New Zealand and Australia, were two countries I have wanted to visit for a long time and I was about to make it happen.  I flew for two days and arrived in Auckland where I would stay with my cousin Lorna another travelling Grubb:P) for a few days.  She had been travelling in south east Asia, Australia and New Zealand and I hadn’t seen her since before she had left so it was really nice to catch up with her.  In my time there she showed me around Auckland and went to Albert Park, both her and her flatmate Helen’s works for dinner and drinks, “K” Street (hipster part of town) Waheke Island and up the sky tower for cocktails where we got a fantastic view of the city at sunset.

I also hired a car and travelled around both islands for a couple of weeks – which was not nearly enough time.  I travelled down the middle of the north island where I stopped at Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland (an active volcanic area) and was awesome to see crazy coloured bubbling lakes but it did absolutely stink of rotten eggs!

The next day I hiked across the Tongariro crossing (see hiking section for more photos) which was a 19.4km hike up and over ridges in a volcanic area.  The hike was amazing and I got stunning weather and views.  The crazy colour lakes were cool to see here too.

I headed south down towards Wellington enjoying the scenery along the way.  Unfortunately I didn’t get too long here as I was getting a ferry to the south island the next morning.  The views from the ferry across were beautiful and made me think of Vancouver with tree covered hills next to the sea.

I then travelled down the west coast of the island making my way towards Queenstown while stopping and enjoying views along the way at the likes of Nelson Lakes and Franz Josef Glacier.  Unfortunately from about Franz Josef to Wanaka it rained a lot and didn’t get too much in the way of views.  I could barely see the Glacier as it was raining that much but seeing all the waterfalls pouring off the surrounding mountains was pretty spectacular.  Queenstown is beautiful little resort town in a picturesque setting with loads of bars, restaurants and cafes.  It was really nice to chill out here for a couple of days exploring the town and surrounding area.

The next stop was Milford Sound!  Again unfortunately, the weather wasn’t too great so didn’t get as many views as I had hoped en-route but the views I did get were breathtaking!  At Milford Sound the weather did clear up slightly but I will just have to go back in an attempt to experience it in all its glory!  While in Firordland I did a little bit of hiking but would love to come back some day to do some of the long distance multi-day hikes.

The next part of my trip would take me to Mount Cook National Park.  I stayed in the YHI at Aoraki Mount Cook which is in an absolutely stunning setting with amazing mountain views.  From here I did the Mueller Hut hike which was sooo f*cking good!  Mountain, glaciers, glacial lakes, valleys……what more can you ask for? See more photos in the hiking section

Next stop was a short visit to Christchurch.  I enjoyed exploring the town and Hagley Park.  It was pretty crazy to see all of the construction that was still going on after the earthquake and quite sad.  After Christchurch I started making my way up the east coast and then up the middle of the north island towards Auckland again.  On the north Island I stayed over at Waitomo and visited the glow worm caves.   These were really incredible, the roof of the cave looked like a starry night sky.

From Auckland I flew to the next part of my trip…..Melbourne, where I would stay with my friends Ryan and Danielle who also picked me up from the airport.  While here they showed me around their city and visited areas such as St Kilda Beach and Fitzroy (quirky part of town) visited lots of bars including a roof top and also met up with my friend Paul.  Me and Ryan took a trip up the Eureka tower which offered expansive views of Melbourne.  It was pretty unbelievable to see how far Melbourne expanded and reminded me a little of the view of Toronto from the CV tower.  Melbourne was an awesome city and there always seemed to be loads going on.

As well as exploring Melbourne we took a trip along the Great Ocean Road to the 12 Apostles.  The beaches along this road were so beautiful with huge waves that seemed to break for miles.  The Apostles were unlike anything I had ever seen.  We also ended up having a fire and picnic on a secluded beach taking in the ocean and starry skied views!