I sit here with my NZ glass of white wine in an ensuite room (I much prefer this to sharing a bathroom with a gang of people) chilling out after 2 nights in Wellington, 1 night in Napier, 1 night in Taupo and now in Rotorua. I have been a little anxious lately. This driving and these one-night stops wear thin on me in short order. In the North Island, we are finding it more difficult to locate the small and remote hostels that we love while covering the territory...

An old colleague of mine, Jack, who I hadn't seen in 13 years invited us over for 'smoko' or morning tea, so on our way to the Marlborough Sounds we located the sustainable village he has been a part of creating, climbed the steep hill to his home and enjoyed he and his wife's hospitality, conversation and their amazing home and view over hills, mountains and out to the sea. It was good to connect after all this time! I think we have located each and every one o...

Everywhere we go we see places that one of the Lord of the Rings movies was filmed in...we exclaim, appreciate and dream of seeing little hobbits or riding horses or something magical. Last night (tonight back home in Canada), the premiere red carpet event of the opening of the Hobbit happened in Wellington - just across the strait from where we are. We could feel the buzz. We will be in Wellington on Saturday and hopefully get to see some of the leftover effect....

As those of you who know me, I am a bit of a clothes-horse. I love variety in style and colour in what I wear and condensing my clothing apparel to one backpack and the limited choices for 9 months is a challenge for me. On top of that, encountering cold weather for weeks on end meant wearing the same thing over and over, perhaps changing up which layer came first! Well, we have finally hit some warm weather and I feel a release – being able to vary my clot...

I can feel the wind blowing through my hair – all ¾ of an inch of it - as the skies clear up and we hit the rugged west coast of the South Island. We are scooting up the coast, staying one night at each location until we get to the point at which we head slightly inland and north. It is exhilarating, freeing, joyful! We have had a run of glorious sunshine and cool breezes and all we do is drive, locate a walk or two to view various landscapes and stunn...