Hot Pools, Filthy Cars and Flat Batteries Hot pools were waiting for us as we left Nelson after one night and headed to Hanmer Springs to stay at the Kakapo Lodge for a couple of nights.This was our last night in hostels before we braved the North Island in our camper van - aptly named Gino (as in Gino Di Campo - inventive, no, a bit of fun, yes!) We decided on a bit of a lie in as we had driven so much over the previous few days and then took a walk up to ...

Race against the sun The thing that has struck me most in New Zealand is the contrast between landscapes and how quickly you travel between them. It seemed a little bizarre yesterday morning to be waking up still thinking of Glacier hiking and opening the curtains to thick rainforest. We took at short stroll down to the beach by the Punakaiki hostel and to see the blowholes and pancake rocks. The sun came out as we started the long drive up to Golden Bay and Abe...

Ice to see you, to see you ice! As the alarm beeped this morning we arose to a slightly cloudy but relatively dry Franz Joseph as today was the day for our full day hike on the glacier. Liz was really quite excited (more than I think she was letting on as she claims she didn't sleep well - I think she thought it was like Christmas!). We checked in for the day at 8.15am at the Franz Joseph site and got fully kitted out with extra socks, over trousers, boots, c...

Walking in Wanaka The last few days have probably been the most spectacular combination of weather and views we've had so far. As we left Queenstown for Wanaka the sun came out and we stopped in Arrowtown, an old gold-mining town, for a quick look around. The colours on the trees were amazing and it set the mood for the next couple of days in Wanaka. The drive was as beautiful as usual and we arrived in Wanaka at lunch time. We quickly picked out a 'short' ...

"Life begins when you reach the edge of your comfort zone!" "I DID IT" - that's what it says on the small blue card handed to me on my unharmed return from the world's biggest bungee swing. No sooner had we walked into the YHA in Queenstown than I had picked up 2 leaflets - the Canyon Swing and the AJ Hackett Nevis Arc.As I was standing there with the 2 leaflets, the lady behind the reception desk explained the difference between them as she...