Bus picked me up at 8am this morning and we headed to Hokitika to check ou teh greenstone shop and glass blowing. We then headed to Ross - and old mining town where people coud try their luck at godl panning for $7 - something I decided not to do but had fun watching instead! It took us two hours to get to Franz Josef arriving at Midday. Absolutely beautiful here with snow capped mountains in our 'backyard' but pretty chilly! The hostel here it fantastic. Lovel...

The railway shuttle picked me up at 7:15am for my 8:15am departure on the tranzalpine railway. This trip was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! We made our way over the mountains which were snow capped. I stood outside on the open aired viewing platform for a long time in the hope of seeing snow but eventually gave up when I couldn't feel my face anymore. For those of you who don't know I had actually never seen snow before until Arthur's Pass where we stopped for 5 minutes s...

I was so excited to head out to Cathedral Square today to see the famous Christchurch Cathedral. Was a bit disappointed because they were doing restoration works inside and outside so there were huge cranes and barricading everywhere. Nevertheless it is a beautiful building. Grabbed a guide from the visitor's centre and set out to explore. Walked past the Canterbury Club which is one of the oldest Gentleman's clubs in Christchurch. It even has a working gas lamp ...

Got on the interislander ferry shuttle at 7:15am which bypassed the train station and then dropped us at the ferry terminal. Checked my luggage right through to Christchurch and then got on the ferry. It is HUGE!! Has 10 decks with numerous restaurants, lounges, recliner seats and even two cinemas! Had a cup of coffee just as we were heading out and then found a nice cozy corner with a few vacant seats so I could lie down. WELL!! It was rough to say the least. I ...

Today has been AMAZING!! Have been on the go non-stop. Woke up at 8:30, packed my bag and grabbed breakfast on the way to Te Papa Museum. This is New Zealand's main museum and it is OUSTANDING!! There is so much stuff in there - you could spend hours inside. I tried not to spend longer than two hours there though because I knew that i had so much to see. Grabbed a circular bus timetable which stops at all the main attractions and decided that instead of catching ...