They say travelling is all about new experiences; well, today I tried codeine, which is apparently a very strong painkiller. This was for my toe, which was even worse this morning than last night. I basically limped all the way back to Rainbow Reach (the quick exit). We then hitched with a Czech couple who were obviously very glad to see us given how quickly they opened the windows when we got in, and walked a short but painful distance back to the car. Pasta an...

Well now, that's a bit annoying. I'm in Te Anau, gateway to New Zealand's beautiful fiordlands, and I've booked onto the Kepler track for the next three days. Exciting stuff, but I've just been to the DOC centre here and discovered that there is a place suddenly available on the Milford Track starting in two days time! The Milford Track, for those who don't know, is arguably one of the best multi-day walks in the world. I had given up hope on doing it because it ...