We arrived in QT at about 6:30 being very tired. We were given the penthouse room in a hostel which was cool. Later on we made our way to one of the best nightspots in town- The World Bar. Here you can order a cocktail in a teapot for $15, which is pretty quirky but very tasty. The weather here is very warm and the sun is out much of the time. There's been so much going on in NZ! 1/12/2004 I went horse riding with Dart Stables in Glenor...

6:00pm We have just got off the bus in the centre of Franz Josef. It is really wet and cold! We saw the YHA and headed in that direction with our huge packs, only to find that there were no vacancies. We found Chateau Franz next door which did have vacancies! This place is absolutely amazing! FJ is a huge glacier and to go travelling around the world and not come here is a crime. So we did the touristy thing and went on a glacier walk with our crampons...

We only spent 1 day in Nelson . and there's not much to do here because its just like any other town. We had lunch in a cafe and met up with two lads we met on the greyhound bus who were going to Vegas with us! I went on a walk with them, while Sarah had a rest! We visited a cathedral in the centre of the town and then went on a very beautiful walk to the centre of New Zealand. The view at the top was amazing! In the evening we all went to the cine...

Napier is the Art Deco city!! Napier was destroyed by an eartquake in 1931 and was rapidly rebuilt in only 2 years. The Art Deco designs were part of the 30's way of life and much of the buildings today reflect this. We stayed with Sarahs Aunt and Uncle who live 5 minutes out of Napier. Arts and crafts are very big here in Napier and it is quite refreshing to see people making things and getting involved with the community! On the first day at S...

Rotorua is full of geo thermal activity and is famous for its geysers (see pic), boiling mud pools and volcanoes. We went to Hells Gate, a place where you can see these geysers in action. There are also mud baths. For a small fee we walked around the natural bubbling mud pools and geysers. They spit out jets of steam and boling water from below the ground to heights of several meters! After this and several photographs later, part of the package was to make use o...