South Island

After a night in Wellington we took the interisland ferry across to Picton on the South Island of New Zealand. The ferry ride was cold and wet so we didn't really go on deck much. It took 3 hours to arrive at Picton where we were met by the big green kiwi bus.

The bus took us from Picton to Nelson where we stayed for a night. When we arrived we took a walk up a nearby hill to the geographical centre of New Zealand. That night I was sick so I went to bed early and Steven and the others went to a beer tasting night at the pub (I pointed out that surely every night in the pub is a beer tasting night!!).

From Nelson we travelled southward and stopped at the beautiful lake Rotoiti. After a short walk round the lake and native bush a group of us decided it would be fun to jump in!! The girls did it semi naked and the boys took a running dive! It was absolutely freeeeeeeezzing. The moment we hit the water we had instant pins and needles and my skin went really red! Brrrrrrrr

We drove onwards to Westport via the amazing Buller Gorge, NZ's longest and most spectacular scenic drives. That night in Westport we decided to have an international cooking competition. There were 9 teams of 2. There were Swedish, Vietnamese, English, Irish, Brazilian and Scottish competitors! After a team had finished cooking their two dishes we all tried it and scored them out of 5 for flavor, originality and presentation!

After the cooking competition (in which we won the flavor category) we all headed to Bods' pink palace for a party. The drivers get to stay in better accommodation than the backpackers but our legend of a driver threw a party for a couple on the bus who got engaged that day! I was targeted in the M.I.N.E game and had to loads more press-ups!!

After leaving Basils hostel in Westport we headed south down the state highway6 which is supposed to be one of the best coastal drives in New Zealand if not the world. We stopped off for a short walk at Cape Foulwind where we saw a colony of seals which was pretty cool. Back on the bus, conversation had started about what we were going to buy from the charity shops for our themed fancy dress party at 85 year old Les's pub that night. Our theme was 'Rubiks cube' which meant you had to start in as many different colours as possible and by the end of the night you have to have swapped with someone else so you are all in one colour. We arrived at Les's pub and me, Seth and Gunner decided to take advantage of happy hour. We were greeted by what can only be described as the worlds ugliest bar maid. Les called us into the dining room/garage for our meal. It looked like my steak had already been chewed (cheers Les). After dinner we all got changed into our multi coloured clothes and headed back to the bar. It was good to see that everyone had made an effort but we were by far the best. Such a colourful mess. With the booze flowing freely we decided to play a few drinking games. Me and Beth won a meal for two (in Franz Josef our next destination) for being all in one colour at the end of the night! GOOD NIGHT, GOOD BEER & GOOD PEOPLE!!"

After Lake Mahinapua we headed to Franz Josef. We stopped at Pukekura on the way to the "bushman centre". They claimed it was a museum but it was the worst place I've ever been in my life. Not only did they subject us to a DVD that horrifyingly glorified hunting deer they also had stuffed animals everywhere and live possums in tiny cages in really bad condition! The guy who ran the place was a complete w****r and the staff weren't far behind him! Horrible experience!

When we arrived in Franz Josef we checked in and then all headed to the heated spa pool. 10 of us fit in there quite snugly. We stayed in there for 2 hours. It was so cold when you got out that we just kept jumping back in!

The next day we went on an 8 hour hike on the Franz Josef glacier. We set off at 8.30 am and it was a 45 min walk to the start of the ice. We stopped, fixed on our crampons and off we went. We had to climb really steep steps in the ice that our guide carved out for us and walk down steps while holding on to the hand ropes. We also climbed deep into the heart of the glacier into crevasse 15m deep and a few inches wide. It was a very tight squeeze at some points. Steven braved the below zero temperatures and took off his waterproofs to reveal his Burnley shirt for a photograph on the top of the glacier. That's dedication for you! We were really unlucky with the weather that day because it rained for most of it. However our guide said you are always going to get wet on a glacier so you might as well get really wet!! Mind you our guide also talked about guns and shaving his friends' eyebrows when they were drunk…. Weirdo!

After 8 hours of cold wet ice we got back in the hot spa at the hostel. That night Steven and I went for our meal that we won and everyone went to bed early, aching from head to toe! In the morning we realized our camera was broken from water damage on the glacier. We planned to buy another one in Queenstown. That will be the third camera of the trip!

Our next destination was Wanaka. Our first stop on the way was Lake Matheson. It was a gorgeous day so we were able to see the mirror image of Mount Cook in the water.

We also stopped at Bruce's Bay, a gorgeous cove on the West coast. We saw something moving in theater as we pulled up and all got off to have a closer look. It then jumped out of the water pretty far and we all realized it was a whale!!Bods said he had never seen whales there before- we were so lucky!

In Wanaka we watched the tri-nations rugby match between Australia and New Zealand. NZ won so happy hour was extended. Woo-Hoo!!

From Wanaka we headed to Queenstown. On the way we stopped at "the secrets of the bunjy" centre and after watching some footage of people jumping, in a moment of madness I booked and paid for the Nevis Arc Swing. The highest swing in the world that drops you 120m then swings you across a canyon and up the other side!! I booked it for the following day!! Aaaarrrgggghhhhh

The next day we bought a camera before getting on the shuttle to the Nevis swing. I wanted photographic evidence of what I was about to do or at least the last pictures of me alive to send to my parents! I was sooo scared as we went over to the launch pad at the Nevis site. I was in tears and tried to convince Ste not to do it. The guy who worked for the bunjy place was really nice and he calmed me down and encouraged me to get in the harness and then see how I feel!! Once I was strapped in I started to man- up a bit and he winched us out so we were suspended 200m in the air. My heart was racing as he counted back from 5,4,3,2,1………………………It was so much fun!! Once we'd gone and I wasn't able to back out we really enjoyed it! It was the scariest thing I'd ever done and because I'm such a wuss I felt a real sense of achievement afterwards!

That night in Queenstown I was still on a high from the adrenaline and it was our last night with everyone on the Kiwi bus because we were heading off to Christchurch the next day. We had a really big night out with everyone.we went to one bar where they serve cocktails in teapots? When we got kicked out of the pubs we all went for a 'Fergburger'. They are famous in NZ as the best burgers you can get. I don't know if it was because I was drunk but it was defiantly the best burger I'd ever tasted!!

The next day we left all of our new friends and headed off to Christchurch, The bus broke down and we had to wait for ages so we didn't arrive till 6.30 pm. What a yawn fest At least we got to catch up on some well deserved sleep though. Today we flew from Christchurch to Auckland in order to get our flight to Santiago, Chile tomorrow afternoon. We have had such an incredible time in New Zealand. Everywhere you look there are gorgeous surroundings, amazing mountains and lakes. It is our favourite place of the entire trip so far and the people we have met have made it such a memorable experience. I have two words for our time in New Zealand (as spoken by a true Kiwi)…….SWEET AS!!!