The intrepid family Cross and the Lanes headed for the coast between Christmas and New Years 2025-2026. Seb's buddy, Lucas, aka 'Unc', joined us as well! We took our MG4 EV to see how that would work. Was great, as it turned out!

Between Karamea and our next stop, Punakaiki, we had a look at the famous Deniston Plateau. Pretty amazing (and chilly!) spot!

Immediately following our arrival in Milford Sound settlement from the Milford Track via water taxi, we went on a Milford Sound cruise that Jos had organised for us all - it's a pretty spectacular place. We ended up sitting next to a German tour group and I had a funny conversation with them. They were loving NZ! After the cruise, we got on a van back to Te Anau along with another family (parents and 4 kids) from Lincoln who'd been on the Milford with us. We drove up out of Milford Sound through the famous Homer Tunnel through the mountain. The weather was pretty wet and cloudy, but the glimpses of mountains and waterfalls were still pretty spectacular - many consider it one of the most beautiful sections of road in the world! After that, we spent a day recovering from the tramp in Te Anau, not doing too much of anything, and then drove home the next day, via the East Coast (to maximise our EV charging opportunities). T'was a great trip! Many thanks to Jos, who organised pretty much all of it! We're very fortunate!

After Dunedin, we went further south along the East Coast to the lovely Caitlins region, where we went to Curio Bay, saw the petrified forest beach, and walked out to Nugget Point light house! We spent a night in lovely Kaka Point, too!

We were lucky enough to be able to book the Milford Track Great Walk for our whanau and our friends the Crosses this year! It was a 4 day 53 km walk in the Fiordland region of the remote Te Waipounamu/South Island West Coast. It started with a bus ride to a boat that took us up one of the arms of Lake Te Anau to the trail head. Then we walkeda short 5 km to Clinton Hut near the north fork of the Clinton River (a pretty stunning trout river, if the substantial fish we saw as we walked along its pristing snow-fed waters were any indication!). The second day was a long, gradual uphill climb to the Mintaro Hut. We were getting to know the other 30 trampers who were sharing the huts with us (the huts hold 40, but 2 folks didn't turn up at the start). It was an interesting cohort! The next morning we hiked up a pretty steep (for us older folks at least!) set of 17 switchbacks in the rain and mist which eventually got us above the tree l ine and to the entirely fogged in McKinnon Pass Shelter. We continued on, hearing 2 (rather terrifying, until we worked out they were across the valley) avalanches above us! At the same time, the fog cleared, giving us stunning views of the tops. It's hard to even grasp the beauty of the place, so overwhelming. Then there was an even longer downhill climb, including a very steep section which was a detour around the original track (with easier-going switchbacks) that had been deemed off limits due to rockfall risk. It was a hard day, but the most picturesque by far, and we were relieved to get to Dumpling hut. I had some great chats with one of the other trampers, there by himself, Lech Hornik, visiting from Bern, Switzerland (though he is German - I had a chance to practice mine!). He was in heaven, a huge fan of the bush in Aotearoa, dreading having to return home to Switzerland. He was really savouring every minute of the tramp. Turns out he is a recently retired heart surgeon (doing lots of heart transplants!)! On the final day, he and I walked