For most going on the kiwi experience's Deep South trip, the day has a leisurely start with the bus only leaving Queenstown at 11am. Unfortunately this was not the case for us: we were up from 6.30 am to wave goodbye to fellow travellers and those who would be leaving while we were away. The bus, although linked with kiwi, is run by a separate company in a small minibus, very different from the bright green coaches we've become used to. To our surprise we actually knew about three quarters of the bus when we got on board bound towards our first destination: Dunedin.

The deep south trip in its minimum only takes 2 nights, and is much more for most people about what you see on the way than where you stop. However, having more time than most, we decided to stay three nights in Dunedin rather than one. Our first night was spent engaging in a kiwi pastime: rugby. Our tickets for only $15 put us in the charmingly named "zoo ", which means not only are you at the end of the pitch, you are also thrown in with the university students. Our driver Don may have had 50+ years on most of them, but gave them all a run for their money when it came to enthusiasm, stomping his feet and hurling insults at the opposing team. It was the home team "The Highlanders" vs. the wellington team "The Huricanes", though unfortunately it was a rather dull match until the last two minutes and inevitably the team we were supporting lost.

Dunedin is known for 2 things: its Scottish heritage and students. Though in reality there are two more things that should be added to that list: beer and chocolate. Our first day was spent on the two famous tours, the first being Cadbury world. Having never been in England we felt we owed it to ourselves and stood right infront of the doors (more excited than the kids around us) ready to have our very own willy wonka experience.While being shown round by a very keen adult in purple dungarees, we found we didn't recognise any of the chocolate adorning the walls or in the free goodie bag they handed us. Unfortunately for the vegetarian half of our duo, the Dunedin factory specialises in marshmallow, meaning Martha could have all of two things we were given. Sof in comparison (and with a much sweeter tooth) was in heaven, especially after having been given her absolute favourite "the cream egg". A desire to test out the local cuisine resulted in us buying several more items in the gift shop to taste the difference.

In the afternoon, much to Sofia's disgust, Martha had a sudden bite of the jogging bug, running down through the university and looping back through the botanical gardens. It turns out to be a very good, if very tiring, way of seeing the sights. In the evening we continued with our tours, going to the last tour of the the day at the Speights brewery. As our small group of six was shown round, our guide shut off the lights behind us creating a rather spooky atmosphere. Oddly enough if it hadn't been for the Canterbury earthquakes the brewery would've been shut by now - rather than putting money into a fellow brewery in Christchurch, the Dunedin branch was given a full revamp leading to a very modern if sanitised environment. At the end we were given the opportunity to test the brews and chat to our guide and fellow tourers. Finding we got on well, we headed out into Dunedin night life together.

The next day we found ourselves in the Otago museum. While wandering we almost walked straight into Sofian, a guy who went to our school and is currently at uni in Dunedin and working at the museum. He showed us round his favourite exhibitions and then kindly gave us free entry to the butterfly room. As soon as you enter you're surrounded in a cloud of butterflies of all different colours and we spent a happy half hour wandering along the walkways, butterflies landing on us intermittently. In the early evening we took part in the very Scottish tradition of the fringe, attending a free one woman show in a small art gallery that was well worth the $15 we donated between us.

The next day we joined another minibus heading down the coast and spent the day exploring the Caitlins. We stopped at a beach where what looked like body bags or rocks, turned out to be sea lions. We also stopped at Curio bay, home to some of the world's rarest dolphins and penguins. Unfortunately we saw none of the former and all we saw of the latter were two white spots in the far distance. As we were another small group, we could stop off all along the coast at waterfalls and forests. Our night was spent in Invercargill which was remnant of a ghost town and even the Irish pub was shut by 9pm.

It was a 6am start the next day for our 12 hour trip to one of the new wonders of the world: Milford Sound. Having seen all our friends' stunning photos plastered over Facebook, we had high expectations. Despite being the top tourist destination in NZ, Milford only has a small winding road through the soaring mountains which sometimes dives through long tunnels under the rock. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side and as we arrived into the port to board it closed in entirely. The 3 hour boat ride was spent mostly indoors or peering out of misted windows in an attempt to see the fabled sights. Some photos manage to capture its aparent beauty in the mist, but overall the day was a bit of a disappointment. As we headed back towards Queenstown that evening we added Milford Sound to the rapidly growing list of things to do on our next trip to New Zealand.