South Island NZ

Laptop seems to have sorted itself and I have updated the blog to the day we flew to New Zealand but you wil have to be patient as there is no way of loading it up for now. Coming soon !

In the meantime we have returned the campervan to its rightful owner undamaged and made it across to the South Island by train and boat. We are Hugh's house in Christchurch and having a breather for a day before heading on a 10-day tour of the north of the South Island, or is it the south of the North Island? Peter is getting very confused about where we are and what day it is - 'No change there, then' we hear you think.

Hugh has Sky news and we have been trying to catch up, especialy with news from Victoria. Although the fires were in the north and east of Melbourne which is where we stayed, until now none of the townships mentioned were familiar. The nearest was Hearnsville where we went to the animal sanctuary and this was mentioned as a place where people were being put up after they fled their homes. However last night, despite the temporary respite, fears were raised of the forecast new winds creating a 'super fire' where two existing outbreaks joined up. Warburton, which you may recall is where Sarah lives, was shown as beng slap between the two of them. Margot will be trying to email her but I trust she has the sense to get out in good time as the casualties seem to be worst when people leave it to the last minute. Not that you can't understand peoples reluctance to just walk away from their homes and possessions.

Here, you will be pleased to know, is more like an English summer with low cloud, rain and us wearing sweaters for the first time for two months. So I will spend the day indoors trying to get the blog up to date. Keep checking.

PS Kate - thanks for your comments, all comments welcome. We do love to hear how our esteemed readers are getting on.