WOW! As bus rides go that's gotta be up there with the 250 from Piccadilly to Trafford Park!!! In fact, it was a 7 hour journey through the Andes, crossing an International border, on a luxury coach with free food & drink and reclining seats, and it only cost 3 times that of the 250 journey. Amazing really! 20 mins through Hulme & Trafford, or a bus through the Andes? Grabbed a cab from the bus station in Mendoza to the hostel, fair distance but only cost a quid. The place was amazing, really old traditional South American House, but this [View Full Entry]

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So, the big flight through the time zones, over ocean all the way, so no emergency landings if required. Quite a scary thought, but no enough to put me off! Flew with LANchile, and it was superb. Big private widescreen tv with tons of films, joypad for all the games, thousands of songs, oh, and unlimited free lager & wine! I was sat near the back, so had excellent access to the booze cart! They happily served me plenty of beers, although i think they thought i was strange when asked if i would like orange juice or apple juice with [View Full Entry]

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So, last stop in New Zealand, grey Auckland. Not too much to say about it really, not impressed at all. Just a big grey city. Has its nice parts, the harbour is ok, the gardens and univeristy are quite nice, but not great, a sad way to finish such an amazing country! For anyone visting New Zealand, spend your time on the South Island, much much better place! Had a good few ales on the first night with a few people, and the bar was doing daft drinking games with free beer whenever a certain song played. Only thing was, the [View Full Entry]

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Short journey into Rotorua this morning, only an hours drive. Its basically a big geo-thermal volcanic town, so pretty much fair to say it stinks a bit, nice rotten eggs. The town itself is relatively small and has a big Maori population. We were warned not to get into arguements with them as they'll always be more of them. Never had any trouble, tho there is a lot more kids hanging around street corners than any other part of New Zealand. I walked past a group one morning, and they all started barking at me. Not sure if they wanted a [View Full Entry]

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Really short drive this morning to Lake Taupo, so only 1 stop off on the way at some random waterfall, very nice. We were the only ones getting off the bus here, everyone else was rushing on to Rotarua, but we have more time so might as well have a look around. The lake itself is huge, you can actually fit Singapore inside it, something i suggested they should try. On the banks of the lake is a hole in one competition, with a floating island green. It's obviously impossible to win, but it's impossible to walk past & not have [View Full Entry]

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So, just a quick pit stop in Napier before heading off further North. It's quite a way from Wellington, so an early start again. More scenic stop offs at waterfalls and the like, but a cracking stop at the Tui Brewery. Now, it was still morning, but part of the deal was you got 3 pints for $2 which is ridiculously cheap. You are only given 45 minutes to finish them, so no hanging around. Me & Roy were bored for the last 20 minutes having quaffed our quota and refusing to pay for more. Good stuff tho, the lager is [View Full Entry]

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Well it turned out i had both, a brew and a pint! The cruise over was very nice, got a tad choppy in the open waters, but the boat was big enough to make it comfortable. The sound went for last orders, so i left the comfort of my recliner and headed for the huge bar, very nice indeed. Docked in Wellington, and headed for the hostel. It was pretty late by the time i got there, so went for a quick mooch, and settled in to the hostel bar to claim my free meal. Bit crap, but free! Had a [View Full Entry]

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We stopped off on the way to Lake Tekapo at Maeoraki Boulders which are really cool. It basically a load of round boulders dotted along the shoreline, but they look really bizarre, you'll have to see the pics. Lake Tekapo itself is amazing. Impossibly blue lake, surrounded by snowy mountains, and our hostel was a lodge right on the lake. We arrived late afternoon, so only a brief chance to see the lake & town. I also walked up to the outdoor hot pools, with the intention of taking a dip. But it must have been some after school club or [View Full Entry]

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So, off to Dunedin, just about!!!! We were staying Thursday, Friday & Saturday, but with the All Blacks playing France on the Saturday, accommodation was virtually impossible to get. We checked everything online, but no luck. I was about to give up & go somewhere else when the Tourist Info place said they had the last 2 beds available for the Thursday & Friday. So we snapped them up and set off on the long journey! Good few stops on the way, and we arrived late afternoon. So, we now had to find somewhere to stay on the saturday. Had a [View Full Entry]

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Just a short bus ride into Queenstown from Wanaka, but it was a late start, so we arrived early evening. We all booked the Milford Sound Trip (previous blog) for the following day, as the weather was supposed to be good. So, as it was a very early start, we didn't go too crazy that night. We did all go to Fergburger, a must visit burger place. We were warned not to order chips as you won't need them. Ignored that advice, and regretted it. The burger was huge, and gorgeous, the chip portion size is just ridiculous, it could easily [View Full Entry]

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