Wellington to Taupo On the road again. Today was Wellington to Taupo but with a few stops on the way. Mt Doom stands not far from Taupo and is now a major attraction due to its role in Lord of the Rings. Lake Taupo isn't actually a lake, it's the crater of the 2nd biggest volcano in the world. A few facts about this just so that you can understand its size: - When it last erupted, an ash cloud could be seen all way around the globe. - You could f...

Day in Wellington Even though we had planned two chilled out days to recharge our batteries and scrape back some budget, we decided that we couldn't be in Wellington and not visit Te Papa, the well known museum of the city and the biggest of the country. The two main exhibitions were about New Zealand's natural disasters and New Zealand's part in the world war - The Gallipoli Landing. We acted like big kids for a few hours as the exhibitions were filled w...

We made it up in time to say our goodbyes to the rest of the gang. Will, Tess and Sabrina are carrying on up north whilst we stay an extra few nights in Wellington. And then there we four. Us two, Gilly and Scott. With a dominos next door to the hostel lunch was sorted without having to walk more than 20 metres. We had nothing planned for the rest of the day which was bliss. We have both found ourselves craving a quiet day, although we have enjoyed every m...

With time against we needed to catch the ferry at 2.30pm, so the coastal drive from Kaikoura - Picton was regimented with only short toilet stops. Once on the ferry we were both just hoping it wasn't as rough as the first time. Luckily for us the conditions were much calmer. About ten minutes in the captain announced the to the starboard side he had spotted a whale. So after a few seconds to decide which side to rush to we headed to the right side. Unfortunately ...

The journey from Christchurch - Kaikoura was the last bus journey with Hes and Emma so the sleeping selfie game was in full swing. First stop of the day was to visit a seal colony. It was awesome to see the pups and parents in their natural environment just playfully entertaining us. Then we decided to walk along the coastline back to the hostel. This would take around 2 hours but the weather was so sunny that after the last week of being cold it was a must. We s...