We waved good bye to Queenstown and hopped back on the bus for Lake Tekapo. On the way we stopped at a beautiful look out point with the southern alps in the background and another large still lake.

When we made it to Lake Tekapo we were shown to a tiny church facing the lake and it just so happened two people were getting married which was stunning to see. It was a very chilled hostel on the lake. There was another very cute ginger cat I befriended too.

After check in the girls, Ed and myself headed for a scenic walk which took us around 2 and a half hours up to Mount John, it was beautiful. We watched the sun go down from the top and returned back! We spotted lots of sheep on our walk and had 360 views of the area and we couldn't see anything else for miles.

We spent the evening chilling out had some food and watched a couple of films whilst I caught up with my diary writing. The sky here is amazingly clear so we spotted a few stars late at night. We weren't late too bed either the walk had tired us out.

The next day we packed up and checked out and headed for Christchurch where we planned to stay in the old jail house. Once we arrived we explored the old jail house and it's room that have been left to show the public it's chilling past which made us a little anxious about sleep tonight!!

Christchurch is known to be a very boring city now due to the earth quake that has ruined most of the central city! It was a sad place as the government closed the central area otherwise known as the red zone for 2 years and have only just reopened it for the public.

We were really lucky that a big rugby game was on tonight so we made or way to the stadium to purchase a few of the last tickets. We took a walk round the city in the afternoon which was extremely derelict and went to see the cathedral which is just about standing. We also took a look around the shops that are inside lorry containers which were pretty cool!!

We got back and wrapped up for the rugby and around 20 of us had purchased tickets that were in our hostel so we all walked together to watch the game!!

It was great fun and we definitely got a great deal with our seats as the men stretched and warned up in front of us which wasn't a bad sight to say the least!!

We grabbed drinks and a pie and thoroughly enjoyed the match between the Crusaders and the Sharks!! We went for drinks at a bar afterwards which was fun and watched a little old lady around 70 take over the dance floor, she was insane!!

We all headed back late as we have another early bus ride tomorrow morning to leave for kaikoura!!

Today was Lucy's birthday- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! We were late to catch the bus but our trusty original bus driver-Bodz, waited to pick us up. It was great to be reunited!! Our bus was empty and we planned to have a roast dinner tonight to take advantage of the empty kitchen.

We checked into the lazy shag hostel around lunch time after being taken to a very pretty viewpoint of the beautiful seaside town. We picked up lunch quick and I decided a carrot cake was necessary to celebrate Lucy's day, however I forgot we had booked to go whale watching which I expected to make me feel sea sick woopsy!!

We rushed to the whale watch check in and boarded the boat that travelled extremely fast. Everyone felt dicky, the waves were not helping but the boat bounced on water to reach the edge of the underwater crater quicker! We were around 2km above the bottom of the ocean and sat and waited for activity. We were lucky enough to witness 2 sperm whales. The crew showed us the equipment they used to hear and spot the whales. We watched them blow out their blow hole and dive to the bottom of the ocean not forgetting to splash their tale on the waters surface. Truly amazing and a little emotional to see such a giant mammal in the wild, it was an absolute pleasure!!

I wasn't sick thank god but like everyone else I was very close it was great to make it back to dry land!! We all headed straight to the supermarket after to grab dinner supplies!! Roast chicken, roasted carrots and potatoes and broccoli with gravy yum yum!!

Pete the chef made another fantastic meal that all 6 of us enjoyed thoroughly!! It was a quite town and I took the opportunity to skype home to wish Lucy Happy Birthday and catch up before heading back up North! We spent the rest of the evening watching a film in the lounge and ended up falling asleep and woken up to go to bed!!

We knew the 19th was going to be a very long day back to Wellington on the North island!! We set off early and had an early morning walk at Oahu falls which we trekked to the top to view the seals playing in the waterfall it was sooo cute!! We spent 10 minutes just watching and laughing as they entertained themselves!! And sadly hopped back on the bus for a few hours to Picton ready to catch the next ferry!! We had all packed a picnic and enjoyed it in a park by a lovely little pond!! It was sad to leave the South Island it has definitely been our favourite!!

We boarded the 3 hour ferry and all fell asleep watching idiot abroad on the iPad!! We got off and boarded our next bus to reach our hostel but our driver accidentally smashed the window falling over getting on the bus so we had to wait for a replacement. Everyone was getting hungry and winging and we finally made it to our hostel an hour or two later!! We got showered and ate our free snack dinner at the hostel before heading out for a few drinks. It was a fairly tame night but we still had a lovely few farewell drinks!!

