Y Tren TRANS-ALPINE

ABEL TASMAN NATIONAL PARK

"Perdone, donde esta el banco, por favor?" (Excuse me, where is the bank, please?)

"Derecho, a dos quadras, detras de la farmacia." (Straight ahead, two blocks away, next door to the chemist).

We're in the South Island, not South America, but these are the directions we hear as we drive towards the Abel Tasman National Park. Before we left Wellington, we thought it would be a good idea to brush up on our Spanish, and so borrowed an audiobook from the library. Its the only CD we'll have for the next three and a half weeks - so hopefully something will sink in before we leave New Zealand.

Not that we’re in any rush. Despite summer being officially over, the sunny weather has stayed with us - and we’re trying to make the most of it. After two days tramping (or walking as most non-Kiwis call it) around the Malborough Sound, we moved on to the Tasman coast to do some kayaking..

"Remember, you're scooping chocolate ice cream with John Travolta!" That was the highly technical paddling advice from Steve the instructor, as he helped set us out onto the water. I'm still not entirely sure what he meant. But it worked - as we made our way up around the beautiful coastline of the park, we could hear birds sing and watch them swoop for fish - without falling in to join them.

But it was the seals that stole the show. As we sat there in our kayak - just the two of us - a group of four swam around us for well over half an hour. They started off feigning disinterest - but soon they were playing, jumping up in the air and belly-flopping down to make sure we'd get wet. They were close enough to touch - but given their poor reputation for oral hygiene, it was probably safer not to - we'll make do with the photos instead.

Tramp y FRENHINES CHARLOTTE

Roedd pawb yn dweud wrthon ni pa mor bert yw Ynys y De, a dy'n ni ddim wedi'n siomi eto.

Ar ol taith fer ar y fferi o Wellington, ry'ch chi'n cyrraedd Picton; porthladd bach yn nythu yng nghesail y Queen Charlotte Sounds. Mae'r tir fel bysedd hir coediog yn ymestyn mas i'r mor glas glas, ac ar y dwr cysgodol mae pengwins yn arnofio a degau o ddolffiniaid 'bottlenose' yn llamu'n gryf tu ol i'n cwch.

Mae taith gerdded y Frenhines Charlotte gyda'r mwyaf poblogaidd yn Seland Newydd, ac yn para rhyw bump diwrnod. Fe gerddon ni y deuddydd cyntaf - gan ddechrau yn Ship's Cove - man strategol i Capten Cook yn ystod ei ymweliadau cyntaf a Seland Newydd. O fanna, mae'r llwybr yn codi a gostwng rhwng coed ac adar naturiol yr ynys, gyda golygfeydd hyfryd o'r mor ar bob ochr. Daeth sawl aderyn Weka boliog ar draws y llwybr, ac roedd hi'n braf gweld Pukekos oedd heb gael eu gwastatu'n llwyr ar y ffyrdd, fel sy'n amlwg ar ffyrdd y gogledd!

Erbyn diwedd, ro'n ni wedi cerdded 40km i gyd, ac yn teimlo'n eitha balch ohonon ni'n hunain. Ond wedyn, ar ol cwrdd a Nils, ro'n ni'n sylweddoli nad oedd ein camp yn un mor fawr a hynny.

Roedd Nils wedi cerdded bron mor bell a ni, ac ar ran llawer yn fwy serth o'r daith - a fynte ond yn chwech oed! Roedd e'n dal i wenu ar y diwedd hefyd! Mae e a'i fam Ulrika o'r Almaen, ar ddiwedd taith chwe mis o amgylch y byd - ac yn amlwg wedi cael amser gwych.

Pwy ddwedodd bod rhaid teithio'r byd cyn magu plant??

Wave goodbye to WELLINGTON

The Kiwi summer is finally coming to an end, and there's no more Six Nations rugby to watch in the Welsh pub - so its time for us to move on from Wellington and cross the Cook Straits to the South Island. We've really enjoyed living here - even just for five weeks of not feeling like tourists constantly in transit.

In that time we've more than acclimatised to the city's random weather (glorious sun, torrential showers, gale force wind - all in a morning), have found our favourite food store (Moore & Wilson's), a manageable run (Evans' Bay and back) and have even started dropping Kiwi slang like "aye?", "bro", and "sweeeet as.." into the conversation.

