1st December 2006 I arrived in Oamaru approximately 2.30pm yesterday and I'm staying with my Aunt and Uncle here, Rita and Wally. I plan to have a look at Dunedin whilst here and possibly do a three day trek but I'll see how I feel.

Milford Sound is unbelievably beautiful! It is one of the many 'Sounds' sat on the South West coast but has actually been named in error. The early european explorers named it a 'Sound' as that is what is referred to a valley formed through flowing water, however Milford was carved through a huge glacier during the ice ages and should therefore be called Milford Fiord. It is the most spectacular of all the 'Fiords' on the West Coast with M...

Queenstown is New Zealands 'Adrenalin' capital. It sits on the Southern edge of Lake Wakatipu with a population of just over 9000 and is shadowed by mountains from the Southern Alps. This whole town is here merely to cater for tourists like me to bungy jump, white water rafting down the Shotover River or endless other activities. The main town boasts numerous bars, cafes, shops (its an outdoor enthusiasts mecca!) and you can indulge yourself in any cuisin...

I checked into my hostel and was allocated an 8 person dorm. Little did I know I was sharing it with the Swedish under 21 girls national netball team, reserves and physio! I walked into the room and they were in there semi naked, some of them had just returned from the shower and were chasing each other around the room, the others were having a pillow fight. There was soap and feathers everywhere! They thought my accent was really cute and when they found out I w...

It took me 10 hours by coach to reach my current location from Nelson. Franz Josef is a beautiful village at the base of Franz Josef Glacier on the West coast, which forms part of Mount Cook National Park (home of spectacular snow capped mountains). It is a tiny village with its sole purpose in accommodating the 300,000 tourists it attracts every year. It has a few backpackers hostels, couple of small motels, grocery store, information/booking centres and a coupl...