The following morning we packed up our gear and prepared to move on. We were catching the Overlander when it stopped at National Park in the early afternoon and getting off at Hamilton.

We said goodbye to Grant and dragged our luggage to the Station where we had an early lunch while waiting for the train. We eventually took our seats and settled down for the journey. The train had the same crew working that brought us up from Wellington and the buffet car ladies remembered us, so had a little chat..

The good thing about the Overlander is that the ladies do a commentary throughout the journey. They tell you where you are and a bit of local information. They also tell you which side of the train to look out of for...

lettie

We returned to the ski lodge that night to find a note from Grant pinned to our door. It informed us that the Tongariro Crossing walk had been cancelled for the following day, due to bad weather over the mountains.

We got up and had a slightly later than anticipated breakfast and faced the stark realisation that we were stuck in the middle of nowhere with no car. Wondering how to fill our time that day, we went to speak to Grant and get a bit of local info. Grant was helpful, and apologetic about the Tongariro cancellation. He was right to cancel it, we couldn't even see the mountains for clouds, it would have been folly to attempt the Crossing on a day like that.

We came away with a rough map and directions to...

lettie

So there we were, at Wellington Station, getting ready for our train journey. The ladies from the buffet carriage were loading food, cans of drink, napkins etc into the carriage from the back of one of their cars. We took our seats and made ourselves comfy.

I like New Zealand trains, they are mostly older than our rolling stock, in fact, some of the Auckland trains are old British rolling stock. The Overlander was no exception, it had definitely been around the block a time or two but, it was clean and the seats were comfortable. There was a large lounge-type seating area at the back of our carriage and the windows were huge, designed to give panoramic views.

We pulled out of Wellington on time at 7.30am and headed...

lettie

I woke up with a slightly fuzzy head the following morning. We packed the rest of our stuff and put out the rubbish and said goodbye to the Crows' Nest. We drove to the little airport at Nelson, another small but modern domestic airport where we dropped off the hire car. The rest of our travelling in New Zealand would be spent using public transport.

We checked in our baggage and grabbed a coffee while we awaited our flight to Wellington, where we would have just one night. I loved these small friendly airports with just one departure gate. The baggage reclaim area was the best I've ever come across. Passengers would get off the plane, come through the departure gate into the terminal, exit the terminal via the front door and...

lettie

I must apologise in advance for this blog entry, it will be a bit short on pics but for a very good reason.

We woke up on our last full day in Nelson, the morning light streaming throught the window. I was going to miss being woken up naturally and not having to set an alarm. I got up and made us a brew then realised...... It's my birthday, the big '40'.

I opened my cards which I'd taken with me and smiled at the lovely messages from my family 12,000 miles away. I had handwritten cards from my nephew and from the little princess who had put a photograph of her and baby Bob in the card. It made me smile, I realised how much I miss the kids when I'm away.

To be honest, I had nothing special in mind...

lettie