But what's made Wellington really special is having friends and family here. We're grateful to them all for making us feel at home (especially James and Amy who probably never reckoned they'd have us camped out in their house for a week...) - and will try our best to stay in touch cuz, aye? Sweet as...

WOMAD y fideo

TARANAKI & WOMAD

Ar ol aros cyhyd mewn un dinas, roedd hi'n deimlad braf bod ar y ffordd unwaith eto. Mae Taranaki rhyw bump awr i'r gogledd o Wellington ar hyd yr arfordir. Ry'ch chi'n gwybod pryd ry'ch chi'n dod yn agos, achos gallwch chi weld y pigyn anferth 'ma yn codi i'r awyr filltiroedd bant.

Ac wrth droed llosgfynydd mwya bywiog Seland Newydd roedd gwyl Womad, gwyl World of Music and Dance. Ac mae'n neud beth mae'n ddweud ar y tin...

Cambodia, Nigeria, Occitane, Cheina, Seland Newydd, Yr Aifft... Roedd alawon o offerynnau o wledydd ar draws y byd yn llenwi pob cornel o'r maes. O'r diwedd - gethon ni brofi 'hangi' - pryd Maori sy'n cael ei rostio o dan domen bridd. Roedd e'n flasus iawn - rywfaint fel cinio dydd Sul, ond gyda llysiau anarferol. Wedyn, gethon ni hyd yn oed weld dynion Bedouin yn rhostio a pharatoi coffi o flaen ein llygaid - maen nhw'n ychwanegu cardamom ato fe... Rhywbeth doedd wannabe-barista fel fi ddim wedi'i weld o'r blaen...

**************There may not have been anyone from Wales performing at the Womad Festival, but we still managed to find our way into the VIP section - thanks to the Horner family. Jennifer Horner's great grandfather, William Williams, emigrated from Wales in the 1840s. Her daughter, Bridget, is a friend of ours, and even though we'd never met Jennifer or her husband, Ken, before, they welcomed us to Taranaki on the Saturday, and into their beautiful home with a feast on Sunday. They even sent us back to Wellington with a bag full of passionfruit, apples, lemons and garlic from their award winning garden - as well as a lovely bottle of Shiraz.

They have promised to visit us in Cardiff in future, while they research their Welsh ancestry. Maybe we can help them, by finding out where Meuryn and Groes Fawr are, or were... possibly villages near Cardiff..? Answers on a postcard please! Or on the blog... would probably be easier... Diolch!

WELLY: Same same but very different

Taking a year away was meant to be all about breaking away from routine and doing something new every day. And we have - we've managed to build a brand new routine here in Wellington instead. For Gwenfair this means getting up early four days a week to walk to work at a cafe on the harbourside. On the way she braves whatever weather the water front can throw at her - as her photos from this week show...

For me, daytime currently consists of some or all of the following - watching the cookery slot on morning TV, going to the gym, going to the museum to pick up a free newspaper, making Thai food and going to the library to borrow CDs and read BBC News Online. I've pretty much given up on the job hunt, seeming as my application to the Wellington Cable Car Company still hasn't merited a reply.

Each evening has something different to offer: Monday there's good TV, Tuesday cheap tickets at the cinema, Wednesday we meet friends for dinner, Thursday a chance for some drinks as there's no work in the morning. And then weekends are a chance to go away.

But before things get too comfortable we've decided to move on from "Welly," and so next week will be our last in the Southern Hemisphere's windiest city. If by any chance the Cable Car Co. see the error of their ways, I'll just have to let them down gently...

Mwydro Maori

Pan aethon ni i'r Marae yn Gisborne rhyw fis yn ol, fe amneidiodd hen ddyn gwengar arnon ni i ddod mewn, cyn i'w lifft gyrraedd a diflannodd e drwy'r drws. Yn ei le daeth boi ifanc i'n croesawi ac egluro wrthon ni beth oedd y safle yn ei olygu iddo fe, "This place is sacred for us. This is where we grow up, this is where we marry, and where we come when we die." Rhaid parchu'r Marae, ychwanegodd, a dangos hynny drwy beidio bwyta na gwisgo sgidie yn yr adeilad.

