Another slightly restless night, possibly we were overcompensating too much for the cold - a hot water bottle, silk sleeping liners, a duvet and an extra eiderdown was a bit too much! We opened the door to be greeted by a cheeky Kea, a big green parrot, staring us straight in the face. They have a reputation for kleptomania. Thankfully, it didn't make off with any of our walking boots or other possessions! We made it to the lounge and were quite at home with th...

A midnight toilet stop showed clear skies and beautiful stars, but didn't stay up to watch them as sleep was more pressing. There was no alarm clock so we were advised to leave our room lights on as a wake up call. The generator switched them on around 6.15am. We were quick to get ready since it was a bit of a chilly start. We went to the lounge where the sandwich making stations were busy busy. We were encouraged to make substantial sandwiches in advance of ...

Woke up fairly early to get to Ultimate Hikes office for the bus to Te Anau, and we were handed name badges to identify ourselves. The journey was very picturesque and crossed the path of a working steam train (the Kingston flyer). Paul, our bus driver gave us some very interesting commentary en route. We stopped in a small back town for 'cholesterol free' ice cream, but Stef just bought a baseball cap instead. We got back on the bus and drove to Te Anau for a ...

A day of travel, mainly. Ben kindly gave us a lift to the airport at some ungodly hour so we could get our flight to Queenstown via Christchurch. The airport was so small that Ben initially drove past it and had to reverse back! We were the first to arrive at 5.30am, in fact the airport wasn't actually open. A lady took pity on us tired looking vagabonds and offered to check us in to get rid of our heavy luggage. We weren't asked for passports. In fact, she didn'...

Managed to get a lot of sleep meaning that we got started a bit later than expected, but were still on the road by about 10:00. Heather kindly lent us her car so we could get to and around Rotorua easily. Arrived there at around 11:00 and stopped off at the Fat Dog café for a much needed caffeine boost and some caramel cake. Decided to take a look round the museum, originally designed as a spa to take advantage of the acid and alkaline springs and mud baths in t...