The road goes ever on and on

Going traveling tomorrow morning, here's the plan so far:

Monday, 20th of April:
The northbound Tranz-Coastal train leaves Christchurch at 7am towards Picton, where I will arrive right after noon. There I'll board a ferry that will take me over the Cook Strait to Wellington. Both the train and the ferry apparently pass through some pretty awesome locations.

2 nights of mucking about in Wellington.

Wednesday, 22nd of April:
"Naked Bus" from Wellington to Rotorua in the northern parts of the North Island, about 7 hours on the road.

2 nights of random volcanic expeditions in Rotorua.

Friday, 24th of April:
Again with the Naked Bus, this time from Rotorua to Auckland, where I'll stay one night, waiting for my flight the next day. Hopefully I will have time to hunt for some extra games for the Nintendo DS that I bought yesterday.

Saturday, 25th of April:
Spend my birthday flying, as I head over to Japan, making a 5-hour pit stop in Kuala Lumpur.

Sunday, 26th of April:
Arrive to Osaka, Japan, early morning, meet up with my friends there, offload some of my luggage to their place and jump on Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto.

Stay in Kyoto for 3 nights. Temples, parks, temples.
Temples.

Wednesday, 29th of April:
Quick switch to the next temple-ridden city, Nara, where I will stay for 2-3 nights.
Temples, parks, hopefully some cherry blossoms, feed cookies to the deer roaming the parks.

Friday, 30th of April:
Make a day-trip to Iga-Ueno, visit the ninja museum and laugh at the silliness.
Head back to Nara in the evening, stay there for 1 or 2 more nights.

Saturday, 2nd of May:
Beginning of Golden Week and a stampede of Japanese tourists desperately trying to enjoy their big holiday.
Return to Osaka and spend a few days visiting my friends.

Thursday, 7th of May:
Shinkansen to Hiroshima. 2 days of visiting different memorial parks and museums, and perhaps half a day at Miyashima.

Saturday, 9th of May:
Take the morning train back to Osaka airport and return to New Zealand, again via Malaysia.

Sunday, 10th of May:
Auckland. Spend here maybe 1 night before flying back to Christchurch? Not sure, haven't booked any tickets yet. I guess I should be back to work on Monday, but I'm sure they can wait for me one day longer. :)