As we headed back north again along the eastern side of the South Island the views became no less stunning. We passed through the dry Mackenzie Basin which is a stark contrast from the wet west coast on the other side of those mountains. Mackenzie Basin and random lake along the drive selling amazing fresh … More Journey of the South Island, New Zealand: Our final days and saying goodbye to new friends

Queenstown was our favorite town in all New Zealand. It is a picture perfect tiny city situated on a lake with the mountains in the background. It has boating and swimming in the summer, skiing in the winter and great nightlife and restaurants all year-round. View of Queenstown. As many of us on the bus … More Journey of the South Island, New Zealand: Pub crawls and visiting our first fjord

As we headed further South the drives got longer and more rugged and the weather got colder but the scenery was just spectacular. As we drove we stopped at various viewpoints and short walks each more stunning than the next. Jon guzzling the most famous waterfall which by the way tasted ice cold and spring … More Journey of the South Island, New Zealand: Southern Alps and gorgeous wineries

The next day was light on the driving so that everybody could nurse their hangovers from the green party the night before. We arrived in the town of Franz Josef just after lunch giving me the whole afternoon to visit the Kiwi reserve (the national endangered bird) and leisurely stroll the quaint shops in the … More Journey of the South Island, New Zealand: Glaciers, more rain and pain pills

Our next stop along the west coast was a kiwi exclusive at a traditional pub. The history is that many years ago the Kiwi bus broke down in front of the pub. The owners fed and housed all the Kiwi passengers and had such a blast that the Kiwi bus has been stopping there ever … More Journey of the South Island, New Zealand: The Kiwi Pub

Our journey to the South Island started with a picturesque ferry ride through the Marlborough Sound. The ferry carried both passengers and cars and was as large as a cruise ship. The ride started out smooth and then got pretty rough as we headed out to the Cook Straight but he scenery was breathtaking. Views … More Journey of the South Island, New Zealand: The wet west coast

next part of our trip was all in the interior of the north island. There are the most fabulous landscapes of green rolling hills dotted with sheep. It is what I imagined an English country-side would look like. Our stay for night 6 was a special one. We would be staying in a river lodge … More Journey of the North Island, New Zealand: Green rolling hills of the interior

The next stop on our trip involved two nights in Taupo in order for us to hike the 6-8 hour Tongariro Alpine Crossing which is the most popular one-day hike in New Zealand. On the way to Taupo we stopped at the gorgeous turquoise colored Huka falls. Three hundred tons of water per second plunge … More Journey of the North Island, New Zealand: Hiking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing

One of the highlights of the trip was our overnight stay in a Marae village. This was a unique overnight experience in which we learned about marae customs and protocol and participated in a typical hangi dinner. We arrived to the village in the afternoon for tea and spent the next hour learning a song … More Journey of the North Island, New Zealand: Overnight Marae stay

After grabbing some groceries and a new cooler grocery bag we stood on the side of the road with the other 45 people who would be our travel companions for at least the next few days. The bus basically drives to a different location each night and the passengers can choose to stay the one … More Journey of the North Island, New Zealand: Gorgeous coastline and caves