Day 167: Saturday 13th December - Three-legged drinking games in Westport Leaving Nelson Lakes national park, the bus continues to Murchison. At the stop off I get a huge ice cream - trying this legendary Hokey Pokey ice cream which I'd be alerted to by the two Kiwi girls from Dunedin whilst in the Cook Islands. Apparently this ice cream only exists in New Zealand. Well to me it tastes just like Crunchie ice cream from back home with a honeycomb taste so its not unusual after all. Whilst in Murchison I also bump into Jo and Meghan, the two girls we met in Abel Tasman national park. This isn't the last time we meet either. After a short break we head west to Westport, our first stop on the west coast of the South Island. ... read more

Day 163: Tuesday 9th December - In a rush to see the capital By the time we arrive in Wellington, New Zealand's capital city at the base of the North Island its 7.30pm and the one thing I really wanted to do whilst I was in the city - visit Te Papa museum, supposedly New Zealand's finest museum - is closed. This is really annoying as I can't afford to get off the bus with no bus for another 2 days. Its either stay an extra 2 days in Wellington or stick with my original plan and hop off the bus and spend two days in Abel Tasman National Park. I've seen pictures of Abel Tasman and New Zealand is all about its scenery rather than its cities so its no hard decision, Abel Tasman it ... read more

Day 160: Saturday 6th December - Arriving in Taupo and visoting Huka Falls and New Zealand's biggest lake We leave the rolling green hills of the Waikato behind and travel South-East for a short journey to Taupo. Taupo sits on Lake Taupo, New Zealand's largest lake at 600 square kilometres and the caldera of a volcano. This is one of the world's supervolcanoes and witnessed the second largest volcanic eruption in the last 70,000 years as well as a lesser but still huge eruption in the second century when the after effects were noted in both Roman and Chinese histories. On the outskirts of Taupo we stop at the Huka Falls. These are truly impressive. Not high like Sutherland falls or massive like Iguassu Falls, it is just the sheer speed at which the water tumbles ... read more

Day 158: Thursday 4th December - Rotorua, the sulphur city We leave Whitianga early in the morning after an all too short a stay on the Coromandel peninsula. Its another gloriously sunny day as we head south towards Rotorua. On the way we stop off to do a short walk at Karangahake gorge. Its a pleasant stroll through some nice scenery but nothing spectacular like the Milford Track. We also stop off at Paeroa home of Lemon & Paeroa (L&P), which is a famous soft drink in New Zealand. Its basically lemonade.....if there's a difference I can't taste it. Our final stop off before Rotorua is in the small town of Matamata. Matamata is now famous as the nearest town to the location where Hobbiton was filmed for the Lond of the Rings. I get a ... read more

Day 151: Thursday 27th November - Starting the Milford Track First tramping; no I haven't decided to become a scruffy homeless person, although some may argue that I'm getting close! No tramping to the Kiwi's is what trekking or hiking is to you or me or what bushwalking is to the Aussie's. That cleared up lets get on to the tramp. The Milford Track is considered one of the world's great hikes and is the third multi-day trek I'll be doing in as many months. ( the 'W' in Torres Del Paine, Chile and the Inca Trail in Peru being the other two). I'm lucky to even be attempting the Milford track as until I met an Australian guy in Peru I was just going to turn up the day I wanted to do it. As ... read more