Three weeks in NZ and one night of accommodation paid for. How did I do it you ask? With the glamourous affair of sleeping in barns, closets and parks. So sit down, buckle up and get ready to read the Idiots Guide to Backpacking the South Island.

If our antics on the East coast of NZ weren’t enough, it was time to show the West coast just what we had left in us. From a midnight assault on a volcano to crawling deep into caves, and surfing to flash flood hikes, the saying ‘Ain’t no rest for the wicked’ comes to mind.

As our thumbs became tired from so much hitchhiking we organised our kiwi mate Ana to chauffeur us around the North Island. In this first week of our NZ roadtrip we jumped off cliffs, snuck into a waterfall, and tested boogie boards on not only waves, but rocks and grass as well. It doesn't get ay better than that.

We hit the ground running with our first five days in New Zealand. It featured: 14 rides hitched throughout the North Island of New Zealand, jumping a music festival we didn’t know the name of and going au naturale at a natural hot spring. It was quick and dirty, fast and loose, and definitely did not have the heart foundation tick of approval.