Fortunately, Lake Tekapo to Christchurch is the last Magic Bus journey that I ever have to make in the South Island. Unfortunately, I still have six to go once I get to the North Island. And so, after a lot of rudeness and swearing from the bus driver due to him not having my name on his list (even though I booked two weeks ago), I finally and thankfully, arrived in Christchurch on the day of the big game! I couldn't wait, two months ago I had booked my ticket an...

Dunedin is the principal city of the region Otago as well as being the second largest city in the South Island. It's name comes from Dun Eideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh. The city stands on the hills and valleys surrounding the head of Otago Harbour; the harbour and hills are the remnants of an extinct volcano. As well as being in the Guiness Book of Records for the town with the steepest street in the World, Dunedin is also home to New Zealand's ...

My first visit to Queenstown has had to be short and sweet; I have had to allow enough time to see the places in between here and Christchurch so that I arrive in time for the Rugby Test Match. I will be returning though as I have a skiing trip booked! From Queenstown I took an excursion to Milford Sound. Milford Sound is a fjord within the Fiordland National Park. It runs 15 kilometres inland from the Tasman Sea and is surrounded by sheer rock faces that rise a...

The Franz Josef township is home to the 12km Franz Josef Glacier. It is quite unique in the fact that it descends from the Southern Alps to less than 300 metres above sea level admist the greenery of a temperate rainforest. It is one of three glaciers in the world to come so close to a coastline and I am going to climb it... At first I was debating whether to do the full or half day climb, partly due to my recent lack of exercise (the leaflet said that climbers ...

The next stop for me on the Magic Bus was Nelson. I plan to walk around Abel Tasman National Park - apparantly the views are stunning and well worth the four hour tramp. I completed the four hour walk in three hours and it was really pretty but I can't help resenting the fact that I had been made to pay for this outing when I had seen it all before for free in Australia, in warmer weather conditions, at Noosa National Park. However, looking on the brightside, it...