- All at Beck Head and Witherslack (Carole, Nigel and Peter) who have watched over the house and cars in floods and deep snow
- Ron and Sheila, Lee, Niki and Paul, Lin and Rob, for accommodation around the world - much appreciated.
- People we met along the way - 2 Kendalian couples, 2 couples from Perth on the QCT track, all at Wanaka Tennis Club
- People who have given us lifts to and from airports - UK, NZ and Oz
- People who have emailed us and updated us on snow conditions around the world
- People who have commented or admitted to reading this blog
- Sheila for our Christmas cake and loan of coolbox/chilly bin
- Ron and Sheila, with friends Keith and Barbara, for a memorable New Year on Stewart Island - we learned a lot about Ron we never knew before!
- Lee for the surprise meal with our friends John and Barbara (ex-Beck Head)
- Niki and Paul for the loan of their wonderful beach house
- All the hundreds of helpful, happy and downright welcoming New Zealanders - staff at hostels, cafes, bars, info centres and shops. Except the sourpuss at the Bay House cafe, Westport - I shall get my revenge on Tripadvisor all in good time.
- All the guides, drivers and boatmen on our many trips - especially the 5 minute water taxi at Manapouri - see below
- Japanese in masks in the purest air on earth
- Asians taking photos of themselves everywhere
- Japanese couple using accelerator instead of brake near a cliff top
- People in flip flops (jandals in NZ speak) on tough hiking trails
- People in furry Ugg boots in the hot sun at the hot pools
- Hitchhikers expecting a nice room on Christmas Eve in Milford Sound
- People in summer gear in mountain weather
- The guys who opened their bag of groceries to make risotto for 5, only to find it was someone elses from the previous hostel
- 2 Israelis expecting to walk the Routeburn track (3 days tramp) in 1 day in extreme weather - and get back to Queenstown (4 hrs drive) - all in a day
- Us in our walking shoes, hiking shorts and borrowed rackets at Wanaka Open Vets Tennis Tournament
- Graham putting salt in his tea instead of sugar - (I know, very childish)
- Not a laugh, but amazement - the English couple (twitchers)in their mid 60's who have just spent 5 months touring the entire South Coast of Australia in a Micra size car - sleeping in the front seats and only using campsites when one of them in hospital for 5 days! And you all thought we were doing it on the cheap and basics - we lived in sheer luxury in comparison!
- The sign at the ice cream parlour "UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN WILL BE SOLD TO THE CIRCUS"
- Put up with interruptions to his footie results on the internet, whilst I pestered to get my blog done
- put up with sore backs, colds, endless photo reviews etc
- driven me around everywhere, whilst I often drove him around the bend
- done the washing up and occasionally acted as commis chef
- been dragged around craft markets, shops, galleries and other boring places
- picked up all the things I have left behind
- organised all the accommodation (most of which was fine!)
- always had a Plan B or Plan C (sometimes getting down to Plan J or K) due to weather, closing times, weather and weather.
and just being a great travelling companion again.
END OF TRIP - END OF BLOG
THANK YOU ALL FOR WATCHING