On the 20th we had a lay in and met the girls to enjoy a breakfast out which was very tasty!! We then headed to the Te Papa museum which is huge and free wahoo!! It took us all day to make our way round and we experienced a rein acted quake which was scary!! We had a lovely day wandering the city along the harbour and round the shops! We got ice cream and had one spare in our box and I donated it to an old man which made his day!!
We spent the evening chilling out!! We listened to music that reminded us of people and things back home and sat up talking till late about the things we miss.

The next day we were straight on the bus to head to Taupo it was going to be our last night together so final farewells as they all head straight to Auckland. We had a few days left to chill out and of course I still hadn't done my skydive so have decided to stay for a few days!! Us girls went for a wander and a shop and the lads watched a film. When we came back we headed for a burger fuel altogether which was yum yum!! We all said goodbye after watching a film in the evening!
It was official it was just the two of us left!!

On the 22nd we done our last grocery shop for the week we had left and enjoyed a lovely breakfast together. We had nothing planned so leisurely got ready and went for a walk around the town down to the beautiful lake.
I decided to book my skydive for 2pm as it was such a lovely day! A limo picked me up and I headed to the airport! It all happened so quick and I was up in that plane to 12,000ft ready to jump out. It was an amazing experience I absolutely loved every minute!!! I wasn't scared but instead excited!!

Once I got down I immediately wanted to do it again! We watched back our videos and chose music to go along with it!

I was finally reunited with Ed to show him everything he looked just as happy as I felt and I immediately rang home and uploaded the evidence to show them!!

It completely knocked me out and we just chilled after dinner for the evening. Our friend Broc visited us and we had a night catching up and got to sleep late!!

The next couple of days were more or less the same we chilled out and watched movies as we didn't have the money to spend to do much else haha!! I had discovered my card had been cloned which was a little annoying but mum got straight on the case and funds were refunded so efficiently!! We looked into getting our tax returned also and found we miss out by 6 days which is annoying but hopefully when we are home we can fiddle the dates to help us get what is owed to us!! We visited the hot pools on our last day which was a 40 minute walk from the hostel. It was beautiful and we sat for a while soaking in it!! I skyped home and a few friends to catch up and managed to upload all my pictures! We also booked our Peru transfer and hostel and our American visas. We were very organised for our next adventures!!

On the 25th of May we were up early and headed for the bus. The journey wasn't long and we hopped off in Rotorua. We had an explore around the small town looked round a few shops and visited more hot foot spas at the thermal park, it was lovely! We chilled out made a nice dinner together and watched of course another movie!! Haha apologies for this long winded blog but as money is short movie watching is a major pass time haha!!

The 26th of May we headed for our bus back to Auckland where the adventure began a month ago :(! We stopped at Matamata on the way otherwise known as Hobbiton for lunch! We arrived in Auckland around 2pm and checked into our last hostel in New Zealand! We had a wander around the city in various different shops and checked emails etc on wifi!! We played pool and had a few drinks with dinner! We then got dressed up and played the pub quiz down at the hostel bar with our roomies which was fun! We then made our way to meet some kiwi bus friends for a final night out!! It was a fun night and as it was a Monday a karaoke bar was our only choice! It ended up being a brilliant night, VERY funny!!

The next day we repacked and decluttered our bags ready for our flight! I had accumulated so much stuff which wasn't necessary!! I am very excited to chuck everything away once I'm home I am very sick of it all!! We done a lot of washing and headed out to grab last minute toiletry essentials and lunch. We grabbed Ed some sale jeans which we cut into a nice pair of shorts as his had ripped and we shaved Eds head, it was a productive day!! We met our friends at their hostel and watched a film before our free dinner and a night of catching up with the walking dead series we had grown to love in Australia!!

The 28th was our last day in New Zealand which was very sad!! We had a lovely breakfast together and wandered about the city! At lunch time we decided to have our two favourite foods this side of the world- a steak and cheese pie and sushi yum yum!! We hopped on the bus to the airport and started our check in!! We had showered and organised ourselves for the heaps loads of travelling ahead of us!!

New Zealand you beauty it's been 'sweet as bro'!! We have enjoyed every minute. It's officially our new favourite country and hope to return in the future!!