Today was a long drive. Roughly eight hours across (I hate to be repetetive) brilliant countryside. We started by doubling back up the Kawerau Gorge past the site of 'that jump', through the Lindis Pass and into MacKenzie country. Pretty good views of Aoraki (Mt Cook) along the way, and we stopped at Lake Tekapo for lunch at the Church of the Good Shepherd and a bronze dog. In Christchurch, there was just time to visit the cathedral and go for a walk along th...

Sooo... Base have a lot to learn about computers. Yes, guys, they will occassionally fail. You will need to have a way of dealing with this. Then, Tom will not be annoyed about having to check out and find a different hostel because you couldn't extend his stay by an extra night. Not much else happened today, mainly sorting in readiness for India. Time to say goodbye to some folks - let's go to World Bar.

Today, so people have been telling me, I was due to see the most beautiful spot in New Zealand which, let's be honest, is an absolutely massive build up. Question is, do you now want me to say those people were correct or that they were wrong? Dodging this question I can at least say that it is a very pleasant place, although more accurately it is a fiord as it was formed by glaciers (sounds are formed by rivers). Just on the road there are numerous views of m...

We started our journey to Queenstown with a visit to Puzzling World. Here we saw optical illusions, holograms, 3-d puzzles and the 'hobbit room', before tackling the maze (SPOILER: all you have toi do is hold your left hand against the wall at all times, you'll find all four corners and the exit his way - it's Greek). Closer to Queenstown we stopped at the Kawerau Bridge, the sight of the first commercial bungy jump. After watching the video on the origins of ...

Let the sune shine! An early start to get to Lake Matheson for some (almost) perfect mirror images of Mt Cook and the Southern Alps. Then, with a few stops for the usual scenic stuff (yes, another view, good) we powered into Mount Aspiring National Park and our destination, Wanaka. Fabulous lake, very cold water - perfect for a swim then. Spent most of the afternoon there, with some diving off of the floating jetties.