The drive up the west coast progressively got less interesting the further we went past Franz Josef. Scenery soon turned to flat farmland with historic gold towns springing up. We first stopped in a town called Hokitika, famous for its view of the sunset, New Zealand greenstone and is also known as the 'place of return' by the Maori people as it was the place where European settlers had landed for the second time. The town itself was not very interesting but it ...

The drive to Wanaka was a very tiresome one. Mainly because I'd had no sleep from the night before but also due to the same scenery we were passing for the third time as we drove along the Kawarau river back towards Cromwell. Not to say that there aren't better things to look at... The extra snowfall the region had had brought with it a fresh experience. The weather was relatively nice though and the overcast clouds had warmed the environment up a little which wa...

We camped our next night south of Queenstown in a picturesque spot beside a lake. The wind was chilly which probably caused us to sleep in a little longer than normal but we awoke to a stunning view before hitting the road again. Milford sound is awe-inspiring and getting there is certainly part of the experience. The alpine route is described as one of the finest in the world which makes the relatively long journey even more unforgettable. We had to travel aro...

From Mt Cook we took a drive down to Twizel (best pronounced with a west country accent) and 'freedom camped' at the side of the road. The night was thankfully a lot warmer and even though we had a few horns blown from sad lorry drivers we all caught a relatively good nights kip. The next morning we travelled to a quaint town by the name of Cromwell which was the centre point between Lake Wanaka and Queenstown. Decisions, decisions... The lure of an adrenaline ...

We awoke on the 2nd of August to a very special occasion. It was master Beans birthday! We weren't exactly anywhere picturesque, but still managed to surprise him with a cake and new ACDC t-shirt which went down well though. After having a quick consultation about our route (due to the unexpected changes) we eventually agreed to make our way to Lake Tekapo. We were travelling from the eastern coast towards the west to a place that came well recommended for it'...