'Seen it, done it, bought the t-shirt.'

Or, with regard to Katy and bungy jumping, 'Seen it, didn't do it, but still bought the t-shirt'. Her knee still isn't well enough for the potential shock, but she's working up to jumping somewhere in Australia.

I'm not planning on doing it anywhere. At all. Ever.

On the other hand, we have been jet boating along the Shotover River. This was my birthday trip and involved a short bus ride to the destination before being clad in protective macs and life jackets.

The boats take 14 passengers and they positively belt along at speeds of about 60mph and can turn on the proverbial sixpence. The drivers take great pleasure in veering towards the steep canyon walls before edging away at the last second. The other speciality is performing 360-degree turns, which result in most people getting wet - especially those on the back corners of the boat i.e. Katy.

The river is in fact very shallow and the boats use an internal propeller, called an impeller, which sucks water in and jets it out to the rear at great speed. They cost around NZ$250,000 but last up to 20 years, despite being thrown about all over the place.

Queenstown is quite a lot of fun. It's almost 'normal' to our way of thinking, with lots of people wandering about, and bars and restaurants that actually stay open after dark. Some of them even keep going till after midnight - gasp!

We went out the evening before my birthday and had rather a lot of beer. One of the places we went was the bar belonging to Base, one of the main backpacker hostel chains. Base charges a lot for rooms - it would cost more than twice as much for us to have a double room than we pay for our powered camp site - but provides lots of entertainment for its mainly young clientele.

We talked for a while to two British nurses who were staying there. Apparently the showers and toilets were pretty appalling, but they liked the social life. And with happy hour offering pints of extremely well-kept beer for only $NZ4, so did we.

The nurses (sorry, forgot your names!) also told us about their time on the Kiwi Experience, one of several bus companies which specialise in moving backpackers around the country along pre-set routes. One of the best things is apparently the people you meet and the frequency that ordinary evenings turn into party nights. On the other hand, one of the worst things is the early starts - bed at 3am followed by a 7am coach departure. The lack of sleep isn't helped by the need for frequent stops for people to be sick.

Before we came out here we had wondered about joining one of these bus tours, but had decided against it on the grounds of cost. Having driven around New Zealand quite a bit now, we're also glad because the tours only stop in certain places and you don't get to see the real country. The 'Kiwi Experience' seems to be 1) drive all day, 2) make yourself pot noodles or cheese on toast, 3) go to the hostel bar and get drunk, 4) go to bed late, 5) get up early - and then repeat all over again.

Mind you, everyone who goes on such a trip seems to enjoy it!

Our camp site is even busier now than it was over Christmas. We believe there is an NZ tradition of Christmas at home, then people go off on what is their summer holiday.

We've seen some odd sights around the site. One middle-aged couple and their daughter spent ages putting up a very large, old-fashioned tent. It was only when they had finished that we realised it contained not only a full-sized fridge, but a TV on top.

This afternoon, Katy saw a youngish couple strolling along, pulling wheeled suitcases behind them. She assumed they were heading for one of the cabins which are available for rent. But no. They stopped on one of the grass sites and undid their cases - from which they extracted, and then erected, a tent. No scummy backpacks for them!

Richard