Met our new driver Dillon and some new passengers and left Nelson for the west coast. Our 1st stop was Nelson lakes national park where we had lunch on lake Rotoiti surrounded by beautiful mountains and shared with toe-biting black swans! We carried on through the Buller gorge with more stunning scenery to look at. Apparently one of the best drives in new zealand but a bit scary with very narrow one-way bridges sometimes doubling up as railtracks. We arrived in W...

After the excitement of Taupo it was nice to have some chill out time in River Valley. On the way there we stopped in the Tongariro national park to see more familiar scenery from the Lord of the rings and the 3 massive volcanoes that dominate it. We visited the Tawhai falls where some people jumped off after believing our drivers promise of a 22 degree hot pool at the bottom. It was actually 2 degrees so pretty glad i gave that a miss! We stayed at a family run ...

We left Auckland and headed up to mount eden to see views of the city and being the 3rd largest in the world there was a lot to see! The bus stopped in Thames for lunch before driving through mountainous countryside to a beach town called HaHei where we spent the afternoon down at cathedral cove sunbathing and swimming in the freezing cold sea. We drove onto Mercury bay where we stayed in a hostel with really friendly owners who did us a home cooked meal. Spent t...

We arrived in Auckland to cold and rainy weather instantly reminding us of England! Our hostel offered a girls only floor, the sanctuary, with fluffy white towels, free shampoo and hairdryers which lifted our moods slightly. After taking advantage of the free drinks on the plane and being handed a free glass of champahne voucher on arrival we decided we may as well head to the hostel bar. We tried unsuccesfully to trade free beer tokens with guys in return for a ...