Right the South Island!

So I got the ferry across from Wellington to Picton on a terrible day, so there was no chilling on the deck - had to make do watching a rubbish Martin Lawrence film! Picton was nice - very small and really chilled - just a shame the weather was not great, but stayed the night there and picked up the bus the next day and headed towards Abel Tazman National Park. It was beautiful there and stayed right in the park at Old Macdonald's Farm!

On the 1st night there was a BBQ put on and met all the new people and a few drinks! The next day I went on a hike with some scouse girls and chilled on a beach for a while. I'd decided to stay longer there, so the next day I went on a sailing trip, having chosen the lazier option to kayaking and that was again a really nice day - it was the full day and was really good fun. In the evening, I had my dinner made for me by 4 Swedish girls before being topped up with some wine by some Irish girls, not a bad few day all in all!!

Next day it was a drive to Barrytown!! On the way, we stopped off at Pancake Rocks and a few more scenic places before getting to the town of Barrys. It was fancy dress and it was a cross- dressing theme. I did feel I looked rather respectable and it was a very funny night with everyone getting smashed. No one made it up the next morning for bone carving and there were a few sore heads the next day!! Other than that there was not much to Barrytown! Later on we headed to Franz Josef which is between the Tasman sea and Franz Josef Glacier and stayed in a lodge in the rain forest. In the morning everyone got up for the 8am glacier hike, but due to bad weather conditions it was cancelled, which was a real shame as its one of the highlights for NZ. I did some ice climbing instead, which is hard work but great fun.

As the weather was not due to improve any time soon, I decided I'd come back to Franz Josef at a later date to do the hike and went with everyone else south. The next day was another travel day, with stops at the Mirror Lakes and Fox Glacier, before arriving in a little place called Makarorra. This was just a another stop for a party really and it was Karaoke!! I sang country house by Blur and won the competition!! The prize was canyoning, which was worth 250 dollars and I had to thank the DJ for the award - he was from New Malden, so I think that helped!Anyway, no complaints from me! Again another fun night.

The day after was off to Queenstown, but I stopped off for a couple of days in Wanaka, which has a lovely lake that I swam in (bloody cold) and there is a crazy little cinema called Paradiso, which is really small and has sofas and they bring in pizzas and cookies for half time! 2 days later I went to Queenstown and found everyone from the bus was still there, so it was a big celebration followed by the Nevis bungee jump the next day. 134 meters and amazing - I'd do more bungee jumps, but money prevents! So I was lucky to get back on the bus with everyone from before and we headed further south to Milford Sound where there was a boat ride around the fiord - pretty decent views! Then the evening arrived and it was time for sheep shearing - one of the funniest nights - it was crazy and I'm not sure the sheep enjoyed being stuck between my legs! Invercargill was another stop, but not a huge amount happening, so on to Dunedin, where I visited a brewery which I really enjoyed!!

It was back up to Queenstown for Paddy's Day and I dressed in my green outfit, which made me look like one of Santa's little helpers and it was also time to say goodbye to a lot of people heading back up. There's a thing called luging, which is a bit like go-karting, but sledging down ramps, which was crazy. You go really fast and it gets quite competitive. I left to go back to Franz Josef and getting back there, the weather was great, so I was able to do my glacier hike and it was well worth going back for and holding out for better weather. I also got a few days work - digging - so it paid for my detour, but now I'm back in Queenstown and arranging my flights for my return, so see you all soon.