On we went to Rotorua which is just as smelly as they say. The entire city and surrounding villages has the undeniable odour of rotten eggs owing to the overwhelming amounts of sulphur underground which is released into the atmosphere. Still, every cloud has a silver lining and , in Rotorua, that silver lining comes in the form of dozens of geysers hidden among the woodland. It's an odd sight to see: steam rising out from the trees and undergrowth only metres fro...

From Auckland airport we took a shuttle bus to Queens Street where our hostel was situated. In true South American style the driver took our money and dropped us off in the middle of a bustling city, pretended we would find our lodgings nearby and sped off into the smog! Forty minutes, a few cross words and, regretfully, some damning of the bus driver later we found our base. We arrived at 7am and had to wait six hours before we could check into our room so we de...