The south ......... Arrived in Picton off the ferry very nice place not alot going on but we spend the night and leave in the morning. All i do have to say is that it can't half rain in Picton. We take the 1.00pm trans scenic express trian, which can only be described as a cattle train, cows and chickens all over the place not to mention the thousands of sheep! Despite the occasional whiff of s*** coming from the other passangers and thats just Dave, it has to...

Taupo (part 2 ) In the land of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom, Dan and Dave forged in secret a tuna sandwich,to control all others. And into this sandwich they poured, tuna, mayo and cheese slices, and the will to dominate all other tuna sandwiches. One sandwich to rule them all. The Tongariro crossing....... So an early start up at 5 not good when you have one too many beers the night before. We arrive at the foot of the mountain at 7 to start the 17km hi...

Taupo (Part 1) This is only part one due to the lack of internet time remaining!!! Taupo has a massive lake - biggest in the southern hemisphere, it was created by a volcanic eruption - the next one, we were informed, was due 800 years ago so this made us a little apprehensive!!! Anyway.... stayed at the urban retreat lodge which is cheap beer wise so always a winner!! In torrential downpours it was decided that the bikinis should be brought out of the bags f...

Apologies to our avid blog fans for the lack of blogging, we have been busy doing very little and loving it. To finish off our time in the bay of islands, we went dolphin watching and dune boarding. The dolphin watching was scenic but the real fun was had in standing on an open top boat in tretchourous conditions. At times the boat was at almost 180 degrees and the kept asking us to stamp our feet on the deck to ensure we hadn't gone overboard. Staying dry prove...

TO BE SAID IN A GEORDIE ACCENT: "Day 6 - Dan and Dave head north on the naked bus!" So it turns out that the naked bus shouldn't be taken as liturally as it sounds but im in no doubt that the old ladies in the front row enjoyed their journey a whole lot more than they were expecting to!!! After a well worth it 4 hour bus journey, we eventually got to the beautiful bay of islands. Winter sun has never been so good! We are paying 11quid a night to basic...