We were told that the intercity buses were on strike by two people and that we'd have to take the express bus tp Gyeongju. So off we went to the express bus terminal and bought a ticket to Daegu, where we would need to change. Not only change buses but also bus stations! Luckily only across the road though, where we got a bus to Gyeongju with 5 minutes to spare.In Gyeongju, the intercity and express terminals are next to each other, and the intercity one was very busy for a strike. Nevermind, we got there in plenty of time to meet our couch surfing host. We read the following day that the strike was all buses and only for an hour from 5.30am. Nice to know tourist offices have the correct info! Apparently the striking ... read more

March 27th – April 3rd 2011 Cape Palliser From Wellington we drove up the Hutt Valley, across the Rimutakas and back down to the coast. We were heading for Cape Palliser, the southernmost point in the North Island. We had done the most northerly and most southerly in the South Island, and figured we might as well do the North Island ones too. We'll have to leave North Cape for another trip though. We were disappointed not to find a sign saying it was the southern most point with latitude and longitude, but maybe we were just not quite in the right place. We did climb the 250 steps up to the lighthouse, enjoy the amazing views, and climb back down the 250 steps. All along the coast there were NZ Fur Seals, on the beach, ... read more

March 17th - 18th 2011 From Cape Farewell and the beautiful Wharariki Beach (see last blog), we drove back towards Motueka, stopping briefly in Takaka for a look around. Its a neat small town, very arty and a bit hippy-ish. The library has free internet (wi-fi and PC) but they only allow a certain number of people to use the wi-fi at a time. I guess the people sitting in front of their laptops outside aren't counted! We had a short wait for our turn to sit in the little room, but when we got in there we found Sarah, our last CS host, and a German girl we'd hosted just before Christmas, both surfing away. Small world! We weren't surprised to see Sarah as she was the one who told us about the free wi-fi, ... read more

The above panorama is of Golden Bay (coast and valley) from Takaka Hill. March 10th - 15th 2011 From Greymouth we took the inland road to Reefton and on past Inangahua towards Nelson. We stopped for the afternoon / night at a DOC camp-ground at the old gold mining town of Lyell. There isn't a lot there now, none of the buildings remain and we didn't hike as far as the old battery. There are boards with old photos up around the camp, but its hard to work out exactly what was where as the landscape has changed quite a bit. As well as going for a walk along the river with us, Colin had a go at gold panning and came back with a few more specks to add to our collection. While he did ... read more

Dunedin to Duntroon February 26th – March 2nd 2011 Dunedin As we'd both been to Dunedin before, we treated ourselves to a couple of relaxing days and didn't rush around trying to see everything. It was also a good chance to catch up with friends and for Samara to interact with another baby. We greatly appreciate Aaron, Yvette and Stella welcoming us into their home, especially as they already had friends from Christchurch with them. It was great sleeping inside for a few nights and having access to a bathroom that didn't involve a long drop! We also had some of the best dinners on this trip so far – the benefits of a decent kitchen. We had two full days in the city. The first we went out to the Otago Peninsula. Following Aaron and ... read more