The Adventures of Tin Tin!
Our van has a name. His name is Tin Tin. We thought he needed a name so that we could talk to it in an encouraging way when he is struggling to do things. e.g get up a hill! So here he is ...

I will explain...
Since we have blogged our lovely van has become a bit of an adventure vehicle. NZ is very hilly and Tin tin, we have discovered, doesnt seem to like hills.
On our recent journeys we have been driving through stunning national parks and some mountain ranges. One particular hilly area is the Fiord lands. This is where Tin tin developed the first of his problems! Before I explain about that I will tell you about Milford sounds.

Milford Sounds
This place is beautiful! Snow capped mountains, fast flowing waterfalls, and icy cold sea water. Jon and I decided to see the Milford sound fiords by Kayak. We took an organised trip out on to the water, we donned on very attractive thermals (see the most beautiful photo!) and other kayaking gear and set off in a double Kayak. Jon and I worked very well as a team to manover the Kayak on the water and are thinking about purchasing a double kayak when we get home! We saw up close some lovely wildlife including a small seal only a meter away from us. Although our arms were tired when we returned, we thouroughly enjoyed our journey in this magnificent place.


Back to Tin tin...... As we wound up the mountain sides on our return journey his gear box began to grind. He no longer liked 2nd and 3rd gear, which makes our hill journeys a little tricky. He also likes to pop as we are going down hill. Having been brought up with fairly cronky cars I recognise his noises and decided that on our next stop it was worth getting Tin tin checked out at a local garage. Our next stop was Fox's Glacier.

Fox's Glacier
We decide to climb the fox's glacier on a half day tour. Our guide was really knowledgable and it was really exciting to see in real life what I had studied in a text book at uni. We even got to climb in a crevase.


Whilst we were in town a mechanic advised us that Tin Tin's gear box would need changing, but suggested we keep on going until it stopped going. We have decided to get a second hand gear box from a scrap dealers and get this fitted. We have just arrived in the city of Nelson and this will be the place we get it done. Jon and I are having such a wonderful time in NZ and are not worried by the performance of Tin Tin. Once we get this fixed we are sure that we will be able to sell him on to a new owner.

Pancake Rocks!!
No its not a reference to Lent!
The Pancake Rocks are a pile of layered rocks in the sea off the west coast of the south island. They are a very interesting geological phenomenom but it was absolutely pouring with rain. As the photos prove!