We were on the ferry from Picton to Wellington this morning to make our way up to the North Island, nice and early at 9am, just to sit in a queue for forty minutes. As we sat there another ESCAPE van pulled up next to us, but when Jo innocently put her window down, the girl hastily put hers up. Not so chatty after all! A bloke in a fluorescent jacket came and tapped on the window and simply said 'didymo', to which we both replied 'did he what'? Not a joke apparen...

Our final stop on the South Island was Blenheim, where we arrived at about 7pm, but not before we'd walked the one hour trek that wasn't really a trek up to the Franz Josef Glacier to get a better look at it! We pottered along by ourselves at 8.30am to find that it was much more impressive up close than we'd appreciated when we'd taken quick pictures of it the day before. As we looked up and gauged the size of it, we were in shock to see that three little dots we...

We drove along the Glacier Highway to get to Fox Glacier and our final destination Franz Josef, and very nice it was too! It wasn't very glacial for the first section, in fact it was more reminiscent of a rainforest as we drove through high, lush, green trees, over many many possums, and past a misty coastline. We decided that this must have been the area where they shot some of King Kong, as we often expected the huge Gorilla to storm out onto the roads! Just a...

We made our first Lord of the Rings stop today, it was in the aptly named Arrowtown, although we couldn't find exactly where they shot the scenes as there aren't any signs anywhere! Although we did spot a LOTR sightseeing tour and so proceeded to simply follow them! We think we found the right spot, and even if we didn't it was a nice photo opportunity! Next up was the sight of the Hackett Bungee: neither Jo or I wanted in any way to do the bungee, but it was pre...

After the coldness of Palmerston we drove cross-country to Queenstown. We finally saw the gorgeous scenery of New Zealand, this time it was snow-capped mountains in the distance, as well as the obligatory small town stop for lunch! We stopped in Clyde at a little cafe for Jo's toasted sandwich and my mouth-burning soup, which somehow managed to tongue-tie me for a few scary moments. Once we both realised I couldn't stop mincing my words the panic set it: maybe th...