Nelson

Next stop on route was Nelson where we were going to stay with my dad's sister and her husband, Jan and Bob for a few days.

Staying with locals really helps to get a feel for a place and it was nice to have a bit longer to explore one area.

Our three favourite things however were...

Wellington

From Rotorua we headed south to Wellington, the capital where we were going to be for my 31st birthday.

Stinky Rotorua

 

From Bay of Islands we moved down to the centre of north island to Rotorua, an area famed for its Maori culture and thermal activity. It is also quite near to the Hobbiton movie set from Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

 

Bay of Islands

After the city lights of Auckland we headed up for a few days in the Bay of Islands (BoI), at the top of north island to undertake some more 'beach time' and spend some time around the islands.

Hello New Zealand

After nearly five months in South America we flew to New Zealand last week and started our five week trip here in Auckland.

As we are going to be moving from place to place much faster here I have decided to borrow a tactic from my friend's blog (thanks Kate) and sum up each place we visit with our three favourite things.

So here goes.

And the award for the 5 best hostels we stayed at in South America

In no particular order are ...

- Casa Kiwi, Medellin, Colombia

- Pariwana, Cusco, Peru

- Freestyle Hostel, Ushuaia, Argentina

- Damajuana, Mendoza, Argentina

- Renaca Beach Hostel, Vina del Mar, Chile

... And the best bus companies: Cruz del Sur (Peru) & Via Bariloche group (Argentina).

Santiago & Vina del Mar

So we headed from Mendoza back across to Chile to Santiago where we would catch our flight to New Zealand.

It didn't start off to well. Fairly hungover we boarded our bus, which was due to take 7 hours (the shortest one to date). In true South American style it actually took 10 hours, including 3 hours at the border crossing leading to two very grumpy English travellers on arrival in the city.

Unfortunately it didn't get much better the next day. We got up and set off to explore Santiago by foot.

Red Red Wine ... stay close to me

Instead of heading back into Chile from Bariloche (we couldn't face another border crossing and/or another long bus journey) we headed back into wine country to Mendoza.

On the first day we checked into an HI hostel which wasn't very nice (Mike's choice) so spent the rest of the day getting to know the city pretty well as we looked for alternative accommodation. In the end we settled for dorms in Damajuana, by far the nicest hostel in what can only be described as the 'Notting Hill' area of Mendoza.

Our first night was spent in the grotty hotel so we made the most of it by joining in a pizza party and drinking lots of beer.

Bariloche

After Calafate we headed up to the land of lakes, Bariloche.

Also known for it's beautiful surroundings (becoming a bit of a theme in Patagonia) and the major ski resort in South America, the city followed the theme of Calafate and Ushuaia - chocolate shops galore, tourist driven and lots of restaurants and bars.

We planned to be there for three days before heading up to Mendoza.