2003 - Christchurch - Images from 'The Last Supper' by John Badcock.

Arrived to Christchurch in the rain, which actually made it quite lovely. Very English kind of place, beautiful city in fact. Went to Christchurch Cathederal where there was an art exhibit called "The Last Supper" by John Badcock. Stunning display, thirteen canvases arranged in a row, each one metre wide by two metres tall. It's the intensity of the eyes in each painting that grips you.

Walking around the city we found The Honey Pot cafe, which became our focal point, a couple cups of coffee turned in 8 glasses of wine and a meal. We were both glad we liked the place because the end of our trip to NZ involves us coming back here.

Next day Jo and I parted company for the morning, she took in the Arts Centre, I headed out the city to the International Antarctic Centre - if you have a passion for Antartica like I do then this place is a must to visit. Had a great breakfast there, explored the exhibits and rode a five-tonne Hagglund tracked buggy.

We met up for lunch then began the drive towards the West coast which involves crossing the Southern Alps, first stop Arthurs Pass.

2003 - Arthurs Pass - View from Devil's Punchbowl - Oj

The first 70km's West of Christchurch are flat, the road is straight and you're just sort of in a nowhere moment. Then the Southern Alps start rising up from the horizon, stacked up row behind row of them and you're thinking about your lovely modern hire-car not designed for any kind of nutty terrains.... the drive becomes wonderful as you sweep in, up and through the mountains.

Arthur's Pass was a halfway point between Christchurch and our next location, Franz Josef; we did not want to spend all of our days driving to stopped over and I'm glad we did. At first glance Arthurs Pass comes across as a dying place dead end town but it's very lovely. One street, couple of cafes, and the Chalet hotel, well worth a one night stop over.

We did not stay at the hotel, the guide book warned us about the 'iffy' restaurant, a remark that did hold true in so far as the Fawlty Towers characters that made up the staff, but it was friendly and had a great roaring open fire.

Next day I woke up in our motel room, that looked like a 1920's farmhouse, frozen to the bedsheets. We warmed up and started a one hour walk to Devil's Punchbowl Falls, it turned into a sometimes hair-raising scramble over jagged rocks trying to avoid tripping up on cable-like tree roots lying across the track with sheer death drops ready to welcome those who fall.

2003 - Fox Glacier - Djr

The second we arrived in Franz Josef we knew we were going to love it; one main street with several side roads, blazing sunshine, great looking cafes and restaurants; you could tell how popular (the money) the town was by the fact there were four helicopter companies in one road.

Our motel was a luxury apartment; we grabbed some coffee in town then drove out to Sentinel Rock where you can look back across the valley to see the glacier in is frozen spillage down from the mountain crests.

Next day we drove over to Fox Glacier (people told us it is less popular and less crowded) - our Guide drove us out to the bottom of the glacier, then we spent over an hour climbing up the side of mountain and down again to enter the glacier from the side. Donning crampons and picking up sticks, we followed our guide onto the ice; he swung a big pick axe like it was nothing in a smooth circular motion, chopping small steps for our crampons to latch onto as we climbed up. There crevases either side of us, most only dropped down 30 metres or so, but a few, that had water gushing through them, drop right down a hundred or more metres, not much chance of you getting out if you fell into one of those.

Our guide was called Abel; found out he was an ice-climber, perfect, I've been looking to interview one for the novel 'Edge'; I asked him and he was happy to do it so after the Glacier walk we went across the road and did an interview for his character.

Drove back to Franz Josef, only 22km's but some of the most convoluted roads we've been on, steep cliff faces to one side and vertiginous drops on the other; I put on Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax & Two Tribes and had one of the most fun drives ever; the car headlights hugging the double yellow line in the centre of the road.

Next day joined Fergal's Kayaks on Lake Mapourika; a fantastic mirror lake, incredibly deep leaving the surface utterly still. Around the edges is dense rain forest, paddling out there you are alone with your thoughts and the view. One of the people in our group was Nico, a dutch medical fitness instructor who simply outpaddled all of us; when we turned back to return to the jetty, Nico got there ahead of us and we watched him pull his kayak onto the shore, then saw him strip off and dive into the lake. Although the air temp was 10 degrees, the water was 22, lovely.

