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...

Rotorua is mainly famous for lake, its geo-thermal land and it's very distintive stench! (from the sulphur). Day 48 - Wed 17th Dec - Rotorua centre Spent the day walking around the central town area, I went to some sulphur pools that are on the edge of the lake, then along the edge of the lake, then to the park which has lots of sulphur mud pools bubbling away. With a stop for lunch in between all of this this took most of the day. Cooked a meal in the hostel ...

Day 45 - Sun 14th Dec - Auckland After 46 hours of travelling, one lost day and a 15 hour time difference, I finally arrived in Auckland about 7am on Sunday. First of all I had to deal with the NZ customs, they had sniffer dogs patrolling the baggage claim area. Now, I don't know what image your mind conjures up when you think of sniffer dogs, but I bet its not the cutest looking beagle puppy sniffing your bags for, fruit. Yes, seriously they want to make sure y...

Thanks to the International date line, I did not get to experience the 13th of December. I think that technically, that makes me a day younger than I actually am. So I thought this would be good day to hijack for a summary blog entry. I am well aware that most of you are probably only reading this to hear about the "lucky" exploits and incidents that may occur on my trip. So here's a quick summary (in chronological order) of some of the things t...