So after a VERY fun and exciting night at the Jack Johson concert, we left Stratford and headed on a bus to Wellington after dropping off our rental car. (Which was still in one piece, YES!) The ride to Wellington took about 7 hours when it was only supposed to take about 6. We got stuck in some traffic outside of a VERY small town... all becaus...

I knew I would be sore the next day after my monster tramp, but OMG... I haven't been this sore in a LONG time! By this point in my trip, I was getting realllly tired of being on a bus almost all day long, eating junk food, and having to sleep in the same room as several strangers. It was somewhat bittersweet that it was coming to an end, becaus...

10 April Caught the 10 a.m. bus to Picton, arriving there at 12:30. Sat at the ferry terminal there for a couple of hours eating my lunch sandwiches (made back at the hostel in Nelson this morning) before boarding the ferry at about 2 p.m. Departed at 2:30 and snoozed, read and listened to music on the three hour ride over to New Zealand's capit...

19.33 - Unfortunately, the car crash that delayed us last night turned out to be fatal which explains why we had to wait in the café until the road was cleared. I am really tired today, even after going to bed at 21.00, now I know how Frodo and Sam must have felt climbing Mt. Doom! I didn't do much last night when I got back other than watch a b...

We'v e made it..... to the North Island. The ferry ride was actually not that bad. It was clearing when we left Picton this afternoon. How exciting to go on the ferry with the car. It was huge, wich movie theater and everything on it. The trip was quite stormy though. Well, Ipod on shuffle mode and no worries! I stayed on the sun deck all the ti...

I woke up early on friday morning, it was a lovely day and I was about to attempt to hitch to Wellington. This is a 3.5 hours drive and nearly double the distance of anything I had attempted so far. I said my goodbyes and headed off along marine parade (state highway 2) hoping for a ride. The first guy to stop worked at a Go Kart track and was o...

Entry 3 of a trip titled: New Zealand 2007 Exchange! Off to Massey University in Palmerston North to take it easy downunder for a semester...what an adventure!

Hello all...stay tuned for all the news from the exciting life of an exchange student at Massey University in Palmerton North, New Zealand. I'll be posting all my stories and photos up here, so I hope you enjoy them. Stay in touch! Travel wisely and with an open heart... Jill

Arrived in Wellington only 20 minutes late on the Overlander. The train was a great way to see some of the countryside. I was impressed by the extensive ranch and farmland we passed. Lots of sheep. 45 min stop in National Park, beautiful little town. Just across the street from the train station was the Hotel Waterloo, the Downtown Backpackers. ...

Overnighted at Downtown Backpackers across from the Train station where we had to catch the shuttle bus to Ferry Terminal for ferry to Picton tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. Went to the Te Papa Cultural Museum, the best I've seen yet. Very comprehensive, interesting exhibits.

So, caught my flight over to Wellington, the windy city, i'll say! Managed to get quickly through customs although nearly got myself a $250 on the spot fine for carrying a McDonny's apple through. No fruit, veg, plants etc to go through, but thankfully i declared it and got it out of my bag before they went through the scanners. For some reason ...

The rain is certainly persistent here! We set off from Nelson on our way to Wellington. We needed to get back to the small town of Picton to catch the ferry but sadly would not be stopping over to use the Spa this time. We arrived at the the terminal and checked our bags in. It was quite similar to the Dover to Calais crossing. We boarded the fe...

Hi everyone. Just a quick entry to say England obviously won the test series yesterday and therefore there was quite a lot of alcohol consumed last night back up in Napier. I'm now in Wellington having got up stupidly early this morning to get the 5 hour coach ride back down. I will be heading over to the South Island on the ferry tomorrow and a...

Walked around Wellington Harbor in the morning taking in the sunshine and beautiful water and mountains before joining back up with the Flying Kiwi but where we made it about 4 meters before the bus trailer broke. Yep, didn't even make it out of the parking lot... It was an interesting start to the North Island. Mind you this is a different bus ...

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...

Not wanting to offend or anything, but after the South Island, Wellington isn't that great a scene-setter for the North Island. From the peace and calm of the South we are thrown into a typical modern city. We checked into the 'Downtown Backpackers', remarkable for: its Art Deco style (when you know as little about architecture as me you try exp...