After finishing the Queen Charlotte Track I decided to give my feet a rest! So, it was back on the bus again, this time going west to Nelson. I ended up in the same hostel as a girl I'd walked the last day of the Queen Charlotte Track with so we spent a fun few days doing the 'sights' of Nelson together - we went to the cinema (all in the cause of resting our feet) and got accosted by Darth Vader in the foyer (the latest Star Wars had just come out), had a trip to the World of Wearable art museum (is amazing what you can do with sparkle and plastic ;0)) and the Vintage car musuem. Oh and sat drinking lots of coffee and eating Shortbread (freebie for the hostel we were staying ... read more

I arrived in Wellington on a beautifully sunny day... at a bus station that seemed miles from anywhere. In true backbacker style I then ermm jumped in a taxi with a girl I'd met on the bus and headed off to the hostel. I did consider public transport but well... I only had a day in Wellington but that was enough to tell me two things, (1) - that I'd really like living and working here and (2) - that I wasn't ready to get a job yet! The city is small, windy but beautifully set around the harbour... lots of hills though so think I'll end up very fit living here. We did manage to get to the cinema - apparently revamped to the sum of $5million for the Lord Of the Rings premier - ... read more

I arrived at Taupo hoping to do the Tongariro Crossing the next day -unfortunately but my good luck spell with the weather finally ran out and it was three days before I could do it ;0( In the mean time I managed to squeeze in several relaxing days here just passing time and drinking coffee from cafe's overlooking the lake. Ahh. I briefly considered the almost obligatory skydive that everyone seems to come here to do but for the nanosecond it took me to decide it was a bad idea the weather was too windy so I couldn't go up ;0) I think I'd like to do one at some point.... but maybe when I've got someone else to do it with. On my fourth day the weather was good so at 6.20am (the sunrise across ... read more

I'd been warned that you smell Rotorua before you even get off the bus and its true.. the rotten egg smell of hydrogen sulphide wafts through the air con of the bus and hits you on the way into town. Strangely I quickly stopped noticing it... a sign that I should stay here or that I spent too many years in a lab working with smelly chemicals (or lab partners...) ??!!! I really liked Rotorua and could have spent longer here than I did just wondering around the different volcanic and geothermal areas in the region. Unfortunately you really need a car to get to them otherwise using the tourist buses quickly becomes quite expensive. My first stop was Wai-O-Tapu, a geothermal park about 30km from Rotorua. At the edge of the park are mud pools, ... read more

Well... I think we hit somewhere in Asia if we kept going passed Cape Reinga anyway! On the last day of our trip we were up and on the road for 7am to Cape Reinga at the tip of the North Island (or at least as far North as you can get as a tourist). It was well worth the early start as all the tourist buses were still miles away so we had the place to ourselves. This area is where the Maori believe spirits of the dead, having reached the Cape by way of 90 Mile Beach, finally depart the island. Not a bad place to depart! The rest of the day was a long drive back to Auckland via the west coast and some huge Kauri trees. Whilst not the biggest trees on ... read more