I landed at LA airport and met Andy and we then wiated around for an hour or two for his girlfriend, Hannah to arrive. After meeting and greeting I left them to go and find their car and jumped in a mini bus taxi which took me direct to the door of the hostel I had pre-booked into in West Hollywood. Met a couple English guys and a Kiwi in here and yep to finish the trip off in the same way the last few months have gone we went out for a few beers. Next day Andy...

Once arrived at Nadi airport we booked a ferry ticket to take us to our island of choice (Naviti up in the north Yasawa islands) and the bus then took us to our mainland accomodation. This was a really nice place with swimming pool etc and deffinatley a good choice for a one night stopover here. The next morning was an early start with a 7.15am pick up to take us to the ferry port. We boarded ferry at 8:30am and then had a 3.5 hour journey up to the small Naviti...

Arrived in the evening at Ohakune and bad weather, we checked the weather report at the lodge we were staying at and the moutain had been shut all day due to strong winds!!!! This was not looking good for tomorrows planned day on the slopes however it did say that the weather should be better in morning. We sat around lodge that evening watching a film next to the fire and avoiding going back tot he room for as long as possible since it was soo cold!!!! Next morn...

After a quiet night in Picton we got our ferry to Wellington at 8am. # hours and a couple of films later we were in Wellingotn and checked into a hostel. I then arranged to meet Vicki (who I had met in China) who had been living out here for a few months working. Went for a few beers with her and Andy that afternoon. Was really really good to chat and catch up with her especially since she was one of the first people I had met along my travels. We sat and watched...

The drive to Franz josef as per the rest of the South island was picturesque with plenty of stop off points with lookouts over lakes, mountains, and just large open spaces. This was probably the biggest thing for me coming to new Zealand and seeing, the sheer scale of open space and how few people actually live in teh country. I beleive the country has 4 million residents and 2 million of those live in Auckland!!!! Another bit of factual information there, well o...