So, following straight on from my last blog the Kaikoura Peninsula walk was surprisingly good. We got to get really close up to some playful seals on the beach, one of which launched itself at an unsuspecting child in a rather amusing way. We then walked right up across the cliff tops, which offered lovely views of the Kaikoura Ranges as well as the rough seas. The scene if you removed the large mountains from the backdrop was almost English, with lush green cow ...

So after a very picturesque drive through the rolling hills of the Marlborough wine region we arrived in Nelson. True to the city's reputation the sun was shining on both our days there, which was the perfect weather for a trip to nearby Abel Tasman National Park. Abel Tasman was a Dutch explorer who sailed to New Zealand around 150 years in advance of Captain Cook. He himself however never set foot on the country after a bad encounter with the Maori people. Some...

Hello from Kaikoura on New Zealand's south island. I'm getting a bit behind with my blogs as this tour is so hectic. I've genuinely barely had a minute to myself lately. To put it in perspective I've been wanting a shave for the last 3 days but haven't even had time for that. We are up at 6-6.30ish every day and by the time I get a moment's rest its 10.30pm and I'm ready to collapse in bed. So I'm taking advantage of some free time in the tiny coastal town o...

The journey south from Paihia to Rotorua was a long day of driving, being about 3 hours back to Auckland, where we stopped for lunch, and a further 3 hours from there to Rotorua. The journey was broken up though by stops at picturesque Wharengi Falls and also the village of Mata Mata, which is near to the film location for the hobbit village in Lord of the Rings. Our accommodation for the night was on an actual Maori Marae in the village of Okere Falls. Each trib...

Hello from Rotorua for a backdated blog on Paihia, Bay of Islands. I am now well in to my new tour, which hasn't been totally what I was expecting. A mere 13 of us were picked up in Auckland for the Bay of Islands leg of the journey and 3 of them were on the last 2 days of their full New Zealand tour, so have now left us. We did however pick up a further 11 people on our way back through Auckland after visiting Paihia, but this still leaves us with much less than...