We arrived in Wanaka quite late in the evening as it was a long drive from Franz Joseph after stopping off at Lake Matheson where, on a clear day there is a perfect reflection of the mountains on the lake. Unfortunately, the only thing we lacked was a clear day!! When we finally got to Wanaka there was just time for a quick snoop around the shops to get our bearings before heading back to the hostel to prepare dinner in possibly the dirtiest kitchen in the world...

We have been in Franz Josef now for three days and it is a tiny little place surrounded by mountains covered in snow! We arrived in the afternoon and got to our hostel and after a little mix up which was caused by some ass helping himself to our room the nice lady put us in the motel for the same price...bargain! we even have a bathroom, kitchen, tv and the best bit...an electric blanket!! We didn't do too much the day we arrived, got some food and booked ourse...

Today we left Westport for Mahinapua to go to a random little pub that Kiwi Experience stop at for the excuse to have a party! We got on our bus nice and early as usual and started our drive down to the pub stopping at a really nice little place on the coast to see the pancake rocks and some blow holes. We stopped for an hour or so to walk around and take in the view and then after having a hot chocolate it was time to head off again to Greymouth to stock up on ...

After we phoned up the Kiwi Experience office and the driver that had forgotten about us came back to collect us, we were on our way down the west coast to Westport for a couple of relaxing days. Along the way we stopped at Nelson Lakes national park for a while, and went for a walk around one of the lakes. The water was so calm that it reflected the mountains in the distance perfectly, and we managed to skim a stone about 10 times on it (we were so proud of our...

We arrived in Nelson in the early evening, but it was still warmer than we had experienced over the previous week, so we decided to make the most of it and do as much outside as possible. On our first full day in the town, we did what came naturally and spent the morning wandering around the shops, and had a look in the visitors centre. Every town and city seems to have brand new information centres, and everything out here is so easily accessible, it kinda feel...