Windy windy Wellington

Well, I can certainly say that Wellington lived up to its name; I gave up caring what I looked like about five minutes in and accepted the fact that I would have to embrace a series of eccentric hair styles or be prepared to empty a can of hairspray in 48 hours. As I knew before I'd even arrived - despite peoples' glowing reviews - I found Wellington fairly underwhelming. I feel like it may be one of those places you have to live in to love, but as a visitor I only had 1.5 days and I struggled to fill the hours.

Beautiful Picton

'3 days? What are you going to do for 3 days in Picton?'

This coming from a Kiwi, I started to question my decision to dedicate 3 of my 31 days in New Zealand to Picton, a small town at the top of the South Island which most people use as a convenient one night stopover before catching the ferry to Wellington.

I needn't have worried; in fact, as soon as I'd dumped my stuff at the hostel and headed out to explore, I knew I'd easily be able to fill my three days. The scenery waiting for me at the waterfront was gorgeous:

Kaikoura: seal pups, whale fails and some bloody nice landscapes

After a very chilly first night in a below par hostel (it's colder inside than out, the room is very cramped & one of my roommates is definitely 50+ and currently doing some knitting...) I headed straight for the info centre to get my whale watching and dolphin swim booked, only to find that everything had been cancelled because the wind had turned the sea into a churning body of froth and mighty waves. However, despite the ferocious gale force winds the skies were blue and the sun was shining, so I took myself on the Peninsula Walk and spent the next 3.5 hours happily strolling by the sea, struggling to stay upright on the blustery cliff tops and being thoroughly entertained by playful seal pups.

24 hours in quake-stricken Christchurch

When booking my bus to Kaikoura back in Queenstown I had the option of leaving mandatory stopover Christchurch at 8am or 4pm the next day. I like to give everywhere a chance so went for the 4pm departure...and now understand the look that crossed other travellers' faces when I mentioned I was staying there for a whole 24 hours. '20 minutes is too much' someone jokingly warned, but seriously I didn't need more than three hours and that included getting food.

What's cracking in Queenstown?

Aside from locking myself out of my suitcase for an entire morning and an ill-timed bout of traveller's sickness, Queenstown has been relatively drama free - but absolutely action-packed. With air, water and land adventures, it's been an epic way to kickstart my New Zealand travels. So what's crack-a-lacking?