Hey everyone, me again! :) I have now completed my adventures in the north island and am currently in Franz Josef in the south island awaiting our glacier hike tomorrow....so excited! Just had a yummy dinner sitting in the sun with the snow topped mountains in the background...fantastic!

After we left Taupo we headed onto River Valley Lodge, a really remote place...in a river valley surprisingly lol. Really cool little hostel but the place was full of flies and i got eaten alive sitting by the lake. En route here we stopped off at some natural hot pools for an early morning dip...really nice to relax and soothe our aching muscles after the day before. We also stopped off at a waterfall which you can jump off ...i would like to say that the person in my photo is me but i couldn't quite find the courage so i think i'll just stick to jumping out of planes for now haha.

The next day we headed on to Wellington, our last stop in the North Island. Wellington is a lovely place and the atmosphere that night (Thirsty Thursday!) was amazing because the Rugby Sevens were starting the following day so everywhere was buzzing! We were also lucky enough to get upgraded to the girls sanctuary rooms in the hostel which meant no boys, pink duvets and free fluffy towels and shampoo and conditioner yay. We had a nice stroll around the city in the afternoon and also visted the Te Papa museum which was really cool...and free yay!We were up pretty early the next day to catch the ferry to the south island...which was interesting after a big night out in the capital. Everywhere you looked on the ferry there were kiwi experience passengers just zonked out and snoring haha. The ferry took about three hours and when we arrived at Picton we headed onto Nelson. The hostel here was voted second best hostel by Kiwi passengers...i think it might have actually been a hotel...absolute luxury! Our evening in Nelson was one of the best so far!Our driver grew up in this part of NZ so he took everyone to his parents house for a BBQ :) so much fun! After the BBQ we headed into Nelson town for a few more drinks.

The next day we had a lay in (woo!) and spent the day mooching around the town and chilling at the hostel. We now have a new driver and the bus we're on is totally full up. We've hit the south island at peak time so all the buses are more or less full which is great because you get to meet so many people. Everyone on the bus at the moment is great fun...lots of northerners! From Nelson we headed on to Westport, stopping off at Lake Rotoiti on the way which is surrounded by snow capped mountains and is absolutely beautiful...a great place to have a picnic lunch :)

When we arrived in Westport I thought we had entered a ghost town! It was literally empty! Walking to the supermarket I think we saw one car on the road. It's absolutely crazy, I can't imagine living in such a remote little place. It's so cool seeing all these little towns and also staying in so many different hostels...some good some very bad haha.

Next stop was Lake Mahinapua. On our way down we stopped off for a coastal walk which ended up at a seal colony which was really cool. We also stopped off at the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks which are rocks that look like stacked pancakes. Our final stop off was in Greymouth were we were given time to buy fancy dress supplies for that evening woo hoo. Our theme was Superheros so I got creative and went as SuperSmiles...turning frowns upside down haha..which basically means I had smiley faces ALL over me! The hostel here was actually called the Poo Pub and is known to be the worst hostel on the trip...i now know why haha. Really cool night though, you just wait for the photos guys, some of the costumes were absoutley hilairous. First prize was a free Canyon Swing in Queenstown so it was worth making an effort...sadly i didnt win but nevermind eh?

And that brings me to today :) We arrived in Franz Josef today early afternoon and we're here for two days so that we can fit the all day glacier hike in tomorrow. Really looking forward to it!Apparently this trek is nowhere near as tough as the Tongariro Crossing which is good to know lol...not sure i could handle it again! From here we head down to Queenstown which is the party capital so I'll keep you updated.

I'll try and upload my photos over the next few days but until then...take care everyone and speak again soon :) sweet as x