So, having arrived at Christchurch airport, we bade farewell to Lily (who was staying a night in Christchurch) and Max who was returning to his home and Lynn. Tom and I waited together for our flights, and then boarded separate planes both headed direct to Auckland. On arrival, I excitedly picked up our tiny hire car and ventured out onto the roads with great precaution, for this was the first time that I had driven in 6 months, but I quickly began to enjoy mys...

Following a hectic last night on the North Island, and we were up early the next morning (6am on a hangover!) and cobbling our stuff together for our crossing over onto the South island. The 2 hour crossing gave us all the chance to catch up on some sleep - which we duly did - and before long we could see the banks of the South island, and were immediately impressed. We passed through Malbourough Sounds, a stunning scenery where hilly lands meet with watery inl...

After saying goodbye to Jodie in Melbourne, my family in Brisbane and my lovely Lottie in Perth, I headed to New Zealand, and for the first time ever, I travelled alone. As ever with arriving in a new country, the first few hours is always the weirdest and most daunting, and so it proved as I arrived in Auckland at around 2am on a Saturday morning (Friday night!). My chosen hostel was to be found on the K-Road, a road I soon found out to be a party street, wher...

We left Asia for the vastness of Australia, the world's largest island. Due to the rules of our round-the-world tickets, for Lottie to return to the UK early she had to fly home via Australia, so we arranged flights into Perth before departing the very next day! On the far South-Western corner of Australia, Perth is one of the most affluent cities in the country and one that we were both excited to. We landed in Perth early morning and took a taxi over to our d...

After a fast paced but fantastic four weeks in China, we headed towards Hong Kong on a 24 hour train, traversing from the North to the South of China. The journey passed fairly quickly, and soon we found ourselves in Shenzen, where we shopped in the local markets picking up some warm garments at low prices. We then crossed into Hong Kong by Metro, where we headed to our accommodation at the infamous Chungking mansions, a huge block of hotels, restaurants and mobi...