So...our adventures continued in Queenstown and we managed to pack in an array of fantastic activities. With the arrival of Ian (who arrived on a diddy little plane full of pilot explanations of where he grew up, played, learned to fly etc..bless!), Becky and Stacey, we managed to form ourselves a nice little possy along with Dan and Dave of course which made it all so much more fun. Then it was time for our BOB groupy to depart ways from the Disco Lodge backpack...

Despite all the fun things we got up to in the North Island, we think we prefer the South Island. For a start it is undeniably one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen what with all the mirrored lakes, trees and ever present backdrop of the snow covered Southern Alps. The weather has been crisp, clear blue skies almost everyday too which always helps! Our first stop, driving through the Malborough vinyards was Abel Tasman National Park where we sta...

We got so lucky being able to exchange our discounted Magic Bus tickets (on special offer back in Oz) for our Stray Bus tickets because it turned out that whereas the Magic Bus didn't go anywhere of particular interest, the Stray Bus stopped at all sorts of exciting places including ones (our favorites) in the middle of nowhere. A bus tour wouldn't normally be our choice of transport because it means someone else organising us and our time which, you have probabl...

So....here we are in the Land of the Long White Cloud and already we have done so much in just a week. We weren't ready for sight seeing a city so after landing in Auckland we hired a bright orange people mover car/campervan AKA Major Tom, and headed off exploring the northern peak. The drive was spectacular through rolling green hills and negotiating herds of sheep and cows...very amusingly New Zealand. Our home for 5 days was very comfortable, and even had a dv...