....Leaving NZJust a really quick entry as I've got to hop on the airport shuttle bus in a mo to embark on my next epic adventure - we hope! But first thought it only right to say farewell to New Zealand, which has been such a fab place to tramp and travel over the last six weeks....I finished my time here in Auckland and had a good few days hanging out, tying up loose ends - and even had my hair done! Went to a Toni & Guy, how predictable am I...? And I ...

...Racing round the Nouth IslandHas been all go attempting to get round the North Island in just over a week, but time is running short so on hitting Wellington - my first stop on the North Island - I chose to hot-foot it and stick on the same Stray bus right roundm, except for a slight detour east to see the distant rellies and have a weekend 'off'. We certainly covered some K's over the last week or so, starting right down in Queenstown and going ba...

.....Taking it easy in NZ Ouch, am yet again soooo behind with this blog business, mainly due to the recent hardcore Stray bussing which has involved a series of 8am departures, long drives and remote stopovers - where the internet is either non-existent or bloody pricey. But that's been the North Island, first will quickly try and fill in the rest of my South Island fun in as brief a manner as poss (yeah right).So from Wanaka to Queenstown, partaaae capital ...

.....Hitching to the hillsMore fun times to share since I last wrote, thanks to a lovely four-day stay in Wanaka. We reached this small resort town after negotiating the previously closed Haast Pass (snow) which goes right over the mountains, but it was fine by the time we went through, in fact the sun was shining and the sky was bright blue as we drove into Wanaka, which is so pretty perched right by its namesake lake. Wanaka is a kind of sister town&n...

.....Snowed inThe snow has come! Yeay! Cue picture-postcard scenes of me frolicking round in colourful knitted sweaters and having snowball fights with my winter wonderland buddies... Except it's not really fallen on the ground, just on the mountains, including the road that leads over the top of them... And this was enough to get us officially snowed in as we couldn't actually get to our next destination.But first things first. Couple of places to mentio...