Lake Tekapo is a very small town situated around a beautiful lake with mountains all around. Our hostel was right on the lake front and had the best views of all those I've been to. It had a cosy log fire in the lounge and had a cat called Neffe which I fell in love with. It was so nice to have cuddles by the fire, she really made me feel at home! So anyway, after a lot of non stop travelling, late nights and early mornings it was great to be able to relax for a couple of days [View Full Entry]

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I decided to do a morning of Quad biking- one adventurous activity I had not yet experienced. It was so cold I had to wear two pairs of socks, two pairs of trousers as well as two jumpers, a coat and gloves! But it was a beautifully sunny day though which was nice. We begun by getting kitted up and then had time being trained on the bikes. We did a training track which was so much fun. When we were ready to go I was very excited. We were climbing Queenstown Hill which is in the heart of many [View Full Entry]

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I finally did the long awaited, much feared, canyon swing! I arrived at the Canyon Swing headquarters in town and signed my life away. I had to jump on the scales too which was also pretty scary! But much to my relief they didn't write my weight on my hand as they do with the bungee jumps but they drew a picture on my hand instead to indicate the weight bracket! (Thank God!) So anyway, we all jumped into the van and on our drive to the Canyon watched a video about the swing and all the different jumpstyles you [View Full Entry]

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When I did my research into New Zealand, Milford Sound was a place I heard a lot about and somewhere I decided I had to visit. We took a tour from Queenstown- the nearest major town. When we left (in the very early morning) it was snowing and although it was exciting it was a bit of a worry too. We passed 4 car accidents as the roads were so icy. Fortunatley our driver was good so we arrived safely. We stopped off to see some sights on the way such as a Mirror Lake and some waterfalls. There was [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in the beautiful Franz Josef with an afternoon to spend on an activity of our choice. Unfortunately I was full of cold and so decided I had to give the Glacier climb a miss. Instead I decided to take it easy with some kayaking on the lake. The views were stunning and it was a great way to see the area. Check out the pictures. [View Full Entry]

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I spent 4 nights in Wellington because I managed to get a ticket to see the All Blacks play France. I was incredibly excited and it was one of the highlights of my time here so far. So I had three days to spend sight seeing before the big game. I had a walk around the city when I first arrived and decided the shops looked good. Although not so good for souvenir shopping. I got some gloves anyway and a New Zealand scarf to wear to the game. It is getting colder the further south we go so I [View Full Entry]

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Today I went horse riding in the hills. It was great and there were some lovely views of the hills and also of Lake Taupo. I did it with one of the girls I've been travelling with called Steph. In the afternoon we went with Vicki to support her for her bungy jump. I was in charge of her camera so I didn't get any pics on my camera unfortunately. Later on in the evening our little group went out for dinner together to a Mexican restaurant. They had monkey nuts on the tables and we were encouraged to throw [View Full Entry]

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Today I did some sight seeing of Rotorua before making my way on the magic bus to Taupo. We stopped off to see some bubbling mud pools. It was strange to see mud bubbling and steaming. In fact the whole town of Rotorua has random steam outlets which are cordoned off so no-one hurts themselves on the hot steam (that's what makes the smell!) Anyway, after that we went to see what is called a geyser (pronounced guyzer- not geezer as some of the English people were saying!) It looks just like a mini volcano and is similar in that [View Full Entry]

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Ok, so today I started my journey around New Zealand. I left Auckland and travelled through Waitomo to end up in Rotorua (possibly the smelliest place on Earth!) Anyway, before we left Auckland we went up to Mount Eden- an old Volcano where there are great views of the city. We got into Waitomo (Maori for 'water hole') in the late morning and went on a cave tour. It was great because it was a special tour to see glow worms which live in the caves. We walked around and at the end had a boat ride on the river [View Full Entry]

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I finally made it to New Zealand and arrived in Auckland last night. Armed with a bag of Earl grey teabags and a jar of vegemite, I am excited about being back on the open road again. The flight over was really good (only 4 hours), got to see Wild Hogs with John Travolta which was pretty funny. Went into the city to have a look around and get dinner, then a nice early night. (Which would've been great if it hadn't been for the 3 girls in my dorm who snore louder than my Grandma (and my family who [View Full Entry]

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