So our final stop in New Zealand - back to Auckland for the third time to catch our flight out to Sydney. Time to have a short reflection about New Zealand and give you an overall picture of it. The people are great, very accomodating and have a good sense of humour. And how proud they are of their country. They love New Zealand - and it's easy to see why. It is beautiful, the scenery is so changeable - mountains, beaches, rainforests, glaciers. Best of al...

So this is our last long stop in New Zealand, Paihia in the beautiful Bay of Islands. It is another seaside resort, however, the weather hasn't really held up for us, but hey, you can't have everything. First thing we did was go on a high speed boat, the Mack Attack. Leah actually pushed infront of small children to get us the best seats - shame on her! Not that I wasn't excitedly trotting at the rear. We couldn't leave New Zealand without o...

A couple of days were spent getting to Mount Manganui - first stop was Napier where we stayed in an old converted prison. Not much to write about, it was not the best and had showers where everyone could see your head and legs. Very uncivilised. We also stopped off to go zorbing. Now this X-treme activity we definitely knew we were not insured for. So of course, we had to do it to find out what the fuss was about. Zorbing is where you jump into a giant infl...

Our brief time in Picton was spent on a wine tour. They were much more generous here than in Chile, however, I think you are expected to buy some of the wine. Nevertheless, as shrewd backpackers, we know you can get it cheaper in Liquor King. There was an option to do the tour on bikes, it is a good job we didn't go for this one as one place was also allowing you to mix your own shots. I'm not sure us, or the bikes would have returned safely! We the...

Well Kaikoura has kind of been a holiday within a holiday. One of the Magic bus drivers whom we made friends with, owns a hostel here so we have stopped one week, mates rates, in this gorgeous seaside resort. Steve, who has been our host has been an guide, a taxi service and even cooked us two roast dinners. Life just doesn't get any better than this!We have spent the week getting up, close and personal with animals of all varieties. First off was the petting...