From Christchurch I was going to Mt Cook. Of all the places I was going on this part of the trip Mt. Cook was the one I was most looking forward to. I had booked a trip kayaking amongst the glaciers on the Tasman glacier lake and was planning on some hikes through the beautiful alpine mountain scenery (that was what made me upgrade my walking boots)! Unfortunately mother nature had other plans. The bus to Mt cook included a couple of stops - one at the beautiful ...

Arriving into Christchurch nowadays is a bit surreal - the city centre (or the bits you can access) is a mixture of crumbling buildings, abandoned buildings, empty sections where buildings once stood all interspersed between normal functioning buildings. It really is a strange sight. The other surprising thing about Christchurch is that it is very difficult to get hostel accommodation - you have to book it in advance - that's because although there has been a dro...

After a night in Dunedin I was on the road again, there were some places I really wanted to check out along the coast. The first place I stopped was at the Moeraki boulders. These are some spherical boulders formed millions of years ago under the sea which have now been revealed on the beach at Moeraki and are pretty cool to see. It was only a brief stop (they are what they are and after a few pics I felt I'd had all they had to offer). From here I headed north ...

I returned to Invercargil for a night after Stewart island where I didn't do very much, Invercargil is a city, but a small one and even though it was a Saturday night it was not the most happening place. Although in the city's defence I didn't go looking for a party and was pretty happy just to chill in the hostel! Two of the people I met on Stewart Island were driving back to Dunedin via the Catlins and very generously offered me a lift which a accepted. I had v...

En route to Stewart Island I spent a night in Queenstown - I spent most of this evening doing a little planning and ate a fergburger (I'm sure I mentioned this the last time I went to Queenstown). The next day I was on my way to Stewart Island. The ferry crossing across the Foveaux strait is notoriously rough but I was fortunate and it was extremely calm, almost like a lake. I got into Oban in the early afternoon - it's a very pleasant town - I guess a bit remin...