Early on Thursday morning we set off from our hostels to catch the ferry that would take us to the South Island. I was looking forward to this a lot, having not been taken much by the North Island and by all accounts the South Island would be much more enjoyable. On board the boat I met a Dutch group and so we whiled away the 3 hour journey chatting and making frequent ascents up to the rather windy upper deck from which you could see some astounding views. We ev...

The Magic bus rolled out of Waitomo to Rotorua at about 3pm on Monday, now a larger version and driven by a Aussie called Young Joe Young. This name was apparently given to him by the Aboriginis and means "Forever Young" and it seemed to b true. He was to be my bus driver until I entered Wellington and a very entertaining one he proved to be. The drive into Rotorua was fairly short, about 2 1/2 hours. This small town is built on an area of geothermal la...

The Magic Bus departed from central Auckland at 8 on a blustery Saturday morning with a few threatening looking clouds following us out of the city. On our exit from the city we stopped again at Mt. Eden (even colder this time!) for a quick photoshoot before making our way along the Miranda Seabird Coast towards the Coromandel Peninsula. This Peninsula normally bears the brunt of the harsh weather, therefore protecting the inner land, and has an unusual remotenes...

My flight to Auckland, although not the longest I've ever done, definitely felt like it. It was awful, I had 2 stops in Adelaide and Sydney, and I didn't manage to catch a wink of sleep. I eventually arrived in New Zealand at 17.30 local time, a little dazed, completely shattered and a bit daunted by what lay ahead. The past 2 weeks had flown by without me realising it. I had made really good friends and suddenly I was alone, in a big city, with no Johann to guid...

We left KL for Melaka at around 11 am on Sunday morning. I wish I could have stayed in KL for longer as there was so much more to see and do...maybe next time!!! Melaka was to be only a short stop before our move across the border into Singapore so there was not much time to see the town. It was founded in the 14th century by a Sumatran prince, taken over by the Portugese in 1511, and then captured by the Dutch East Trading Company in 1631, providing Melaka with ...