We continued our Kiwi Experience travels down the West coast of the South Island taking in lots of beautiful scenery and some nice, if difficult, walks. The ice breaker for our group was a "Plastic Fantastic" Party, in the sleepy town of Mahinapua. (See pictures!) We also visited Franz Josef glacier and attempted to swim in Lake Wanaka but New Zealand isn't as warm as Oz! There was no time (unfortunately) for any crazy adrenaline junky sports in Queenstown as we ...

Spent a couple of nights in Nelson where they were holding a Christmas parade in the sunshine. I went horse riding on a mustering trail which was great fun. The views were so amazing but we did not find any cattle to muster. That afternoon we walked up to the centre of New Zealand whicfh was pretty tough because it was all up hill. The next day we headed over to Abel Tasman National Park where we took a water taxi up to a beach and then walked back throug...

Started our Kiwi Experience trip by heading up the East Coast of the South Island to Kaikoura. The main attractions are the wild Dusky Dolphins. So Pauline and I donned our wetsuits, fins and snorkels and jumped in with them. The water was so cold!!!!!! But it was such an amazing experience, our guide estimated that there were as many as 400 dolphins in the pod we were swimming with. They were very playful and if you sang to them they would come right up to ...

Yeah another overnight bus journey!!! The last time we will be on a Greyhound bus. We have just about run out of time so we only had 3 days in Melbourne which is not a lot as there is loads to see. Once we checked into our hostel we headed straight for Victoria Market and lots of bargains (check out my new pink jumper in the pictures). The next day we went on a day trip out to the Great Ocean Road, the views of the 12 Apostles (only really 11 now cos one fell ...

After another overnight bus journey on Greyhound we arrived in Sydney somewhat unrefreshed!! First task was to find a pub showing the Celtic game - we ended up in Paddy Maguires with 300 celtic fans and the 'Big Yin' (aka Billy Connolly). After a night of celebrations we took it pretty easy on Sunday, mostly chilling out and getting our bearings round Sydney. We ended up staying in Sydney for nearly a week and stilll did not manage to do all the touristy stuff...