Now feeling worn out and nursing battered feet from Abel Tasman, we were looking forward to some time in the Northeast wine region, Marlborough. Whilst there we would take the opporutnity to do some wine tasting, after which we would then head south fully recovered to take on The Milford Track! There was one slight flaw in our plan however...We had forgotten there were only 28 days in February; the Milford hike was due to start on the 4th (it was already the 1st)...

After a number of days in the van we were looking forward to stretching our legs on an adventure in 'Abel Tasman', a coastal national park, full of multi-day bush and beach walks, alongside kayaking and boat trip options. Our base town for the trip was Motueka where, trying to be as frugal as possible to supply our camping trip, we bought one double sleeping mat and sliced it in half for us each to carry, hired a tent, and decided not to hire small gas cooking fa...

With our travels amongst the coves and beaches of the Catlins complete our next plan was to take Barry up the infamous west cost. Starting with the Milford Sound area famous for its dazzling waterfalls and fjords and then heading further north, our plan was to see the Franz Josef glacier, stopping at any other points of interest along the way. The west coast is the most remote part of New Zealand, where at times you won't see another car for hours, or petrol stat...

The drive South to 'the Catlins' region was beautiful. For most of the journey we followed a gushing river, surrounded by grassy hills and meandered our way through small towns, before emerging into the plains with enormous mountain ranges stretching as far as the eye could see. At one point the road was lined with fruit stalls and eventually we couldn't resist stopping at one to buy some fresh plums, apricots, pears, nectarines and greengages for a bargain! By t...

After finding an advert online for a van that looked perfect, with the additions of a mini fridge and even a TV and play station in the back, we made our way to Wanaka, a small lakeside town about an hour east of Queenstown. On arrival, we took a look at the van, and although a bit bashed up on the outside, the inside had been kitted out great, with a bed in the back and plenty of kitchen storage areas. We decided to make an offer on the 1998 Toyota Townace named...