New Zealand plans

I am absent from work due to this pain flare-up and so have had time to think about the planning of the New Zealand part of the trip.

IT IS TOO LARGE A COUNTRY TO SEE IN SUCH A SHORT TIME!!!!!

I have jiggled around the dates for the Australia bit and will stay in Sydney longer before Xmas and before going to Adelaide. Then it is straight to Auckland to have 6 weeks in the country. I am going to use the Magic Bus (weird name, but a good way to see the country and get accommodation too in the passes), but will have to rationalise what I see. I want to see the natural beauty of the place, and do things I would never have the opportunity to do in the UK (climbing a glacier, all the activities around Queenstown, smelling the sulphurous fumes in Rotorua, and bathing in the hot-water sand-bath on the beach! are among the highlights) - so I feel myself leaning towards the big outdoors, rather than spending time in the cities.

Also, I will just have to go back for a 2nd trip won't I?!?!?

OK, must get back to that map.