With financial reality biting hard, Rachel struck out on her own by paying over $100 dollars to attack the face of Franz Josef Glacier with crampons and ice climbing gear. I settled on a tramp around the mountainside to the best vantage point i could find without paying for the privilege. Armed with my sophisticated ration pack (a bag of cookies, a litre of fruit juice and a can of insect repellent) and my ill fitting Adidas Sambas i set out on my solitary ascent...

Like New Zealand itself, much of the latest leg of our journey has been shaped and formed by water. Since we arrived back on the south island we've clung to the coast from Christchurch to the Catlins before heading inland to Queenstown and a chance to renew acquaintances with old friends... Christchurch is a beautiful city with a really relaxed atmosphere. On a glorious summer day i meandered around the beautiful botanic gardens, minced around the awesome art ga...

Another day, another blog entry. Apologies if any of you are becoming fatigued by my regular updates (of course, you don't have to read them: i write them as much for myself as for you). There is just so much to write about our experiences in New Zealand - the words are practically bursting from me!Since my last update we have descended 65 metres below the surface of the earth, taken an eerily silent boat journey, encountered thousands of glow worms, visited monk...

From time to time i look at people snapping photograph after photograph and wonder to myself if they're actually seeing what they're looking at. The lense can deaden the experience. It might capture an image for the sake of posterity, but it cannot possibly tell the whole story. Travel awakens the senses - peering through the camera uses only one. On our journey from Napier i have heard, smelled and felt things which i've never encountered before. I can't explai...

Arriving in Christchurch almost felt like my worst nightmare. I broke out in a cold sweat. Shivers raced down my spine - i was back in the UK!! The sky was grey, there was a market in the city square, buildings were adorned with grafitti, Hungry Jacks was called Burger King again, people were punting down a river lined with willow trees, there were fish and chip shops everywhere... It took a bus journey from the city centre to my hostel to quell my fears. Arguab...