The drive to Auckland was pretty straight forward and we were soon in our hostel. After a few beers we were read to hit the hay. The following day we still had Cleatus so we decided to make the most of it. Having said that it was the afternoon before we actually got to any sightseeing. First stop was up Mount Eden which sits about 5km from Auckland city centre. Mount Eden is a dormant volcano and the highest non man made point in Auckland. The views from up there were excellent. Ciaran also bumped into a guy he went to [View Full Entry]

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We had set ourselves an ambitious target in terms of driving for the next few days but we had faith Cleatus could deliver. We hit Hamilton at around 5pm that evening in heavy traffic. It was about this point we remembered the All Blacks were playing Canada the following night there and accomodation might not be as easy to come by as we had thought. After a bit of driving around we located a hostel on the main street and snapped up their last two beds. After eating we had a pint in a pub in town and then went to [View Full Entry]

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The weather had been lovely in Rotorua and we assumed that it would be similar in Tongariro National Park. Unfortunately by the time we got anywhere close to the park the drizzle had started. We stopped at Lake Taupo along the way for some food and to have a look at the lake itself. We also stopped at the spectacular Huka Falls. The sheer volume of water on these falls is close to 220,000 litres per second and incredible to see. After filling up Cleatus we were back on the road and reached the wind and rain swept Tongariro National Park [View Full Entry]

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After finding our first chioice of hostel was full we tried Hot Rocks hostel and were able to get in there. It had been a long day driving so we took it easy and had a few beers chatting with the first Irish people we have met in quite a while. Rotorua is in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island. It´s a big place by New Zealand standards with a population of about 65,000. It´s best known for its geothermal activity. There are numerous geysers and hot mud pools located in the city. It is nicknamed Sulphur City, [View Full Entry]

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Well the car was pink, very very pink but came at a bargain basement price so we weren´t complaining (well not too much). At least it attracted a smile wherever it went especially with us two driving. To make it feel somewhat masculine we christened it Cleatus - the least feminine name we could think of. After picking up a trolley of supplies (And Ciaran figured out how to drive an automatic) we hit the road to Ohakune. We reached Ohakune in the lashing rain at about 4pm and got settled into our hostel. Ohakune is located at the southern end [View Full Entry]

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After a lunch in Kaikoura we caught a bus north to the small town of Picton. We checked into our hostel and had some dinner there. For possibly the first time on the trip we were the only guests in the entire hostel. We stocked up on a feed of beer and played cards in our giant free house for the evening as we had a ferry to catch the next day. We were able to walk down to the ferry terminal the next day which was very swanky. We were catching the Interislander to Wellington in the North Island. The [View Full Entry]

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We caught a shuttle bus from Arthur's Pass on another rainy day. We were cutting across the South Island and as a result the Southern Alps. The views were spectacular with snow capped peaks and crazy twisty roads. We had to do a bus changeover at Christchurch and as we had a bit of time, so Ciaran bought a new jacket to defend against the oncoming winter. The bus to Kaikoura took about 2 and a half hours and it was dark by the time we got there. The hostel was a good thirty minute walk from the town so once [View Full Entry]

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Well the rain managed to last overnight and it was still raining when we caught our bus to Arthur's Pass. We had a stopover in a place called Greymouth for some lunch before continuing onto Arthur's Pass. Arthur's Pass is a mountain pass in the Southern Alps and is named after the bloke (Presumably called Arthur) who found the pass through the mountains. The village that sits in the middle of the pass is a tiny place in the middle of nowhere. It's sole attraction is the super scenery around the area. Unfortunately we arrived in weather that was less than [View Full Entry]

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We had a bit of a mission to make our way back up the South Island to Franz Josef from Te Anau. The first leg of the trip involved a bus back up to Queenstown. Once there we had some lunch and caught another bus to Wanaka. The bus trip to Wanaka was really scenic and as we were the only ones on the bus the driver pulled over a few times to let us take pictures. It was also the first place we saw large scale wineries since arriving in New Zealand. The journey itself took about two hours. Wanaka [View Full Entry]

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The weather on the bus down to Te Anau was miserable with lots of rain and we began to question whether we would actually see anything in Milford Sound when we got there. We were dropped at our hostel in the tiny village of Te Anau which is sort of the gateway to Milford Sound. That evening after eating we arranged a trip for the following day. Milford Sound, is located in the south west of New Zealand. It runs 15 kilometres inland from the Tasman Sea and is surrounded by sheer cliffs. We were collected early in the morning by [View Full Entry]

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