The bus from Franz Josef to Nelson took from 09.15am to 6pm. But the driver was great and along the way he stopped and we got to see 'pancake rocks' which were fab. I arrived in Nelson after the long bus ride and checked into 'shortbread cottage' - probably the cutest and most homely hostel of my trip so far! A proper little house with just a few beds and a lovely living room...plus homemade shortbread on your pillow! So cute!! Matt's mum and dad (New Zealand Em...

So on Thursday 5th Jan (after a night stop over in Queenstown where I tried the infamous Ferburgers - was okay but I was a little diappointed after al; the hype!!) I got the bus to Franz Josef - home of the large famous glacier!! The bus took 6.5 hours and we stopped at Lake Wanake on the way which was beautiful. I was booked into 'Montrose Backpackers'. Franz is a very small town literally with a few shops and bars...but a pretty wee place. The hostel was okay,...

So I left Queenstown early on Mon 2nd Jan, 7am for the 2.5 hour bus ride to Te Anau where you base yourself to visit the famous Milford Sounds. I had pre booked 'Bob and Maxines' hostel which was a georgeous wooden buidling right out in the countrym with fields of sheep etc around it- felt very like home! Thankfully they did pick up from the bus as it was quite a distance from the centre of Te Anau! The monday afternoon I took one of theor free bikes from the ho...

Queenstown, I just love it!! Arrived safely on 29th December after a long 9 hour bus trip for Christchurch. I had pre booked a hostel due to the new years rush, called 'The Last Resort' - not a great name I must admit, but was alovely wee hostel. Right in the centre of town but still very quiet, just 14 beds, 4 beds per room, they have a dog called Coco and free brekafast, computers, wifi and towels. Perfect!! A great place to stay and nice and cheap too. As I ...

So I arrived in Christchurch after my 6 hours on the bus from Picton. Driving to Christchurch was alovely drive and alsong the Kaikoura coastline I was able to see lots of seals from the bus window, really beautiful sceneic drive. On the bus journey I was sitting beside a lovely wee elderly lady who is from christchurch and lives there so we were chatting for a good few hours. She had been in the garden on Fri 23rd Dec when the quake hit and she said she had to ...