The ferry took us across the Cook Straight to the port town of Picton where the bus picked us up and took us to Nelson. The hostel in Nelson was really nice; more like British pub/restaurant than a hostel. Nelson was a good place to stay for two or three nights because it was right next to Abel Tasman national park where there are plenty of walks, campgrounds, lakes etc to explore but we were really eager to get further south to Franz Josef so once again we only stayed one night.

Saturday took us on to a small town called Westport for one night. There wasn't much here at all and felt very much like a ghost town so we booked ourselves onto a Jet boating tour of the nearby Buller River. This involved being told about the river while being ragged about on a jet boat that did 80km/h and 360 degree spins. While in Westport myself Joe and Becky decided to take the plunge and do a skydive over Fox Glacier which we booked on the bus out of Westport. Sunday involved a drive to the next town via a walk along Cape Foulwind and then the Pancake rocks and blowholes at Punakaiki.

That Sunday night we had a fancy-dress party on the agenda at a tiny pub/hostel/hotel on the west coast in the middle of nowhere hosted by an 80 year old man by the name of Les. This meant a stop off on the way out of Westport at a sort of budget warehouse sells-everything shop to cobble together a costume. The theme was 'Heroes' (a last minute decision) so pretty much everone was struggling. I decided to go as Supergran, in a nightie, dressing gown, slippers and a wig made from a ball of wool. Danny decided on Jesus, Becky on Aphrodite, Dan went as GI Joe and Joe as some sort of sheet-covered mosquito net (he panicked in the shop). Other people on the bus included Hulk Hogan, a flip flop (abstract), Princess Leia from Star Wars and 3 lots of Zorro. The whole party is pretty much just an excuse for everone to get drunk and look like idiots with various extreme sports-based prizes for best costumes.

Part of Monday morning was spent in a bushman's centre museum filled with stuffed animals and a showing of a videoabout deer hunting. Some idiots had the local delicacy possum pie in the cafe afterwards. Possums are considered vermin. The rest of the morning taken up with the drive to Franz Josef where we had decided to stay for 3 nights. While staying at Franz I did a tandem skydive over Fox Glacier and Mt Cook and an ice climb and hike on Franz Josef glacier. The skydive was lots and lots of fun and I would definately do another if it didn't cost so much! The ice climb was also good but not quite what I expected. The ice wasn't as blue or clear as you would think, it was mainly dirty ice covered in grit from the mountain. The climbing and abseiling on the ice ridges was good fun though. I spent our free day in Franz doing absolutely nothing at all.

On Thursday we drove on towards Wanaka with a stop along the way at Lake Matheson, a notoriously still lake where you can get some good photos of the reflection of Mt Cook. After our night in Wanaka the next stop was Queenstown - the adventure sports capital of New Zealand. We had already booked ourselves in for river boarding (my prize for the fancy dress party) and white water rafting at nearby Rangitata River and also a slightly less exciting boat trip on Milford Sound - a nice picturesque lake-type area full of cliffs and waterfalls. I opted out of the bungy jump. The river boarding had to be the deadliest activity I've ever done in my life. It involved trying to paddle your way down grade 3 rapids on a body board. There were sharp rocks on either side of you and the calf-cramp caused by the flippers was unreal. Is was fun though. Queenstown is very much a party town with bus loads of people coming in and leaving every day of the week so there is almost always a big party happening.

Me, Joe and Becky left on Tuesday after four nights in Queenstown to go do some white water rafting. The rafting experience included a nights accomodation in a lodge set in rolling green hills near the river. The lodge was really relaxing and it was a nice change from four messy nights in Queenstown. We set off to the river with the rafting crew plus about 30 other people on the Wednesday morning and spent about 4 hours all in all on the river. Rafting was lots of fun and after the river boarding it was a walk in the park!

After a warm post-rafting shower we went straight to Christchurch for two nights before our flight to Melbourne. Christchurch was nice but I didn't get to see much of it in my free day. The previous 3 weeks had taken its toll so I needed some time out to relax. At the airport they charge you NZ$20 to leave the country and that was that! New Zealand - DONE!