* Recap *

I mentioned on Thursday that I was going to start posting about the second half of my time in New Zealand. I thought that before I started, it might be a good idea to recap what I've posted so far and "set the scene" for the posts to follow. I've been finding that I'm getting the dates and places mixed up so goodness knows about anyone else trying to keep track!

SO. Tom and I spent Christmas and New Year in Wellington, on the North Island. On the 3rd of January we took the ferry from there to Picton, ready to begin our 3 months down South.

That was our first visit to Nelson - the city we eventually lived in as hostel workers. Unlike the previous months, we had the next 2 weeks of our trip booked up before we left Wellington. We wanted to focus on finding work so having everything booked took away the stress of trying to figure everything out as we went along. This ended up being a perfect decision because job hunting was S T R E S S F U L to say the least.

We left Nelson 4 days after we arrived. It rained all morning and the bus journey was eventful to say the least. If we weren't hugging mountain sides, we were wondering if the bus driver was trying to fly the bus instead of just driving it. We weren't surprised to find ourselves on time for our train but we were a bit shocked that we were arriving in one piece!

Our train was one of three scenic journeys offered by KiwiRail. Funnily enough, Tom and I have experienced all three of those now but that first one was the TranzAlpine Experience. This was by far the best journey of the three, so we're both really glad we experienced it together. Travelling through the Southern Alps was fantastic. We were blessed with weather that cleared enough to give us outstanding views. Win!

That train journey brought us to Christchurch. This is where my throwback posts will start from.  I really liked Christchurch! I liked it so much in fact, I specifically flew back there on my way home for a revisit. I'm so glad that's where my posts will start. I loved my stay there and it's going to be so fun to write all about it!

Christchurch was also where we picked up our rental car. It was the starting point of our "holiday in a holiday"; 10 days of just us two driving down the coast of the South Island. It ended up being one big loop back to Nelson, where we spent the rest of our time together in New Zealand.

Tom and I both loved the South Island so I'm really looking forward to sharing some of what happened here. Plus the pictures look so good Tom and I can't actually believe we were the ones to take them. Just you wait until you see!