Had to change planes at Christchurch so it took a while to get to Hamilton from Queenstown, where I got an efficient shuttle bus and arrived at the perfectly located Commercial Hotel at 9pm. Its a strange place, upstairs where the laundry room is it resembles a weirdos convention - I wouldnt have fancied staying up there on my own. Luckily I was meeting Gibbo and we had a good room downstairs anyway. The following morning the Test Match started, New Zealand rack...

After saying goodbye to Mark who I did the Glacier Trek with and a couple of girls on there way to Christchurch I got my Atomic Shuttle bus at 10.30. We stopped at a fly infested cafe for lunch watching the rain come down and after a 6 hour journey with only 3 of us on the bus got to Queenstown. My hostel, Reavers Lodge, was a decent place near town and popular with long staying locals and was fine but the walk from the bus stop up the steepest hill imaginable wi...

Had an early start yesterday for a long bus ride getting to chilly Arthurs Pass for a brief morning stop, then onto Greymouth at lunchtime. Had a couple of hours there before my next bus took 3 hours to get to Franz Joseph. It may seem like thats a long slog but the scenery is so amazing that the journey was a pleasure particularly with my ipod being well used yet again. Arrived at the YHA Hostel which is fine, and headed off for a beer after three dry nights. ...

No probs on the flight from Sydney on 22nd Feb meeting Gibbo as soon as I got our Motel, good place on the outskirts of town. An hour later we were heading out for plenty of beers, food, and games of pool which my headache told me the next morning I had enjoyed a bit too much. Got the bus into town on Saturday to get some clothes as many of mine are falling apart and I need some warmer stuff for my Franz Joseph hike. After that we headed straight for the ODI cri...