A quick trip over to South Island for a week's travelling to our favourite spots before a week with family. After arriving at Christchurch after midnight, we drove over Arthur's Pass in the dark before holding up at Otira for a few hours. We then had a day and a night just north of Punakaiki, staying at the rainforest retreat of Te Nikau (highly recommended). The West Coast road here is without a doubt my all-time favourite coastal road. We then drove back over Arthur's Pass and revisited Lake Tekapo; hardly feels like a year since we got married there in the Church of The Good Shepherd. Next was another favourite, by the lakeside at Lake Hawea, and then a couple of nights in Makarora, where all you can hear is the NZ local bird life. After a week around Gore and Invercargill, we drove back via a night in Dunedin and then back across to Lake Tekapo, this time via Lake Aviemore and the dams around Benmore.