My next compulsory stop was in Greymouth and to be honest there is nothing to report from there. The town was closed as we got there late and I had a relaxing night of lazying in a bath and reading my book. Bliss. However, the route to Greymouth was stunning. After the hike of the day before I was looking forward to relaxing on the bus. Our driver had different ideas. He stopped and announce that we were to get off, walk for an hour along Cape Foulwind and he wou...

Our next stop was Nelson and a visit to the Abel Tasman park.The problem I have found with writing about New Zealand is that there are just not enough descriptive words for this place and it is hard to convey how amazing but different each one is. If I describe mountains and coast I could be describing Marlborough Sounds or Abel Tasman or further on, but each is very very different. It is hard to do it justice. So Abel Tasman, as described by the Lonely P; "the p...

Our next stop was Picton, near to Blenheim and the ferry crossing point to the North Island. It was also the opening to the Marlborough Sound and my main reason for going there. The Marlborough Sounds encompass 20% of New Zealand's total coastline. This intricate maze of waterways consists of three Sounds, namely the Queen Charlotte Sound, the Kenepuru Sound and the Pelorus Sound. Within the area is pristine native forest ranging from towering 800 yr old Rimu tre...

Next stop Marlborough wine country and Blenheim. The fourth word may give you a clue as to what the focus of this stop was! I thought when we got there that I would be the only one staying as this was not a compulsory stop. However, Simon who I enjoyed Kaikoura with, and a lovely girl called Chantel also departed. Together we booked on an afternoon wine tour of the region. We were joined by two other people who had been doing a full day tour. Marlborough wine co...

Leaving Christchurch and travelling up to Kaikoura, some parts of the countryside were ablaze with yellow plants giving it a golden shine but then close to Kaikoura it was like returning home. I was literally back in Yorkshire countryside with the coast thrown in for good measure. I had chosen to travel around New Zealand on the Magic bus, assuming that it would be like the Greyhound in Australia and America. You know the saying about assuming... well it ...