Day 61 - Tues 30th Dec - Queenstown 8am bus departure time for the trip to Queenstown. Numerous stops along the way (photo stops, toilet stops, pick up drop off stops, unneccesary spend money stops, bungy stops, sky dive stops etc etc. Rosan and Leticia did the skydive and said it was amazing). We got to Queenstown about 6pm and I got dropped off in the centre. The bus only stops at designated hostels, and as it was New Year I had pre-booked my hostel before I ...

Day 59 - Sun 28th Dec - Bus from Greymouth to Franz Josef As mentioned the Rotorua to Taupo blog, I am getting really fed up with fairly short journeys taking all day because the bus stops at ten thousand places along the way. All of which want your money. Today on our journey from Greymouth to Franz Josef (left at 8am got there at 3pm), we had to stop at the gold mining place first (to pan for strategically placed speckles of gold in plastic bins), 'Pete's out...

Day 58 - Sat 37th Dec - Transalpine Train from Christchurch to Greymouth Back to the early starts again now and life on the road again. This time I was getting the Transalpine train from Christchurch to Greymouth on the west coast. As the name suggests the train travels through the NZ Alps so this was really my first few of big NZ mountains. Arrived in Greymouth late afternoon, checked into the hostel and then went for a quick walk around town. Very quick, ther...

Day 54 - Tues 23rd Dec - Ferry and Train from Wellington to Christchurch Obviously another early start (aren't they always now), departing at 7am this time to head for the InterIslander ferry to the south island. The ferry takes about 3.5 hours and the scenery is quite spectacular for most of the way (when its not just water!). Particularly as you go through the Marlborogh Sounds as you arrive in the South Island. Once we arrived in Picton I had a short wait fo...

Day 51 - Sat 20th Dec - Taupo to Wellington Another early start (8am departure) for a long drive from Taupo to Wellington. One of the main roads was closed due to an accident so we had to go an ever longer route and added about an hour onto the journey. We arrived about 5pm and after checking in I headed out for a brief walk around the city. On the way out of the hostel I bumped in Martin in reception! (Martin was one of the guys on the tour in South America th...