Ry'ch chi'n cerdded dan borth cerfiedig i gyrraedd drws y Marae, a thu fewn mae'r adeilad wedi'i orchuddio a phaneli a phren cerfiedig eto, wedi'u haddurno ag ambell i gragen paua disglair fan hyn a fan draw. Fel arfer, dy'ch chi ddim fod i fynd i Marae onibai eich bod chi'n cael gwahoddiad, felly ry'n ni'n teimlo'n freintiedig i ni gael croeso yn y Marae yn Gisborne.

Ar yr East Cape, fe welon ni Tungi; angladd Maori. Roedd torf o bobl yn eu du tu fas y Marae ger Te Kaha un noson... Ac ro'n nhw dal yno y bore wedyn. Gall Tungi bara tridiau, mae'n debyg. Ond nid capel yw Marae fel y cyfryw, mae capeli arwahan, ond math o ganolfan gymunedol arbennig; lloches i'r Maori lleol a rhai o bell; lle mae'r henaduriaid yn trafod materion lleol a gwneud eu penderfyniadau; lle i gymdeithasu, dathlu a galaru.

Ry'n ni wedi dysgu mwy am draddodiadau a diwylliant Maori ar ddiwrnodau gwlyb yma yn Amgueddfa Te Papa yn Wellington. A chan fod Te Papa a chelfwaith y Maori yn llawer mwy difyr na hanesion am goffi Flat Whites a Paninis, ro'n i'n meddwl falle bydde'r lluniau yma yn fwy diddorol...

**** It's been a quiet week in Wellington while I endeavoured to master the art of coffee making, tried Pilates for the first time, watched Milk at the cinema, and enjoyed my house husband's Vietnamese suppers... So instead of boring you with our 9-5 existence this week, we thought you might prefer to see these pictures of Maori carvings from when we visited the East Cape........****

WELLINGTON: Dydd Gwyl Dewi

Gan fod Gwenfair yn y gwaith, fi sydd a'r cyfrifoldeb o ddweud hanes. Wrth gwrs dechreuodd y penwythnos ar nodyn gwael, wrth i ni wylio Cymru'n colli i'r Ffrancod - a hynny amser brecwast ar fore dydd Sadwrn. Daeth glaw trwm i ychwanegu at ein diflastod - dim ots, mae dal i fod gobaith o ennill y pencampwriaeth...

Ta beth, ar fore Sul aethon ni i wasanaeth arbennig wedi ei threfnu gan Gymdeithas Gymreig Wellington - cyfle i ganu bach o 'Gwm Rhondda' ac 'Aberystwyth', a blasu pice ar y maen am y tro cyntaf ers achau. Ond, a phob parch i drigolion y ddinas hyfryd yma, do'n nhw ddim cweit yn iawn... Felly, cafodd Gwenfair dro ar wneud rhai, ac on nhw'n llwyddianus iawn - gyda hyd yn oed y Kiwi a'r Ozzie sy'n rhannu ein fflat ni yn fodlon eu blasu.

Ond nid dyna oedd diwedd y dathlu. Y 'Dragon Bar' yw gwir ganolfan cymdeithas Cymry Wellington - lle sydd wedi magu traddodiadau "Cymreig" ei hun dros y blynyddoedd. Roedd Mike y landlord yn gweini "mini-fagots" a rhyw fath o Welsh rarebit, ac yn benderfynol bod rhaid i Gardi fel fi fanteisio ar y cyfle o gael mwy o fwyd am ddim, a chymryd rhan yn y cystadleaeth byta cennin amrwd.

Doedd e ddim yn hawdd, nac yn flasus - ond, dwi'n falch iawn i ddweud wrthoch chi mod i wedi curo pedwar-ar-ddeg- o fois eraill i ennill! Y wobr - potel o Brains SA yr holl ffordd o Gymru. Felly, o leiaf daeth buddugoliaeth i Gymru erbyn diwedd y penwthnos - er sai'n credu byddwn ni'n parhau a'r traddodiad Gwyl Ddewi arbennig yma pan ddewn ni nol i Gymru...

**A BRIEF TRANSLATION: We may have lost the rugby, but I've been crowned 2009 Leek Eating Champion in what claims to be the only Welsh pub in the entire Southern Hemisphere. Thought you'd like to know...