We decided to make our way to Queenstown on the scenic Taieri Gorge Railway This train runs out of the beautiful Dunedin Railway Station to Middlemarch about 60km away. After boarding the train and a quick pie for lunch we stood out on one of the viewing platforms (As long as we could take the wind) to see some of the scenery. The railway line travels through spectacular scenery along the banks of the Taieri River, through numerous tunnels and climbs along the Taieri Gorge to the Strath Taieri. On its way, it crosses over a dozen viaducts, including the southern [View Full Entry]

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We were up very early to get our gear sorted and get down to the city centre to catch our bus. The journey to Dunedin took 5 hours and we passed through some beautiful scenery in the Otago region. Our driver was a bit of a talker (Why oh why do they give these guys mics ,we knew the history of every hedge along the roadside by the time we got there). Dunedin is the second-largest city in the south island after Christchurch and as the home of the University of Otago is noted as a bit of a student town. [View Full Entry]

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After making our way out to Tullamarine airport on a shuttle we checked in. An hour long survey discussing every aspect of our trip with a lady in departures passed the time until our flight. The 3 hour flight went really quickly and we arrived around 11pm local time in Christchurch. After a few laps of the town dropping people off we arrived at our hostel. We had food in a restaurant up the road and went to bed early. Our first full day in New Zealand began with a sleep in. After that we had a coffee and bagel in [View Full Entry]

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fter a three hour flight we were collected by Brad at Melbourne Airport. The plan was to stop at Brad's dad's house on the way down for another Allen roast dinner special. Brads dad lives in Werribee which is about half way between Melbourne and Geelong. We met his Aunt Vicky and his pretend aunt Mary-Ellen. The dinner was delicious and we figured out where Brads cooking skills come from. After a few beers and a great chat we were back on the road to Geelong. Brad has moved into a two bedroom bachelor pad in Geelong so we had our [View Full Entry]

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We were up at 6am to check out and walk to the bus station. We caught a bus to the airport at around 7am. We were inundated with texts about Liverpool having beaten Chelsea in yet another Champions League Semi Final (We were delighted with the result but sad we couldn't catch the game). Our flight to Alice Springs took about three hours and when we hopped off we were collected by our hostel (Oz is so easy). The weather was timid by Alice standards but roasting for the rest of us at 31 degrees and it was very different from [View Full Entry]

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We arrived into Melboune mid afternoon and caught a shuttle into town at just the right time to hit evening traffic. After some slow progress we were dropped at our hostel. Apparently it is the biggest hostel in the world in terms of beds. We got an idea of how they pull this off when we saw the 14 beds in our dorm nicely packed together. After a bite to eat Australian style in Hungry Jacks (Burger King), we went for a few pints in our soon to be local "The Oxford Scholar". We headed back for a nights sleep that [View Full Entry]

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The bus back to Launceston was about 3 hours and we had to spend another night there to make a connection with our bus back to Hobart. After checking into the hostel we headed into town feeling we had earned a few pints after the previous days trekking. It was an Irish pub we ventured upon that seemed to be showing signs of life (It was Saturday night) so we stopped there. After a few jars we headed back to the pub we had found the last time we had been in Launceston. It was very different from the sleepy weekday [View Full Entry]

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Getting to Cradle Mountain was trickier than we thought and involved us getting a wee bit creative. We took a Tassie Link bus to Launceston which is the other major city in Tasmania and lies at the other end of the island. We checked into the hostel in Launceston and headed downtown. Unfortunately it was dusk and pretty much everything had closed. Tasmania is a beautiful place but is seriously limited for things to do once darkness descends. We made our way down as far as the Boags Brewery on the river and spotted the Aurora Stadium where AFL is played. [View Full Entry]

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We took a tram from Brad's house into Melbourne city centre and then got the bus out to Tullamarine airport. The flight was grand and we transferred from Hobart airport to our hostel in one of the cities main streets. Hobart is the Tasmanian state capital and is Australia's second oldest city and is thus full of beautiful old buildings. It was approaching evening time when we arrived so we made a beeline for the city's tourist office. We got some info and planned to climb Mount Wellington which sits overlooking the city the following day. We did a little walking [View Full Entry]

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After managing to catch the bus second time round we had a long journey ahead of us. We arrived in Wangaratta bleary eyed at 4 am. Brad soon collected us. He was disappointed we were in flip flops and tracksuit bottoms and we were soon digging in our bags for shoes and jeans for a quick roadside change. Brad explained he wanted to give us a Saturday Night (What was left of it) out in Wang. In disbelief that there was still somewhere to get a beer open in Wang, we drove into town and headed straight into a packed bar/club. [View Full Entry]

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