I'm a little disappointed. I slept through an earthquake in Wellington, which happened around 2:15am, just after I'd got to sleep! The ferry crossing to Picton was interesting too, when apparently a huge wave hit us head on. I missed that too, though I did feel the whole boat jolt. Nelson is a pretty nice little place. It's sunny and dry a lot of the time and it's just generally nice. Amy, Liz and I went along to watch the Christchurch Crusaders play the New Sou...

I love walking. For some reason I meet the friendliest, most interesting and generous people when I'm walking. Jean-Gregoire and Elise are a great French Canadian couple who I met in Tongariro a few days ago, and on arriving in Wellington I was picked up and taken to a restaurant via the old parliament buildings, then brought back to their totally gorgeous flat to be the first guest ever to use their newly delivered spare bed. I could never have hoped for a bette...

Today's trip involved a giant carrot, a giant barbecue and... actually no, those were the only giant things. So, the giant carrot was when I'd finally caught the bus and we'd gone Ohukane, the "carrot capital of the world" (quite a claim). The giant barbecue came later in River Valley, when I impressed even the barbecue cook by having three helpings of the food on offer. He said he'd never seen anyone come back for thirds. He's obviously never met a Mat...

One big adventure, two tired legs, three days in the wild, four great new friends and a fifth whose name I can't remember. I had lots of fun! So I had to leave the crew from my Kiwi Experience just as they were starting to like me. The send off was just after we'd visited Taranaki Falls an hour inside Tongariro National Park. That would be my last landmark before finishing the three day Northern Circuit. I made a mental note to pack some togs. I spent the next ...

On my first day in Taupo I decided it'd be a good idea to throw myself out of a plane at 15,000ft. I'd originally decided 12,000ft but then after adding in the DVD and photos it made sense to go higher. Obviously. A good bit of drawing weatcountry slang on my arms and jutting up and we were in the sky looking down at the lake and mountains around it. I remember the door at the back opening and six people were suddenly gone: two skydivers, their tandems and the c...