Waking up the following morning I found it extremely difficult to move my neck - evidently all the falls I'd taken whilst snowboarding had given me some kind of whiplash!! Luckily I had nothing planned for the day so just attempted to plan my forward travel in the US - something which proves more difficult than I thought as it is not particularly backpacker friendly. But that is something to worry about for another time. The remainder of my day was passed on the internet and watching the Olympics, not really worth blogging about so I'll move on.

Day number two flying solo was much more interesting for me as I decided to take a walk up the Tiki walking track up to the skyline resort which offered ostensibly amazing views of Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu. I had been warned by Susie and Jorieke that it was a steep walk so I made sure to have my comfy trainers on and off I set. Now when they said it was steep I don't think I really anticipated some sections to be quite so steep, or indeed for to be quite so long. I was tired as bro when I got to the top. The views were definitely worth it though, you could see down to the lake and the township, over to the Remarkables mountain ranges and Cecil Peak. Lake Wakatipu is New Zealand's longest lake at 75km long and is an interesting lake as its water level fluctuates by up to 20cm several times a day - something endemic to New Zealand lakes and suspected due to atmospheric pressure and temperature variations. I also got some envy inducing views of the paragliders out over the lake, but sadly for me I was on a budget and after an expense-filled few days it was time to be strict!

My days spent in Queenstown alone were mainly filled with walks - the next day I tramped up Queenstown hill with Caroline, a girl in my dorm room, and it was great having a bit of company to take your mind off the seemingly never ending hill. I suppose we should have expected no less taking the name of the thing into consideration. The views from up there were even better than those of the Skyline hill, unfortunately though the weather was a lot greyer so our views were hampered somewhat by some low lying cloud, I suppose you can't have everything! Once we got back down to the bottom of the hill to the little walking map we realized we hadn't gone right up to the summit which was annoying to say the least after all that effort! There was no way we were going back up that day though so we went back to the room, stopping off on the way to make myself and Noms a bracelet at the world's best bead shop.

When I awoke the next day it was to an empty room. There is something slightly depressing about an empty dorm room but conversely it was nice to have space. I decided, foolishly, to tackle Queenstown hill again, even though my calf muscles felt sore from the previous three days excursions I would not be defeated by a measly hill! This time I got to the summit where you can see a panoramic view of the Queenstown and Frankton area. The solitude up there was conducive to a very relaxing 15 minutes, and since I had learnt from my mistake the previous day and not taken my massive coat, I was a lot more comfortable! Walking back down I decided in all my wisdom to try going down a small track I'd seen a woman walk down earlier. This turned out to be a mistake as my sense of direction leaves a lot to be desired. Suffice to say I was wandering around overgrown footpath and 4x4 tracks for about half an hour thinking that my facebook status that day saying to call 111 if I didn't return by nightfall might prove to be eerily accurate. Luckily after scrambling up and down several dead end tracks I managed to find my way back to the main trail and got back to the hostel for a well deserved hot shower and some Olympics action. Note to self: never go off road without a map/partner in crime.

My final day in Queenstown was relaxing after the few days vigorous exercise I had put myself through. I was up early to watch the Olympics closing ceremony and managed to speak to Mum for a good hour or so which was lovely after a break of three weeks since our last conversation. New Zealand has really not been conducive to keeping in touch. A combination of expensive internet and me being too cheap to pay for it I reckon! I particularly enjoyed the Spice Girls, Take That, Russell Brand (surprisingly) and the Who. As for Jessie J, she can go get a job in Maccy's for all I care. Murdering Queen, how dare.

In the afternoon I had booked a horse trek over in Glenorchy, and as I'd never ever ridden a horse I was excited to try something (else) new. It was an hours drive over to Glenorchy from Queenstown, and Hans, the driver, was well chatty. He was telling us that there never used to be a sealed road so when he and his family drove to town they had to have a change of clothes to change into just before they got to town as they would get so dusty and dirty on the drive over. Old school! Anyway we arrived at the horse farm and were given super sexy riding hats, wellies and overcoats. I felt like a true horsewoman all kitted up. My horse for the trek was Fred, a classic horse name if ever there was one I'm sure you all agree. We were shown the basics, ie. how to make them turn, move and stop and we were off, walking through the valley floor of Glenorchy. The start of the walk was along a mainly dry river bed and cutting across small streams which Fred didn't particularly like walking through and at one point I thought he was just going to stand in the middle of the water and leave us there. Slowly though he clip clopped out, hot on the heels of Calypso in front. Now although I loved Fred I have to say he has an issue with trying to get as close as physically possible to the horse in front, I was pretty sure he was going to get pooed on the head if he wasn't careful, or at least a hoof to the chops. He was lucky though that it didn't happen and we continued through the valley, with views over to Paradise Valley where they have filmed loads of stuff, including scenes in LOTR, Wolverine and The Lovely Bones to name some. Our guide for the day decided that after 45 minutes or so of walking we could try some trotting, so after a very (very) brief lesson on how to stand up in the stirrups in the 'jockey' position we were off along a little track. Now having not done any kind of horse riding before I was a little nervous about falling off but just about managed to keep my balance, despite old Fred having an issue with lifting his front legs up properly and stumbling down a rut at one point. As we were all beginners we didn't trot for long and were soon walking through a little wood trying to avoid branches that wanted to poke us off our saddles. We trotted on and off for about an hour along little paths and I was getting a little better but I don't think I'd make a habit of horse riding. After a while I noticed that I'd achieved the impressive feat of cutting one of my knuckles all open from rubbing on the saddle - and it's still giving me gyp 5 days later! Stupid knuckles. Anyway the trek itself carried on with much of the same, until we got to a road where a flag was waving, spooking the horse in front of Fred, causing him to spook and stumble and throwing me off in the process. And I was doing so well!! Luckily I didn't fall far as he'd stumbled down a banking leaving me pretty much level with the path - I think I was just fortunate I didn't get my feet trapped in the stirrups. All these adrenaline sports and I fall off a horse standing still. Bloomin' umma.

The views back to the stables were of the Humboldt ranges, which doubled as the Misty Mountains in Lord of the Rings, and once we'd returned and tied the horses up it was time to go back to Queenstown, and for me to pack up ready to leave the next day. After such a long time in the town it was strange to think I was moving on again, but new, less adrenaline filled, pastures awaited.

Becca