We rock up in Blenheim, looking slightly worse for wear given that our last shower was yesterday morning, and we have embarked on skydiving, kayaking and trekking since then! Kurt and Vaughan, hitch hiker #1's friends, have kindly taken us in again, for the bargain price of 1 case of Tui! Yes. The international currency - beer. They tell us we stink, order us into the shower and while we begin our getting ready party, they start on their own. The lounge fills up with random blokes, and as we're doing our makeup they are riding washing baskets down the stairs?! Kurt clearly needs more practise at this as he took a rather spectacular tumble. We didn't see it but we certainly heard it! He then spends the rest of the night getting completely obliterated to relieve the pain.

The entertainment they have in store for us is a 21st birthday party, complete with free bar and tasty bar snacks - result! The New Zealanders don't appear to be big dancers so Todders and I decided to show them how it was done. Our crazy dance moves drove Vaughan to drink and everyone else to gather around and stare!

Home time was more of an event though, as Vaughan turned into a dove, swaying and cooing at us and Kurt into a Tazzie devil, with strange growling noises being thrown our direction. Not helpful as we only knew their house number and not the street name, so half an hour of coaxing later, we finally gave up and began asking strangers if they knew where we lived! Some guy took pity on us and phoned us a cab - woohoo.

Back in our bedroom, ready for sleep, Vaughan makes an appearance, still swaying and cooing, making absolutely no sense. He collapses on the bed temporarily before retiring to his own room. A few hours later, 4am, their friend Hamish bursts into our room, slaps the light on and launches into a speech about how disappointed he is in us Poms. Apparently we should still be drinking. Realising we were not going to get up and join him for a drink he finally left, and at last Peace. Zzzzzzzz.

After the initial excitement, the next two days are spent; washing, charging electricals, updating blogs, watching TV, drinking, sleeping, sitting on the sofa, skyping, drinking, laying on the sofa and finally cooking - the boys did well. An enormous lamb roast, spaghetti bolognaise and muffins with custard.

Shock! Horror! We were also joined by hitch hiker #1 Sean, who had a "job interview" in Blenheim. This is where we finally said goodbye, with tears in our eyes, and telling him we just wouldn't believe it if he had job interviews in the North Island, and may consider taking out a restraining order if there was. Only joking Sean, we have been in the North Island for two days now and are lost without you! If you ever want to stalk us in England, you will be more than welcome. Also, thanks again Kurt & Vaughan. Kurt, hope your surgery goes ok (the washing basket accident actually resulted in a broken arm and cracked rib), and Vaughan, you can have your bathroom back - we have removed all girly products!

So at this point, leaving the South Island behind, I feel we need to do a quick summary.

Mileage covered: 4175km
Days stayed: 22
Pubs visited: 25
Campsites used: 4
Nights spent in campervan: 14
Days with hitch hikers: 14
Days with Sean: 11 (half our holiday!)
Parking tickets: 1
Wraps consumed: 55
Bags of porridge used: 2
Tubs of sour cream eaten: 4
Blocks of cheese devoured: 3
Hot springs visited: 4
Years older: Carrie - 1