Blogs from Gore, Southland, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania

Yes I know, by now any reader will be confused. The last post Dunedin to Gore is out of kilter datewise and in order of posting. Trouble is, am now trying to post entries retrospectively and the dates of posting are NOT those of actually travelling.....if you get what I mean! Will see if I can get it back in order. So, we left the little town of Gore late (11.30am) on the morning of 27 April after having a bit more of a look around this interesting town. The very helpful and extremely pleasant lady, Jill, in the tourist centre told us to make sure we stopped for coffee at the Aviation Heritage Museum which is only 15km out of Gore on the way to Te Anau. She also booked us into the campervan park ... read more

Fjiordland and Milford Sound; Drove out to Te Anau, which is a really nice small lake side town. Then I decided to head further into Fjiordland and up to Milford Sound for a cruise. This was probably one of the hardest drives I've ever done, because its such amazing scenery its really hard to keep you eyes on the road. Eventually got to Milford Sound, which was a bit foggy unfortunately, then chilled out while I waited for my cruise. Went on the cruise which was amazing! Probably the most amazing landscape I've ever seen despite the sideways rain. The sides of the fjord are completely vertical, including Mitre peak, the highest sea cliff in the world. On the way out to the edge of the sea the weather was pretty horrible but luckily it cleared ... read more

Well been in New Zealand for nearly 4 months now and still absolutely loving it, probably more than ever at the moment. A lot has happened since my last entry so I'll warn you now, your probably in for a long read. After my last entry I hitched down to Turangi and after a day waiting for the weather to clear, walked the Tongariro alpine crossing, and also climbed Mt Ngarahoe, which is Mt Doom in the Lord of the Rings films. After this I managed to hitch all the way back down to Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast where my Aunt, Judy lives. This was on christmas eve and I still wasn't feeling very christmassy, christmas just doesn't work in the summer I've decided. On christmas morning I got up and went for a swim ... read more