As soon as we'd seen Alan off we were straight onto organising our next leg. First stop was Akaroa - the penninsular just east of Christchurch - where we plan to swim with the dolphins! The hostel is more of a farm with guests but its great. Our room is in a barn house conversion and we're up the rickety wooden steps in the loft! We share our kitchen with just two others which is excellent! We book straight onto the morning dolphin tour and get up at 7:00am. It...

In the middle of the summer, the last thing you expect to see is snow. But thats precisely what we woke up to the day we left Wanaka. It wasn't on the ground by us but the mountains in the distance had a clear fresh covering caused by the high altitude rain! A very strange but attractive sight.It was a 76km drive to Queenstown from Wanaka but it was a super little drive through the mountains then down a very steep hill to Queenstown. We got to our hostel which wa...

Sam left her extra layer of skin (her cardigan) at the hostel in Oamaru but we rang up to ask if it was possible to retrieve it and the next day it got dropped off at our hostel for us! Great service!! So... we're in Christchurch for the 2nd time. Alans due in at the airport anytime soon but first we take Mickey to the guy who we bought him from and he suggests taking him up a hill and, if he blows, he will let his mechanics take a look for us. While we're chatt...

Leaving Australia we're already groggy at the airport because of the snorer that kept us up half the night but the check-in staff for Air New Zealand add to our misery!! Our packs are already packed and caged and i have to go through it to remove our itinerary because they need to see that we intend to leave the country! I then have to delve even deeper to remove the lighter from the backpack and place it in my hand luggage at their request! Obviously it's ...

We get to our backpackers in Melbourne and settle in to our noisy dorm for just 1 night as the following night we get to enjoy an excellent xmas prezzie from Ryan and Abby by spending the night in a posh hotel which comes with sauna, jacuzzi, swimming pool and gym! This is something us travellers should never have because it makes the hostels feel that much worse!! We left the hostel at 10ish and had to carry our stuff across the city centre (via the free trams!)...