Franz Joseph - Wanaka Saturday 9th January Made sure all were up early as we had been told that Carl would leave you behind if you were not there in time for the bus. We were up so early we had time for yummy sausage sandwiches. The bus picked us up at 7.30 and we set off for Queenstown via Wanaka. Along the way we stopped at Lake Matheson to get some reflection pictures. The water had a few ripples, but the views were great. Our next stop was for lunch a...

Greymouth - Franz Joseph with Lisa Thursday 7th January Caught the bus at 8am to Franz Josef, there was a weather warning that the road might be closed due to flooding. Luckily, even though it rained a lot and there were many puddles to splash through, we made it to Franz Josef on time. Along the way we stopped at Hokitika to go to the supermarket and buy supplies for our two nights in FJ, a gold mining town called Ross where you could pan for gold, but none...

Nelson - Greymouth Wednesday 6th January Our pick up was at 8am and we had a full day of driving ahead of us with a few scenic stops along the way. We headed for the 'wild west coast' which is very similar to the great ocean road in OZ. our first stop was Cape Foulwind, named by captain cook when his ship was blown off course. The cape is home to fur seals which we got to see, they were really cute. Our second stop of the day was Punakaiki Pancake Rocks...

Wellington - Nelson (via Picton) Monday 4th January We had to be up really early to catch the shuttle to the ferry at 7.10am. The bus drove us to the Interlander ferry terminal. We checked in and boarded the ferry. It was huge! The journey was about 3 hours long and we arrived in Nelson late afternoon and checked into Paradiso Hostel. Tuesday 5th January. Alison's Birthday! Oh My Goodness, one of our earliest starts yet, the bus came to pick us up a...

Taupo - Wellington Friday 1st January The magic bus picked us up at 8.40 to take us to Wellington. We stopped along the road just outside of Taupo to take amazing pictures of Mount Doom and the surrounding area which was stunning. When we arrived in Wellington we drove up Mount Victoria for views over the Harbour and the capital city. We checked into the Cambridge Hotel and squished into our room for 5 with double buck bed, one single bed and a mattress...