From Nelson to Greymouth

The plan was to do the standard loop of the south island - down the western coast all the way to the tip, then up the eastern coast to Christchurch. But I was running out of time, and choices had to be made. I decided to skip the glaciers and to cut across the island to Christchurch, via the transalpine railway, and then do a smaller loop south via Dunedin, Fiordlands, Queenstown and Lake Tekapo. No regrets whatsoever.

So from Nelson, I took an outrageously early bus to get to Greymouth on time to catch the train across. More on that next time.

Maybe I haven't emphasised enough how e v e r y single view is breathtaking in the south island - as always, the scenery we went through was glorious, ever-changing and - shit, I'm running out of ways to say New Zealand's pretty! Anyway, you get the gist. Shame the bus doesn't stop often, so you only get to snap pictures from the moving bus with your phone. Then your phone runs out of battery and you just sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.