It's been over a week since we updated so there's quite a lot to write about!  It all started with the 3hour ferry from Wellington to Picton on the south island, thankfully the weather was lovely and the sea very calm.  We didn't see any dolphins but the views of the mountains and 'sounds' (coves) were great. I also enjoyed Mikey squirting himself with ketchup at breakfast because we couldn't work out how to open the sachet. ...

After the white water rafting we had the afternoon off to do as we pleased. As we'd been on the bus every day for the last few days we decided to chill out. The evening was spent in the Lava Bar across the path from our hostel where I learnt loads about baseball (cheers Simon) and drank too much beer. The next day we headed to Taupo, home of the biggest lake in New Zealand and the cheapest skydiving option we are likely to get on our trip. As you can see...

Thanks for all the birthday wishes by email/message board/Facebook! Much appreciated... Monday started with a rather slow and frustrating drive around Auckland picking up passengers for the tour. We called at some hostels twice, had a couple of no-shows and 2 people had been booked on the wrong bus. We also had to change buses at Thames to a bigger one. This wasn't a big deal. Our driver did a big shop ready for a massive BBQ that night. It wou...

We don't have time to do a full update with pictures and I fear that may be the case for our entire stay here! It's going to be a fast and busy month. We've signed up for a bus tour with a company called Stray. Originally we thought we might get a campervan or car and do it ourselves but the Stray salesman managed to sell it to us in 20 minutes so well done him. New Zealand is officially awesome. The scenery is fantastic, they speak English,...

After some initial problems getting our tour of the Salar region in Bolivia booked (people signed up with our first choice company, but never paid) we set off on Tuesday morning with 4 fellow adventurers: Katy (a fellow Warwick hero) and Flee from England, Chloe and Jean-Baptiste from France. Flee is the third person in a row who when I've told them I'm from Sevenoaks, has named one person, and I've known who they are or one of their siblings. This feels rather s...