Welcome to WilF and Vera's Travel Blog

In February 2010 WilF and Vera are embarking on their 'Journey of a Lifetime'. We are travelling to New Zealand where we will spend a month travelling throughout both the North and South Islands using nearly every mode of transport possible. We will be travelling extensively by railway but we hope that our transport will include walking, cycling, boats and ferries, coaches, aeroplanes and maybe even the odd hot-air balloon! This will certainly be our own personal 'holiday of a lifetime' and so we are intent on boring our friends and relations by using the latest available technology (well we never did do the 'holiday snaps' very well). So WilF is setting up this online holiday blog, but WilF is not a geek or a gadget man, as you already know!

The full provisional itinerary is here: Itinerary

And in brief it is this:

Auckland • Rotorua • Wellington • Picton • Nelson • Christchurch • Punakaiki • Franz Josef • Queenstown • Milford Sound • Te Anau • Dunedin

Viewed from a train, the lovely, gentle but exciting land of New Zealand yields fresh secrets and visual satisfactions. Our spectacular rail adventure takes you through the glorious mountain ranges and rolling hill-country, past lakes and shorelines, enabling you to enjoy the quiet intimacy of these striking landscapes. You will enter a world of seismic beauty, unique natural wonders, dramatic scenery, refreshing open spaces and pervasive tranquillity. We have combined several rail journeys, each with its own unique experience. The world famous TranzAlpine crossing the Southern Alps, the Kingston Flyer, the lovingly-restored turn-of-the-century steam train, and an exhilarating ride on the Taieri Gorge train will leave you spellbound. Many memorable hours will be spent on board the comfortable Overlander and TranzCoastal trains as this rail odyssey traverses the country at a relaxed pace in harmonious surroundings. This is truly an incredible journey with rewarding scenic views, many of which are unavailable by road.

At the end of our New Zealand tour we go to Hong Kong for a three night stay. We have a half day tour of Hong Kong Island upon arrival and then two days when we can please ourselves either relaxing or taking in more of the sights as we please, by this time we may well be completely worn-out and wanting only to relax, we'll see!

Watch this space ............... WilF

Last updated: 4th February 2010 - The fourth of February each year is designated as World Cancer Day.

Technology. WilF knows virtually nothing about internet technology so he will certainly have a struggle completing his blog each day! The basic system uses a camera and video camera contained within an Android mobile phone. Using a bit of clever technology provided by Photoshop, every time a new photo or video is taken, the file is automatically uploaded to the Photoshop website. WilF is hoping (*fingers and toes crossed*) that it will be easy to transfer the photos from there to the Blog as required. Other than that the text descriptions will be uploaded using a straightforward FTP program (file transfer protocol). Now here is a Wild piece of technology; if you set up Google Latitude on your phone (free software) it allows you to find my location on Google Maps - strictly it finds my phone, as I haven't been able to get the implant yet! Whoops, if you cannot use the Contact button above then please email me at Wilfie01 at gmail.com (anti-spam activated - pay attention at the back there).

Route Map New Zealand. We fly into Auckland at the start of the holiday where we spend our first three days and nights exploring the area (3 shown at Auckland indicates a 3 night stay). After that we follow the basic route shown, solid lines indicate land transport modes (train or coach) and dotted/dashed lines indicate air transport. We are hopeful that there will be ferry access to the South Island.