Matt Sullivan

I have just spent a most pleasant morning touring the vineyard of largest wine producer in New Zealand: Montana Brancott. They are in the middle of the grape-picking season, so the entire complex is a hive of activity and the heady smells of fermenting grapes, as those wondrous little yeast creatures perform their magic and produce/generate/excrete alcohol. Such is the volume of fermentation that we couldn't even get into the main distillery complex; the carbon dioxide levels are apparently dangerously high.

Another day spent looking at glaciers: this time it was the Fox glacier, which lies a number of kilometres south of Franz-Joseph. While Fox is the smaller of the two, it is far easier to walk to, and it has more character -- if a glacier can be said to have character. Dawdled there for a while, but not too long as the weather is rather variable at the moment, though the south island has not experienced any of the terrible flooding the north island has.

A few words to keep you updated on the state of the podcast. While things have been on hold while I indulge in a few weeks of travel, Regina has been busily re-recording The Voyage and is in the middle of her finishing touches to it. So as soon as I get back home, I'll edit, process, splice and dice -- with luck, the second Worlds Abound poscast will hit the ether the week after next.

Fingers crossed ...

As with anything enjoyable, there is always a dark lining hanging around the silver cloud. In this trip's case, it has been sandflies. Sandflies ... evil. Evil, evil, evil little buggers that they are! Evil, unrelenting and insidious. And I have been their principle victim. Whereas Ian is unscathed and Aidan lightly dined upon, I'm covered in bites and welts. I look like a plague carrier in a pair of shorts, and trying to resist the urge to scratch myself all over is becoming increasingly difficult, not to mention embarrrassing in public.

One of the great things about New Zealand is the wide diversity of landscapes that are dotted about the two islands, with often dipolar environments in relatively close proximity. That's why we were able to drive from the balmy beaches of Abel Tasman to the frosty heights of Franz-Joseph glacier in about seven hours; and that was at a leisurely pace.

With oceans, dolphins, seals, stingrays and kayaks behind us, we now find overselves in rainforests, keas (indigenous parrot), ice and snow. Swimming trunks swapped for winter coats.

The start of the week finds me now in a place called Kaiteriteri: a small seaside town just south of the Abel Tasman national park. It is a tiny place that comprises a small grocery store, a backpacker's hostel and a couple of eateries; that's about it. Oh, and several small kiosks where the water taxi and kayaking companies ply their services. Kaiteriteri's reason for being is to act as a gateway -- both by road and by water -- to the park.

I have never experienced a volcanic region before, and there are many parts of New Zealand that could be described as active. There have been major eruptions here as recent as the mid-ninties, and only a few days ago there was a serious lahar which served to emphasise that mother nature still has some real kick and bite in this modern age.

A slightly mis-quoted Blackadder reference there -- from memory it runs more like: When a man soils a Wellington, he really puts his foot in it, or something like that ...

We finally hit Wellington, and are taking a few days of rest and relaxation before gettiing the ferry to the south island. The past few days have been a hectic blur of sulphur springs, active volcano ranges, deep river valleys and geysers; not to mention the scrambling up rocky gorges and down scree slopes. I'm kept fit on this excursion, no doubt about that.

Another quick update on the whirlwind wind tour of New Zealand. We now have wheels; we rented a car in Auckland and took a hopelessly meandering path along some of the east coast of the north island, ending up in Rotorua. New Zealand is the best place for meandering travel; taking the direct route from point A to point B is often the most featureless, unless you're into straight freeway. Meandering affords a wonderful view of the sights, sounds and lifestyle of this beautiful country, and frequent photo opportunity stops.

A very short note here from cloudy, yet warm, Auckland.

It has been a busy few days: flight to Japan via Heathrow; three days of madly rushing around Tokyo taking in the sights, eating great food and immersing ourselves in Japanese culture; another day of flying to New Zealand via Brisbane, Australia; and then charging around Auckland for most of today. Tomorrow we rent a car and motor southwards. To where, we have no idea, and that's exactly the way it should be.