After Kayaking we bought Nico lunch back in Franz Josef (he made a wonderful gesture by offering to share his food with all of us back at the backpackers he was staying at); then we drove South towards Wanaka.

2003 - Kayaking on Lake Mapourika - Oj

2003 - Rainforest on drive to Wanaka

Leaving Franz Josef we headed South then cut East, passing through Haast (ealier plans had suggested we might stay there a night but the place was not even a street, and one helicopter); we reached the Northern end of Lake Wanaka and the road began following the shoreline. It was an incredible journey, passing through pockets of woodland very close to where the Ring Wraiths chased Frodo; then the sun begins to set across the lake and the colours and reflections force us to stop the car to get out and just loooook!

Arrived at Wanaka at night to find everywhere fully booked; I was gutted because it looked like a lovely place. Driving out we passsed a wooden structure tucked away amongst trees and shrubs called Wanaka Lodge, more importantly I saw the words VACANCY. We grabbed the last room, most expensive place we had stayed at so far but worth every dollar. Our room was again built outside the main structure, with our own balcony; a gorgeous outdoor spa pool. Although a very expensive and very uniquely furnished establishment, they had built it around a communal theme, there was freshly brewed coffee in the communal kitchen, the bar was based on an honesty system, take a classic bottles of wine from the rack and write it down on a notepad against your room number; two lounges, one down stairs filled with books and puzzles (Wanaka is puzzle town of the World), and another lounge upstairs with internet, sky TV and collection of videos.

We checked in and chilled out. Two bottles of wine and a cosy night in the upstairs lounge. Fab.

Next day we were supposed to check out and drive on to Te Anau (7 hour journey) in order to do a cruise on Doubtful Sound the next day. However, a random conversation with a female guest the night before revealed another option. We chartered a plane to fly us to Milford Sound, avoiding a 14 hour drive.

Before going to the airfield we killed a few hours visiting Wanaka's fantastic PUZZLE WORLD. If you're even just passing through Wanaka do yourself a favour and go here, it is so much fun. Apart from the 3-D holographic artwork, interesting, there is a room that is very HP Lovecraft when he talks about walking into rooms that are at the wrong angles, characters becoming dizzy or disorientated by the non-Euclidian geometry of a place - Jo and I walked into this room and nearly fell over. It looks like a normal room but there is a steep incline hidden by the design so that you find yourself toppling steeply to one side. Very clever.

Best of all in Puzzle World was the maze.

Huge outdoor structure, walls made of wood; a tall tower at each corner and several bridges that carry you from one part of the maze to another. Memory of starting and thinking 'this will be easy'; a few moments later realising I was already lost! Memory of climbing up into a tower and spotting Jo some distance away, I called out to her knowing I was in a tower she had not yet found, she span round and did the V's then walked on; I laughed for ages. Memory of reaching the open cafe in the centre of the maze before Jo, sitting there supping a coffee and grinning with delight when I saw her crossing a bridge above me still lost in the maze.

After the flight across the Alps and the cruise on Milford Sound we met our pilot and flew back to Wanaka. We drank wine and lounged in the spa pool, then I finished the evening in the upstairs lounge, adoring the cosy comfort of the place.

2003 - Flight to Milford Sound

2003 - Queenstown - Djr, Oj and Shotover Jet

Sad to leave Wanaka.

Queenstown was only a short drive away; at first I was wary because a lot of people have said Queenstown is full of irritating surf-type-dudes too cool for thier boots, but I found the place to be incredibly beautiful and a great launch pad for other day trips.

The first thing about the town you notice is the mountain range that dominates your view of everything; called 'The Remarkables' since Captain Cook first spotted them and gasped Remarkable, and heavily used in the Lord of the Rings movie.

When the sun sets it catches the mountains in a light that is particularly beautiful. You experience this richness of colour that entices you to simply stand there and watch.

First day there we did the Shotover Jetboat, which is a flimsy framed speedboat bolted onto a huge jet engine, propelling you at fierce speed through narrow river canyons, over rapids, and into gut-lurching 360 degree spins. Don't be put off by the commercial appearance of these companies; they're all very well run, very professional and yet friendly, you walk away feeling like you got value for your money.

