We have now been in New Zealand for just over a week and are now getting settled into the country. Well as we said on our last postcard from Lake Takapo we were planning on walking up Mount John and we managed to do this on Wednesday morning. The weather then and still is now wonderfully crisp and clear, so crisp that we had to buy ourselves some hats and gloves and fleeces. The walk up Mount John was difficult because we were climbing up through a steep woodlen track. Once up at the summit we were surrounded by picturesque mountains and lakes and had lunch overlooking these. To get back to the town we walked down and along Lake Takapo and then drove on to the Mount Cook region that afternoon. Thursday was spent exploring the Mount Cook region and challenging ourselves to three walks to different lookouts. One of them was climbing up a vertical cliff up so many steeps you would not believe it, but the views up the top were unbelieveable and we were so close to the snow. The second track we chose to walk crossed two swingbridges and had some sheer rock climbing bits. The rivers and lakes are not that full this time of year, it would be nice to see them gashing down after the snow melts. Our final walk climbed up to a lookout over Tasman Glacier, the biggest glacier in New Zealand, but it looked more like a quarry. By this time we were a bit tired and had an hour drive a head of us to our next accommodation which was at Twizel in a cottage on a farm. We happened to be the only backpackers there and had the run of the place. Ad lit the log fire which he looked after all night. Now we are in Queenstown we arrived here on Friday and leave tomorrow afternoon. It is busy place even though this is there quiet period and you can do any activity that you can think of. Today we went jet boating along the lake and two rivers it is kind of an adreline ride where you catch the scenery as you fly by and one of the highlights is experiencing the 360 degree spins. If that does not tickle your taste buds maybe white water rafting will which is what we have planned for tomorrow!! Let you know how it goes next time. Bye for now Adam and Charlotte xx