It was Thursday 2nd September and we were off to Wellington by Intercity bus. During the trip we passed many spectacular mountains on either side of the road, plenty of sheep, cows and a handful of lakes. The bus stopped off for 30 mins so the passengers could grab some lunch then we continued onwards to the capital, Wellington. We arrived at 5pm and were promptedly greeted by clouds and rain. It felt just like the UK. As locals drive on the same side of the roa...

We set off early (7:40am) by Magic bus on Tuesday 31st August heading South for Taupo. It took 2.5 hours to reach the first stop, Waitomo, known for its famous caves. Waitomo when translated from Maori means water in holes and was discovered over 100 years ago by an European explorer with a local Maori chief. The Waitomo cave houses the famous glowworm grotto. These little insects hang from the ceiling of the cave with lines suspended from their bodies (similar t...

On Friday 27th August we jumped on the early "Magic Bus" - one of the 3 main tour bus companies operating in NZ - at 7:40am outside our hostel. Suzanne and Chris we met the other night from England were also travelling with us to Rotorua. The bus turned out to be a small bus/ minivan which was clean, tidy, spacious (as it was just over half full) and driven by an informative driver. The trade-off was that he didn't have a great sense of direction so he ...

At Auckland airport there are two main options for getting to town; taxi or minivan. We opted for the latter with the driver dropping us at the doors of the hostel after a 20 min journey. We had soon checked in our room; a double with ensuite in the town's YHA hostel which was well located and reasonably priced compared to many other options. That first day can be summarised as a "getting to know the place" with a little reccie of the surrounding area....