Before I start, an apology to subscribers to my blog. I've just published about 11 entries, which means your inbox has just been clogged up. I've already lost one of you from the ranks because of it, and I like to look after my subscribers, so sorry about that folks. If you're reading this and aren't a subscriber, why not? And now to the main course. Do you remember back in Uruguay, when I went to Fray Bentos purely because of its name? Well I'm at it again. You see, just off the bottom on the South Island exists New Zealand's [View Full Entry]

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The first thing you will notice about this blog title is that I thought about it in the same train of thought that I thought of the Fox Glacier one. The second thing is the use of the world sound to mean good. I hasten to add, this is not part of my usual vocabulary, but it did seem appropriate in this instance. I went from Queenstown to Milford Sound with a company known as Eco-Tours. Why don't you try and guess why I chose them above the myriad of other companies that run buses there. While you're thinking, I'll just [View Full Entry]

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Where was I? A question I find myself asking myself with increasing regularity these days. And usually the answer is I don't know. Quite often these questions are asked out loud. But I better not say anymore, or you'll all be ringing psychiatrists. And frankly, I dont want that. Right, so Wanaka. What a lovely place. I knew I'd be spending time in both Wanaka and Queenstown, but on the advice of various people, and my own intuition, Id decided to spent the majority in Wanaka. However, the major thing I wanted to do in this general area of the country [View Full Entry]

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The journey between Nelson and Franz Josef is a painstaking 9 hour trip in a minivan. Quite ridiculous really, that New Zealand is considered a developed country, yet every single South American country I got a bus in (and yes this includes Bolivia) the bus service was much better, and more comfortable. Something to work on for our kiwi friends methinks. Not much to report on the journey, apart from the stop we made at Punaikaiki, which left just enough time for a gander at the pancake rocks, so called because they're formed in layers and look a bit like... pancakes. [View Full Entry]

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From Picton, I headed west, through Nelson to the little town of Motueka, which is pretty close to the Abel Tasman National Park. Sadly, this is one place where time caught up with me, and instead of having 3 days there to complete the Abel Tasman track (one of New Zealand's Great Walks) I just had the one. This left me with 2 options. The cheap way was to just get a bus to Marahau, walk up the coast along the first section of the track, then walk back. The other option was to get a boat a bit further into [View Full Entry]

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The 3 hour ferry crossing between Wellington on the North Island and Picton on the south is a very pleasant experience. Especially the last half hour or so, when the boat ventures into Queen Charlotte Sound. I enjoyed it so much, I decided I'd stay a night in Picton for a bit of a mosey around, rather than scoot straight off on a bus elsewhere like 90% of people from the ferry (official statistic folks). So, that required finding a hostel. Potentially a tricky task, made easy by one simple bit of advertising. The Villa was offering (and I quote) "Free [View Full Entry]

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This time I was in Wellington for good. And by good I mean 3 days. Rob had now finished his gruelling exams (all 1 of them) so was free to show me a bit of the city. First stop was New Zealand's national museum, Te Papa. It's a monstrous place, and to be honest, there are large swathes of it which I found wholly uninteresting. However, there are some excellent sections, such as the one on natural disasters, including a room you can step in and experience an earthquake. I also liked the colossal squid they had on display, which is [View Full Entry]

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I can see your puzzled faces now blog fans. "But Stewart" I hear you cry. "You said you were going to Wellington". Fear not devotees, I did indeed go to Wellington, whereupon I met up with Rob. You may remember Rob from such blog entries as "Rod Stewart, the famous singer from the 80's" and "Who spilt the salt". He put me up for the night, then being as he had an exam to be revising for, said I could borrow his car, and go off to explore some more of the North Island for a couple of days. So I [View Full Entry]

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Firstly, let me get one thing straight. I have never seen a full Lord of the Rings film. I saw a bit of the first one, but got thoroughly bored, and stopped watching. However, I recognise that the films are hugely popular, and being as this blog has been struggling for ratings recently, I figured a LOTR related title might pull in some extra viewers. Time shall tell. Taupo is a town just a hop, skip and a jump south of Rotorua, and although quietish when I arrived, was getting itself ready for the ski season which was just around the [View Full Entry]

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Before any representitives of Rotorua's tourist agency try and sue me for libel, the title is of course a reference to the rather overpowering sulphurous smell that lurks around Rotorua, and is not me taking a cheapshot at the town, which I actually thought was a rather pleasant place. However, like Auckland, Rotorua didn't get off to a flyer with me, through no fault of its own. You see, back in Auckland, the same chap that had been trying to sell me the bus ticket had recommended me a hostel there when I said I'd be doing my own thing. As [View Full Entry]

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