Unfortunately we only got to stay one night in Wellington; actually make that fortunately. We arrived as the a major cricket match was on so we weren't exactly expecting their to be a lot of availability with rooms so we put a request in with out Kiwi bus driver for 3 nights way before we even got to the city. Base hostels proving themselves onc...

We arrived in Wellington expecting there to be lots to do after our uneventful time in Taupo (apart from the skydive of course!). We were wrong! Literally, unless you have a car, there is nothing to do in the city of Wellington apart from go to the Te Papa museum, or ride in the cable car to the botanical gardens. We did both. The museum was rea...

Like a smaller, Kiwi version of San Francisco, Wellington is situated on a harbor surround by small mountains/big hills. The political capital and the center of the arts and film industry, there is an active and vibrant nightlife and arts scene. The vineyards in nearby Martinborough (and, just across the Straight, Marlborough), guarantee that no...

We had many farewell get together with family and friends. It is harder to leave than I imagined it would be. Pictures to follow.

Wellington is known in New Zealand for it's usually unpleasant weather, and in the last five days I've been here it's lived up to its reputation. Rainy, cold, and windy. The first day that I was here I walked around looking for work, and the first place I went into, the Chicago Sports Cafe, hired me on the spot, and I started that night. I ...

First stop is the Geothermal power station at the Wairakei steam valley, then onto huka Falls and Lake Taupo, created by the largest volcanic eruption of the last 5000 years - nothing like the eruptions after those warm aagrah nights heh glyn!!! Whats going on with these bloody early starts - cases outside rooms by 6:30!!!! Head passed the Waira...

Bin heute mit Juli nach Wellington gefahren - hat 12 Stunden gedauert. Nichtsdestotrotz hat sich die Fahrt gelohnt: ich habe viele HdR-Schauplaetze sehen koennen. Also nicht direkt, aber wir waren halt in der Naehe. Zum Beispiel von Hobbiton, Mordor usw. Ganz nett. Vor Wellington gabs nen riesigen Stau weil ein Steinbrocken auf der Strasse lag. ...

We left the North island early in the morning, admiring as we walked along Wellington's Queen's Wharf, the impressive crane built by Stothert & Pitt of Bath, just like the ones on our own Bristol harbour-side, (which I can see from my office window as I type). Our first glimpses of the South island were of the magnificent rising hills of the Mar...

After a calm (and calming) flight, we arrived to a dreary and cold Christchurch, New Zealand. We weren't sure what weather to expect but, being summer, we hoped for a little more sunshine than this! Anyway, we jumped on the bus into the town centre and made the short walk to our hostel - Cokers. It had been a while since we walked anywhere much ...

The ferry to the North Island left from Picton...the capital city of the Marborough (or however you spell it) region...and the start of the Queen Charlotte Sound.  Now I have mentioned what a Sound is...well let me tell you, it looks exactly like a Fiord...so I can see how they made the mistake about Milford.  Anyways, I was ...