I only have two nights left in New Zealand. Time has absolutley flown by, and it all seems a bit of a blur at times, because we've only been spending one night in places as there isn't much to do - sometimes the bus just stops overnight to break up the journey. After Wanaka I went to Queenstown for three nights. It's a small town with a very lively atmosphere in amongst beautiful mountains (called The Remarkables) and I really enjoyed being there. I walked u...

I think cramp-ons are the best thing since sliced bread. I arrived in Wanaka earlier, and will be here for a couple of days. I'm a bit knackered at the moment because I've been using my legs too much. After Tongariro last week it took my poor legs days to learn how to walk again, and then I walked along part of the Abel Tasman national park, and then hiked up a blinking glacier yesterday. And it's all been great :) I can't find an easy way to put my pictures up...

I'm on the south island now - arrived today. Have done some fantastic things, including the Tongariro crossing (in feet and feet of snow), which my legs still haven't forgiven me for. Stopped for a couple of nights in Wellington (the captial) too and visited the houses of parliament and the Te Papa museum, which were both really interesting. It's been cold lately and I am now travelling with thermals and a hot water bottle!

I arrived in Rotorua yesterday, and have seen the lake that looks like this picture. Rotorua is a bit of a geothermal hotspot and the whole town smells like rotten eggs but it's not that bad. At the weekend I was in the Bay of Islands and I visited the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where the Maoris and the British signed a treaty and New Zealand became it's own country, or something like that. I also went on a trip up to the top of the country - to Cape Reinga - to se...

I WENT DIVING TODAY :) I went out to the Poor Knights Islands, off the coast of Tutukaka near Whangarei which is one of the top ten dive sites in the world, according to Jacques Cousteau. And he was right. I saw so many different types of fish, and lots of kelp, and it was beautiful. I loved it. It was great to be underwater again, even if it was slightly cooler. The islands are the result of a volcano and there are so many different species of fish and pla...