hola!

well let me fill you in on my nz adventures over the last week or so before i head to oz!

.....so, staying on a farm just outside christchurch i turned into a little farm girl, helping milk the cows, pick mushrooms, pick blackberries, help weigh the cows for market, feed the cows and give the calfs milk! i was also treated to some delicious home cooked food, including produce from the farm!!!! jude and alan were really kind hosts and it was a really fun experience and one that typifies south new zealand.

from the farm...... we made our way over to hokitika, crossing arthurs pass national park and passing castle hill, the film set of narnia with big beautiful boulders on lush green grass (think i've put a photo up of it!).

hokitika..... wild foods festival, stayed at squash club which J stayed at last year and mixed with a good group of people, who go camping together.

wildfoods was interesting...........ate a huhu grub, a live one and a fried one! then i tried a mussell and had to spit it out...as much as i tried i could not stomach it and that put me off for the rest of the day! festival was fun, j and i dressed up as a sheep and shepherd and there were lots of other people there dressed up! an excuse of a day for drinking really. there was an evening doo at night and from dancing to an elvis impersonator, j and i managed to be given tickets free!!

at night we went to the dance and then to the beach where there were multiple little fires where people migrated to, to chill out for the end of the evening!

from hokitika we headed to queenstown, stopping off for a night in beautiful wanaka, where we did the mount aspiring hike to rob roy glacier. beautiful views (see photos!)

queenstown..... popped in and met up with friends who i'd made when i was working there to say hi again and some of them came out for a night!! indulged in winnie's pizza, and a fergberger during my stay (they are musts in q'town!).

ok so main purpose of being in q'town was to tak eon the nevis bungy jump, beside a good few drinking spots! so 11th march, 12pm j and i boarded the bus which takes you to the site of the 134m bungy drop! i was unsure as to why i wasn't nervous at all....but it all changed as soon as i saw my objective ahead!! they harnass you all up, weigh you and then put you in order of weight, heaviest jumping first! J jumped before me and i felt sick watching but he came back up totally buzzing telling me how fab it was making me the more nervous! i was the most nervous i have been in years jabbering away and not being able to keep still! just before you jump they put you in "the chair" and attach all the final ropes and things..... this has to be the most terrifying moment inwhich the realisatioon of what you're about to do hits you! then you have to get off the chair, waddle to the platform and they count down from 5! ok so 5.....4......3...(my legs at this point were jellified, to the point other people could see i was weak in the knees).......2.........1.........AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRR

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRgggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! ok so i managed to jump, still don't know quite how, but i screamed the whole way down and then again when they spring you back up!! everyone laughed when i was hauled back up cos i'd screamed so much... whats wierd is that people don't really scream! its such a surreal experience, the speed as you fall is such an adrenalin kick, your not really to aware that your plummeting to the ground and then you spring back up and head down again and then it hits you that you've done it, are still alive and have to pull the red cord to turn yourself back up the right way so you can be pulled in!

after queenstown we headed to te anau for a night so the next day we could go to milford sound (the blog photo!). Milford is well known for its spectacular stunning scenery, huge big mountains that jut vertically out of the water straight up, with numerous waterfalls, and lots of lush vegetation. absolutely breath taking but so touristy!! however they say visiting nz withou going to milford is like going to egypt and not seeing the pyramids! i was also lucky in that it was a day without rain and understandably in such a mountainous area such as the fiordlands, it rains most days.

From milford we headed up the east coast of the south island up to christchurch, where we are staying with steve and gloria who hosted us at the squash club in hokitika. went out for the night with steve's daughter lisa and her friends who we also partied with in hokitika. steve and nikki met up with us in shooters the bar too. good ole shindig!

had a day of nothing yesterday, just chilling out, and celebrating Travis' birthday!

today, dropped off the hire car, updated you guys and then fly to oz, a 3 hour flight before getting into sydney for rest of st.paddys day!! woooo hoooo!

over and out x x x