Arriving at our campsite late last night presented us with our host, the most pessimistic German woman I have ever met. After explaining to her that we had booked and paid for a shuttle bus to and from the crossing's start and finishing points she went on to barrage us with rules. We HAD to wear trousers and take 1.5 litres of water each. We HAD to take a water proof jacket and suitable trainers. Mostly common sense stuff but I was wearing shorts regardless of wh...

Skydiving and screaming were on the agenda so we hopped to making breakfast and left our huge campsite sharpish. Chelsea had tentatively booked herself in for a skydive with Taupo Tandem Skydives and was slowly but surely getting more nervous as the minutes slid by. Sitting in the skydive facility, in a neat row on some leather benches, we watched a brief video regarding safety and then of course the different photography packages you can buy to go along with y...

With the luxury of unlimited wifi in our campsite we carefully picked what activities were top of our list in the vastness of opportunities that Taupo presented. Taupo has won the number one spot as 'top tourist town' three years on the bounce as well as holding the trophy for the biggest lake in the Australasia continent. In truth, the mammoth lake is actually the product of an immense caldera (collapsed volcanic crater) and is the same size as Singapore! We s...

Wellington was looking pretty grey when pulled back our little curtains but after a strong cup of Nescafé I felt ready to get into the thick of it. As the wind threatened to blow the few remaining hair follicles that I had left from my head, we decided that an indoor excursion was probably best. With that set as the terms of our day we made our way to Te Papa, Wellington's museum. I have to say it had one of the best museum exhibitions I have ever seen. It was ...

Picton was an idyllic spot which seemed transient thanks to its two huge ferry docks that seemed to have endured since tourism began in NZ. With time to kill before our ferry departed we dived into the local aquarium. The staff there were lovely and full of enthusiasm for their jobs which is always great/unusual to see! With a discounted entry we got to see a wide manner of sea life and reptiles - the star of the show was a penguin with an ear infection called ...