July 29th (Wednesday) - Day 150 - (Lake) TekapoA nice fresh start and we were back on the bus with the mad driver. Our first stop this morning was to climb the world's steepest street. Something like 1 in 2.8. It started really level but soon started to incline. Sarah and I went rushing on ahead and were the 2nd ones to the top, puffing and panting of course. The driver had told us there was a cafe at the top but he lied! The way back down was far easier. The nex...

July 28th (Tuesday) - Day 149 - DunedinJust other morning on the bus. Saw all the awesome scenery. We had a bit of a mad driver. He didn't let anyone wear head phones; instead everyone had to talk. Once we arrived we dumped our bags and headed over to the Cadbury's chocolate factory. A slight sense of "I've done this before" as we did it about a month ago in Aus. Nevertheless this is a new country so we had to try something different! They had a cool di...

July 24th (Friday) - Day 145 - Queenstown I woke up and I have never been so stiff in my life! I can walk miles but not with crampons it seems. All the way up the glacier you had to stamp your feet. It certainly took its toll. Slowly I walked down to the bus. It was a long one today but with lots of stops. Plenty of chance to hurt getting on and off the bus! The first stop was the next town down called Fox Glacier. Basically the exact same town but for another...

July 22nd (Wednesday) - Day 143 - Franz JosefEverybody on the bus was hung over! 45 minute free bar and backpackers do not mix. Sarah was amongst the worst of these! But despite this we had to press on. Luckily for everyone it was a relatively short journey. We only had a few stops along the way. The first was at some green stone store; I had no interest in that and didn't even go in the shop. The second of these in a tiny little gold mining town. We had a tour o...

July 21st (Tuesday) - Day 142 - Greymouth Our bus picked us up and we started to head south. It was going to be another long day on the bus however we had a few cool stops along the way. First we drove up though the Buller Gorge. Such a stunning area. The first stop was Cape Foulwind, named so by Captain Cook after his ship was blown off course. There is a huge seal colony there which if I am honest stank a lot! It was also really windy. Our second stop was at t...