Monthly Archives: March 2012

I can’t believe I’ve come to more or less the end of my time in New Zealand. In the last six weeks, I’ve stayed in 20 different towns, driven 5,015km, or 3,116 miles, and formed countless memories. I can understand … Continue reading →

On Tuesday, March 27, I took the long route towards Christchurch as there were a couple of places I wanted to visit because of the name – Caroline Bay, for example – but for various reasons, I didn’t get what … Continue reading →

The Lake Tekapo area is famous for its clear skies so on my second night I drove towards the middle of nowhere to see what the fuss was about. After a possum-dodging mini-adventure, I turned off the lights, got out … Continue reading →

On Sunday, March 25, the new driving laws came into effect, but these didn’t bother me as I drove to Lake Tekapo because they’re what I’m used to in the UK. The hostel in the village of Lake Tekapo was … Continue reading →

On Friday, March 23, I headed to Mount Cook but stopped for lunch in Oamaru. I went to see the blue penguin colony but most of the birds were at sea. I saw a few in their nestboxes. They were … Continue reading →

Dunedin, the second-largest city on the south island (but only about the same size as Exeter), was pretty scruffy, and it felt more like Britain than New Zealand. In places like Wellington and Wanaka it wasn’t uncommon to see people wandering … Continue reading →

The quiet little town of Te Anau was just a stopover on my way to Milford Sound, but it had some quirky features and I hit the jackpot hostel-wise. I wasn’t in a dorm in the main building, but in … Continue reading →

I’m just about to leave Queenstown, having been at the YHA’s lakefront hostel for five nights which is the longest I’ve spent in one place since leaving the UK. I’ve had a brilliant time here but I’ve spent a lot of money, and it’s … Continue reading →

When I had been planning my route around the south island, I failed to notice that the line on the map between Franz Josef and Mount Cook was a footpath across the mountains, and not a road. Therefore Wanaka became our … Continue reading →

On Thursday, March 8, I took a full-day trip to Fox Glacier. There were a dozen people in the group, led by an 18-year-old Brit called Sam. To reach the glacier, we had to walk through the rainforest and hop … Continue reading →