The first night I ate a big meal followed by several cocktails, one of which was a pint of something with lots of cream - memory of standing on the wooden jetty trying to make myself sick to get rid of the feeling that I was about to burst into a spray of cholesterol.

Next day we drove out to Arrowtown in the morning, wonderful old gold rush town with a living breathing 1920's feel to it; then drove up to Coronet Peak as far as we could; had to give Skippers Canynon road a miss as we discovered you need a four-wheel drive off-road vehicle to even attempt it - mind blowing views of the mountains from Coronet Peak; then we drove out to Glenorchy to ride horses in the very mountain range where Saruman's tower was digitally superimposed. If I could live anywhere in New Zealand, I'd like to live in Nelson, Whakappa and most of all in Glenorchy, stunning location.

Our final night in Queenstown we went up to the Skyline complex, riding gondolas up almost a mile. We did numerous runs on the luge (glorified tray on wheels with a rudimentary brake), where you fly down steep slopes and around tight bends at any speed you like, in fact, there's a sign there that says in not so many words "You are not supervised, you can go as fast as you like but if you get hurt it's your own fault"; my first time round I hurtled through a tunnel and came round a bend to see big warning signs saying SLOW and the track vanishing in front of me; I slowed a little bit not believing they would make it that dangerous. Nearly shat myself as the track dropped into an almost vertical wall that make brakes redundant, you simply fell down this monster. Great laugh though.

After luging we ate, and I've got to rave about the five course buffet they serve up there; really great food.

Later that night walking through the city we were approached by a man and his clipboard; turns out he's a photographer working for a company who own the historic TSS Earnslaw (coal powered steamship), the company want to reshoot the brochure, he's looking for people to play 'passengers'.

Next day we head out to the pier and meet a few other people similarly selected, free coffee and too many scones with cream and jam. We sail out across the lake until a helicopter flies in with the photographer hanging out, everyone look natural now!

2003 - Queenstown - Luging - Djr

2003 - Drive to Glenorchy

2003 - Nugget Point Lighthouse

Left Queenstown after the photoshoot and headed toward Dunedin via the State Highway 8, truly a bizarre and depressing drive, going through utterly boring landscapes, and the kind of small towns that remind me of 'tales of Dunwhich county' in Lovecrafts writings.

Finally hit 'Kaka Point' and drive on through to 'Nugget Point' on the far Southern coast of the island. The wind is blowing like a demon, the sky is angry, and both Jo and I feel a trace of fear in our bones. Follow a nutty road that hugs the edge of sheer cliffs, then the road runs out and we park up and walk down an even narrower track, with even more precarious cliffs below us (can see massive elephant seals down there), follow the track further road and come to a point where it crosses the sadle of a rocky outcrop with death drops either side, ending in a fantastic lighthouse. The wind is howling across the exposed track, when you get to the lighthouse you cling to the wooden railings and look out across the ocean knowing that there is nothing more now until you reach the Antarctic continent.

We drive back North and it's nightfall by time we reach Dunedin.

Dunedin, the worst point of our journey, what a shit hole; memory of walking through grim streets of oppressive architecture, wind howling, every building looking damp and unwelcoming. Our hotel was Leviathan, the worst hotel I've ever stayed in. You sometimes read in books about characters who 'enter a place of tangible evil', well this one such place. Freaky is not the word. Both of us wanted to pack our things and flee but our next destination was 4 hours away and it was already very late. So we drank a bottle of wine and tried to sleep through hell. I had the craziest dreams, of death and mutilation, horrendous images. Waking up in the morning we packed and left as soon our limbs would take us.

Driving out of Dunedin the road ahead was lanced by angelic light, almost as if to say 'well done, this is the way out of Darkness'.

2003 - Outside Christchurch

A Might Fine 915

After being our loyal servant for so many weeks, Jo and I were both really sad to hand the car back over.

2003 - Incheon Airport - Korea - Oj

It all finally comes to an end. Check out Jo's ring - Kaikoura

I get the closing line for the new novel (Edge) as we sit contemplating the return journey; "It was morning, and I was watching the sun rise", an important contrast to the opening line of the book where everything is in chaos for the character, now he returns, having survived his ordeal, with crystal clarity about who he is.