We arrived at Auckland bus terminal (on 6th October) earlier than expected so we walked down to the ferry port with our luggage and booked ourselves onto the 2pm ferry crossing to Waiheke Island and then went for lunch to waste some time before the scheduled departure. This was our penultimate day in New Zealand before we move on to Australia. During lunch we decided to make a reservation at a hostel (before we boarded the ferry) knowing that we would have somew...

The intercity coach arrived late at Mount Maunganui so not a great start! We had to change coaches 3 times just to get to Whitianga! That said, we did end up arriving earlier than expected. God knows how. It was early evening when we reached our hostel. We were greeted by a very helpful young lady named Sue who took us to our room which was in a lodge shared with 2 ladies from New Zealand and a guy from Spain. We spent the evening walking around the small town ...

We left Napier and were on our way to Mount Maunganui by Magic Bus with a great stop at Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland in Rotorua. We had 1 hour to walk through the geothermal park before boarding the coach again. The park was a very colourful and diverse volcanic area with pools, lakes, craters, steam, vents, and mineral terraces. We also saw bubbling mud pools. It was very unusual and a great experience to watch. We continued onto Mount Maunganui known for it's...

Our whistle stop in Wellington had lasted all of 17 hours and we were onboard an Intercity coach destined for Napier, a 1930s Art Deco coastal town halfway up the east side of New Zealand's north island. Things should have been a little smoother than they actually were. That morning, all seemed to be going to plan when we awoke early to get ready for a connecting bus to our coach however time soon disappeared. We took a brisk walk to the bus stop and just missed...

After our one night stop in Kaikoura it was time to say goodbye to the South Island. It was sad to say goodbye to the South as we enjoyed it very much, especially Queenstown. There had been a wealth of things to do and the scenery was fantastic. We also met plenty of great people along the way. So it was Sunday morning with the usual routine of an early rise, Mark panic packing and a quick room check. At 08:30 we were picked up by the Magic bus to take us to Pic...