NEW ZEALAND!
It's hard to believe that over a month has passed already. When I first booked my flight tickets I thought that a month would be loads of time to see the country but despite having packed in so much I could do with another week, but I guess it's a good reason to come back again sometime..
I started off on the South Island, which pretty much has it all - awesome scenery with rainforests, glacier country and the Southern Alps; whales, dolphins, seals and penguins seemingly dotted all around the coast; and the adrenaline sports capital and party town of Queenstown. Glacier hiking, a bungy jump and being just a few metres away from rare penguins were great experiences and walking through Abel Tasman NP in the driving rain was certainly memorable if not much fun!
Having had so much fun on the South Island and having met some fantastic people I was a bit worried on my way across the Cook Strait that the North Island wouldn't live up to it - although the more pressing thought was that going on a bumpy three hour ferry journey just a few hours after New Years celebrations ended probably wasn't the best idea I'd ever had...
However, while the North Island took a few days for me to warm to it (not helped by my first stop being Wellington which was closed for the holidays) I ended up loving it too. Apart from the sun (a welcome change from 24/7 driving rain on the South Island!), it also has some amazing sights - bubbling pools and mud everywhere around Rotarua, the endless beaches and cruisey lifestyle of the East Cape, Maori culture, beaches up in Northland and loads of volcanoes, many still active, right through the centre of the country. The highlights of the North Island were skydiving over Lake Taupo (I recommend it to everyone!); attempting to feed sting ray off the East Coast; the feeling of satisfaction for completing the Tongariro Crossing (said to the the best one day walk in NZ and one of the best in the world) and a bizarre but fun road trip with ex-truck driver Leigh where we ate a sheep her friend had shot and painted stones! Again, I met some really great people who all made the trip really memorable.
Hard to sum it all up in a few sentences so I will bore you all to tears with the details and photos on my return!