The journey to Sydney proved to be uneventful and just what the doctor ordered. Stepping out of the airport into the Austrailian sunshine was a welcome alternative to the rain that had chased us around the South Island of New Zealand. From the airport we took a taxi to Lane Cove, just outside the city, where we would be staying with Daniel's friend Sam. The fare hit us hard and we were immediately assured that the prices of South America were very far away. We ha...

Arriving at Christchurch was a serious reality check to say the least. The city is bustling from street corner to street corner and even in the rain the neon lights can be seen lining the tarmac that comprises atleast 90% of the city. The first day, upon arrival, we scaled the streets for hostels that would let us take a shower but, in true extortionate, built-up city style, all insisted we book a room for the night first! Eventually, as a last resort we paid for...

After a good nights sleep we started on the long journey toward Alexandra, land of the plains. We started at dawn and made a few stops along the way. Stop number one would prove to be the place to set the tone of the next two days. 20kms off of our chosen route boasted wonderful scenery and New Zealand's answer to Niagara Falls. When we arrived it was clear that the gentleman who named the site had a very wicked sense of humour as the 'falls' turned out to be a s...

By late afternoon, of the next day, we had reached our destination of Franz Josef Glacier which, coincidentally, is in the city of Franz Josef Glacier. It was absolutley pouring with rain so we set up camp and had an early night which, as it turned out, was much needed! The next day we took the 15 minute drive up to the glacier itself. The glacier, 12 km long and terminating 19 km from the Tasman Sea, made it visible from about 2 kms away and, in fact, hindsight ...

When the sun came up we got our first real peek at the South Island and we were very surprised at how different it was from the North; it was more green, less populated and seemed bigger and bolder in everything. There being no rest for the wicked we didn't have a lot of time to comprehend this unexpected change and began the long drive to the east coast, and a small seaside town named Kaikoura. When we reached Kaikoura we drove along the coast for about two mile...