Auckland, Christchurch, Invercargill - and Wellingtons

So, being a travel writer isn't all larks, you know. Not when you have to leave the relatively balmy - and certainly clear and sunny - weather in Auckland for the unaccustomed and by-anyone's-reckoning distinctly parky temperatures of Invercargill. Want proof? Look:

I'm going on a cruise. Lest, however, you think that sounds cushy and comfortable and far from requiring any kind of sympathy, just be aware that the first item on the list of things to bring was gumboots. Wellingtons, rubber boots, whatever you know them as, we can all agree that the conditions that require them are not part of your usual classic cruise. No, Real Journeys terms this an expedition, and there will be physical work involved - all with a conservation aim, so that's good. But still, work!

And, though it took me as long to get down here to Invercargill as the lady next to me on the airport shuttle bus in Auckland was going to take to get to Sydney, and though I'm literally at the other end of the country, some things stay the same: look who I bumped into at Christchurch Airport en route (looking somewhat more jaded than they did last week in Quay Street).