurch I take the 'Tranz Alpine' train west across the Southern Alps via. Arthur's Pass to the town of Greymouth on the west coast. This is claimed to be one of the world's great train journeys and indeed the scenery is fantastic with looming peaks, tall viaducts over deep gorges and an 8km tunnel.

On this trip I have the pleasure of sitting beside a woman called Marie from Melbourne. She calmly recounts a recent experience where she remained fully conscious while undergoing revolutionary brain surgery. She is currently learning how to talk and read again but is amazingly positive through it all; her enthralling scares the living daylights out of me and puts any of my minor travelling mishaps into proper perspective.

Southern Alps and a blue river