Homestead Villa Invercargill

... other than this Milton didn't seem to have much of interest.<br>The next town of size is Balclutha, this is on the bank of the Clutha River, the water is an unusual aqua colour, I was told the river drains both lake Wanaka and Wakatipu (Queenstown). This is where we left SH1. If you carry on along SH1 you will strike the "Presidential Highway", later inquiries reveal it has nothing to do with quality but the fact it runs between Clinton and Gore.<br>We were headed ...

... nicht mitten in d** Nacht noch and**e Gaeste einchecken. Das Hostel war uebrigens ein ganz normales Haus mit Wohnzimm**, Esszimm**, Kueche, alles offen, einem kleinen Duschbad und einem Klo, sowie 3 Schlafzimm**n, wovon 2 ein Doppelbett hatten und das 3. 2 Etagenbetten. Das Beste an d** Unt**kunft waren die Heizdecken in den Betten.. Halbwegs ausg**uht bin ich an einem sonnigen Sonntag Richtung Inv**cargrill gezuckelt. Dabei habe ich an 3 Wass ...

... towards the coast. however, enroute there was a dripping inside the van, by our feet, and dangerously close to electrics meaning a stop-off in the extremely industrialised super huge town of mount isa, where a mechanic told us 'no worries' to our air-con probs and after flushing out a pipe or two for zilch money, we were back on our way before a quick stop at macdonalds - yes, i want to live a cheap existence now, but sometimes you just have to have a macdonalds - where sean and ...

... I'll cut you a deal, "NZ 19 per person." We had NZ $21 which seemed so close so we just decided to begin boldly talking to people. I prayed and felt directed to talk to a gentleman getting off of the ferry and getting in his car. I told him we were NZ $40 short and were trying to get to Stewart Island and work at a hostel for a night's stay. He said, "I tell you what, if you do a favor for my friend Mark who owns the pub over there, I ...

... walked around town a few different times (they have tons of bars and restaurants), visited a couple of churches, went on the Cadbury Chocolate factory tour and visited the steepest street in the world! The Cadbury tour was so fun. Although we didn't get to swim in chocolate rivers or try crazy new inventions, we had a fun time seeing how it is all made. They did give us lots of candy along the way, but it wasn't there best. They gave ...

... did this a couple of years ago and smashed into a lamp post killing one of them! Onto to brighter things, we also took a scenic train ride into what used to be mining territory. When we looked at the pictures, it looked stunning seeing the train going over the viaducts, but unfortunately, when we were on the train we, maybe obviously, didn't get such great views of the viaducts, but the information given along the way, was interesting, although we did both agree the guy ...

... before driving 10 kilometers out of Kaikoura, we had stopped three times to snap pictures of more seals, sea lions, and birds, and just soak up some generally beautiful scenery...so much for the "quick trip". It didn't matter, as there were plenty of suitable vacancies, and we were even able to get some free internet thrown into the motel deal. Tracy's "you don't have to service our room in exchange for a lower room rate" negotiation technique also ...

... The trio introduced our kids to farm life and the 18 orphaned sheep they are taking care of. Monique loved feeding the orphaned lambs milk and calling out "lamby, lamby, lamby" as they chased her in the paddock to consume the milk she was carrying. We pretty much abandoned any thoughts of formal school work except for mandatory music practice every morning. We were very fortunate to be staying with a family that encouraged ...

... I headed into town for some much needed food. I'd been living on sarnies, toast, porridge and muffins for 2 days, so treated myself to only the 2nd steak of the trip. I must say how good the food is over here and how much you get for so little given the exchange rate at the moment. A friendly barmaid with a tattoo of the outline of New Zealand on her ankle spotted me reading my Lonely Planet guide and asked where I'd been / was going. We chatted for a while and I asked for advice on ...

... live rock'n'roll. Thank you, Auckland! That was necessary! <br><br>Then I made my way down to a place Keith Richards lovingly named "the ******* of the world" (thanks for the quote, Nathan!) which would be my home for the next 6 months. It's definitely the end of the world, but doesn't smell that bad. In fact it is a 50 000 people town that strongly reminds me of any old American mid-western town: wide streets, overland lines, single houses, partially wood, old cars, lotsa hicksy ...