3rd December - Wellington to Nelson
Took the ferry from Wellington to Picton, the organisation of everything was superb and Charlie didn't even suffer her sea sickness which was a result on a 3 hour journey! Waiting for us was our South Island driver, Eric, who took an instant like to us as he saw Sarah's surname and had to take the 'michael'! Stupidly enough, she let him know her nickname at school had been Whiplash.. let the bombardment of jokes commence throughout our trip with him! Arrived in Nelson, a quieter place but still very nice.

4th Dec - Nelson to Greymouth
Drove through fantastic scenery as we travelled down the West Coast. Stopped at Punakai where we saw the Pancake Rocks. This was the start of our trigger happy photo taking as everytime we turned around, there was another impressive photo to take! The Pancake Rocks were an awsome sight, large rock formations coming from the sea but no-one is able to explain why they are formed in layers (you'll see this on the pics!). Amazingly, the Rocks were a 'free' sight and no charge at all. Also saw some seals in their colony. In the evening went to Monteiths Brewery for a tour and free tasting! We tasted 6 different types of ales and got the chance to pull our own pint! By the end of the evening we became connesieurs. After this we went to a BBQ where we drank more beer which we felt we HAD to do to build up our courage for the night ahead.... we were staying in the 'Tiger' room at the Noahs Ark Hostel. A 'themed' hostel where each room had an animal to represent. Apparently, the place used to be an old Nunnery and is now haunted by a friendly ghost. p.s. the Tiger did attack Charlie during the night but she managed to fight him off aka Tarzan style!

5th December - Greymouth to Franz Josef
Shorter travel day today, arrived at Franz Josef around 1pm and booked a HeliHike to take us up to the Glacier. (10 min helicopter followed by 2 hour hike). Unfortunately due to the cloudy weather, we were told it had been cancelled :(( very disappointed we were but we recovered by going to the Blue Ice Bar to have dinner with our newly found friends from the Magic bus!

6th December - Queenstown
More spectacular scenery today as we headed towards Queenstown. Stopped off at a beautiful reflection lake (Mirrow Lake) where the water was so clear it took our breath away and it mirrored the scenery surrounding. We also saw spectacular waterfalls on the journey. Arrived in Queenstown early eve, this place was really vibrant and had a good feel to the place. We stayed by the lake which was 10min walk from the centre. We could of easily have spent alot more time here as the place is full of fun people and lots of activities, which we wanted to try i.e. bungy, canyoning, paragliding but we just ran out of time! We did see some bungy jumpers taking the plunge and the instructor was trying to persuade Sarah to have a go but as soon as she explained she got a bit nervy going on escalators, he backed off and knew that she was a lost cause as an adreneline junkie!

7th December - Milford Sound
WOW, WOW ALL WE CAN SAY IS WOW!!!
What a day we had today!!! Alot of people from the bus would of have a day of rest seeing as we have been up and about by 8am everyday sightseeing but OH NO, not us!! We booked ourselves onto a 12 hour coach trip to Milford Sound!! Clever planning huh! Driving towards Milford Sound was absolutely incredible and breathtaking. We don't want to sound like broken records but it really was spectacular. We needed to put restraints onto our fingers to stop us taking 300 pictures before we even got to Milford! Seriously, it was unbelieveable and we would recommend anyone going to NZ - you MUST DO THIS TRIP! Got to Milford around 1pm and got on the Ferry. Sailed around the 'Hollywood' set as it's known as this area has been used in films like Jurrasic Park, Lord of the Rings.. The ferry lasted 1.5 hours and took us through. Again, amazing scenes which can only be justified if you saw this place yourself or on our pics! We have the opportunity to get off the bus for a little while and have a 1/2 hour helicopter ride which landed on a glacier just outside of Milford Sound. We decided to do this as we felt cheated a few days ago when the HeliHike was cancelled at Franz. Seeing Milford Sound by ferry was breathtaking enough but from the air was fabulous. In a style of Air Wolf, we came face to face with snow topped mountains and landed on the glacier for 10 mins. Of all the days Sarah did wear sandals, this was one of them!! We got off the helicopter and landed in knee high snow - we felt like we were 'on top of the world'!! that is until frost bite set in on Sarah's big toe! This was the first time Charlie had ever been in a helicopter and well worth every penny. We came back to the Magic bus to a round of applause as everyone knew how excited we would be!

8th December - Queenstown to Dunedin
Arrived at Dunedin early afternoon feeling a little bit 'bussed out' after yesterday. We stayed at the Dunedin YHA which used to be a hospital and was apparently haunted by 3 ghosts! 1 was seen recently in Room 33 and thank the lord, we were in Room 35. phew. Comfortable and cosy enough rooms and be warned that the TV room was located in the old morge (Charlie visited for approx 4 mins but that was enough!), and we certainly weren't drinking tonight as we didn't want to get up in the middle of the night to hunt out the bathroom with the ghost of No. 33 coming to meet us!

9th december - Dunedin to Lake Tekapo
Stopped at Baldwin Street (Dunedin), the steepest street in the world - Charlie started the long trek to the top (my calves have just about recovered!), and believe you me, it IS the steepest street in the world! We wouldn't want to do a 3 point turn on that one!
Saw some old boulders (on the beach, not on Baldwin Street!) that have been there for 3 million years. On the journey into Tekapo, we drove past more beautiful scenes and stopped to see a sight even Eric (coach driver!) had never seen before. The reflection from the mountains onto the sapphire blue lake was (yes this word again) amazing!! It was such a lovely day that we decided to do a BBQ at the Hostel with all our mates and Eric. Armed with instructions at the supermarket, we all did our Dale Winton style supermarket sweep! We were responsible for Sausages and bread! Had the BBQ, it was a great night, the feast was never ending and Branco supplied the much needed red wine! We stayed at the Lake Tekapo Lake Front hostel which we highly recommend to any travellers. It was a nice way to finish our Magic experience.

10th December - Lake Tekapo to Christchurch
Driving through scenery which looked alot like home as it is no longer mountainous views which we were getting used to, and all very flat. Arrived in Christchurch early afternoon and are now staying at the YHA Central.

We have had a great time with Magic and would say to anyone who is thinking about travelling either alone or in a group to book with them! We made some great friends and everyone was adorable. Eric the driver was very fun loving and made the long coach journeys enjoyable as he always stopped at places where he knew a good pic could be taken. His knowledge of the area is second to none. The best thing about Eric is that he would let Sarah play her IPod on the bus, which was fine but we did cringe when Super Furry Animals came on! The song called Man doesn't give a fword didn't go down to well with him!