We are feeling a touch spoilt.  Before we left Sydney one of Geoff’s colleagues and his wife said ‘you are so lucky, always going on holidays to wonderful places.’   Well we each save $100 per week that goes into our holiday account and then enjoy the rewards.   But the words stuck in our head and every day we say ‘We are SO lucky!’

The first couple of days were icy cold but since then we’ve been blessed with mostly good weather.  It was a superbly sunny day visiting Lake Matheson famous for the clear stillness of the water that mirrors the surroundings.  A 1½ hour walk around it stopping at viewpoints to gaze at reflections of majestic snow capped mountains in the still clear waters.  You could easily be in Switzerland or Canada with the same scenery but they still drive on the left here!

I feel like I’m writing for a travel brochure but just have to say how well NZ South Island looks after the tourists.  Walks are well laid out, clean and beautiful.   Attractions are organised and mostly surpass expectations.  Come to the South Island New Zealand, what a stunning part of the world!  Okay, so there have been a couple of dodgy public toilets but now, being spoilt and so lucky, I choose to use our little loo in the van.

Me doing ‘snow’ angels on the pebble beach at Gillespies.  I wanted to take bucket loads home with me to put in my garden, to paint, to make a fountain water feature with.

Gillespie beach is not your traditional island beach with palm trees.  It was windswept and covered in millions of smooth oval shaped pebbles and rocks in every shade of soft cashmere grey, steely iron tones and surprising white.  The driftwood has piled up over years in an array of shapes and convoluted forms to ignite many an artist’s creative outpourings.  I took heaps of photos and had fun with my photo program afterwards changing the colours.   

And travelling in our van has given us the flexibility to stay or move on when the fancy takes us.  We look at the map, make a decision and then stop as many times along the way as we like.  No need to pre-book accommodation, there is always a powered site available at the Caravan Parks.   So besides making up the bed every night, which is a pain in the ass, we love the van travelling!

Looking through a tree trunk on the beach and then adjusted colours.