Suffering from wind. Major gales, 75+mph [photo]. Unseasonably strong. Too much for the tent. Pole snapped under strain, tent ripped, several pegs pulled out. Thought we’d been broken into. Had to do overnight Gaffa tape repair. Girls uneasy during night, thought tent might blow away. Had some rain too. Fortunately campsites are great; full facility kitchens [photo], TV room, lounge, free showers and barbecues. Here, even got indoor heated pool (not that we’ve used it!), toy room and playground. Great given weather. Relied on tent for past four nights. No campsite cabins available. The busy season! Plan to phone ahead next destination. 400km South of Christchurch. Drove down after overnight stop at Oamaru, off the mountains and after visiting cloud-covered, wet Mount Cook [photo], highest peak in Australasia. Not possible for us to climb it but walked to nearby Tasman Glacier [photo]. Not the obvious river of ice I’d hoped, but interesting geography lesson all the same. Another natural phenomenon was Moeraki Boulders, large spherical rocks protruding from sandy beach [photo]. Worked out good midway stop for cuppa. Making habit of afternoon tea. Everyday found decent café and cuppa. Been adding slice of cake to bill too. Mmm! Have got out locally too regardless of weather. Cowered from wind and rain in Otago museum [photo]. Kids seemed to enjoy solving worksheet quiz; maintained their interest for several hours. Been on coastal walks; more reminders of Britain, Devon and Cornwall transplanted. Blasted by gale force gusts on walk to Tunnel Beach [photo] [photo]. Headland track exposed to full force of Pacific Ocean winds. Extra hard work walking back up cliff, head-on into gale [photo]. Earlier played on sand dunes [photo]. Tried dune surfing with kids’ bodyboard. Only ended up sliding down sand, board left behind at top. Evening drive on Otago peninsula, intended to lull Ben to sleep, ended in happening upon a night-time penguin watch. Got excited, got too late, saw no penguins. Headed home unfulfilled bar seeing a seal gatecrash the vigil.