Well, I have five hours to go until I head off for the airport and can't quite believe my time in New Zealand is up! Although I do feel ready to move on, I will miss this beautiful, crazy, welcoming country! Throughout the last month, every time I've thought that NZ has shown me what it's got, it keeps giving more! I've white water rafted, climbed over a glacier, had a (scary) helicopter flight, sat in a Morris Minor to watch a film, gone up a mountain in a go...

Today has been totally incredible! I got off the Kiwi bus last night and was dropped off in a small town called Geraldine. I was met by the rafting company's owner and taken to her house to meet her kids and have tea and cake - always welcome! I stayed up in the lodge last night, surrounded by lush green countryside with of course, white topped mountains in the background. Had a lie in this morning - 8am!!!!!! and lounged around having a lazy morning. The t...

Well, after sitting around for four days in a town with only 300 residents (not exactly activity central) I've finally done it! After SEVEN cancellations, at 10:00 this morning, I did the heli-hike up Franz Josef Glacier - my one main wish out of my whole trip - and it was soooooo worth it! The helicopter flight was a bit nerve racking and when the pilot asked if I was ok, I stupidly answered that I was pooping myself! So what did he do? Yep, turned the helic...

Oh my gosh, where to start! New Zealand is stunning! It was sad starting off in Christchurch. Although the earthquakes were almost two years ago, there is still a big area in the city centre that is cordoned off. The council has over 1600 buildings which were damaged and of course, red tape and differing opinions mean that work is still to be started on alot of the area! It was quite emotional talking to an older lady who was thrown out of her bed and lost ...

Well I suppose after having such a fantastic time in the Outback, coming back to civilisation and a city was going to be an anti-climax. But, having said that, Sydney is lovely (although my entry wasn't great as we came in with loads of turbulence - absolutely pooped myself!!!!) I arrived fairly late so headed straight down to the harbour and arrived just before sunset. The Opera House isn't as white as it looks in the pictures. The "sails" are actually a...