Well i made it to Queenstown, the adventure capital of New Zealand. But i have 4 days of stuff to get written down, so here goes.......

Sat 03rd Jan - Christchurch

The weathers broken, for the first time, sod's law i want to go to the cricket. It's the second test of the 1 day international between the 'black caps' and the Windies. I get to the ground in the 6th over, just as rain covers go on!. Luckily it's just a 10 minute walk for my hostel so i go back for a read and a snooze on the sofa. I get back at 18.30 for the re-start, it's a great atmosphere, however i feel like the odd one out as all the Kiwi's are dressed up in crazy party outfits, some are dressed as the Jamaican cool running team just to take the p-ss. I try to get a beer but it's been pulled due to the fact that most of the crowd are hammered. A close match, the Windies come out on top by 5 wickets. The game finishes at close to 23.00, Martin arrives with the car and we head off for a couple of beers and catch a live band in Sol square.

Sun 04th Jan - White water rafting Rangiata

It's labelled as the best rafting in New Zealand by Lonely Planet and it does not disappoint with two grade 5 rapids with a backdrop from the mountains of 'Lord of the rings'. I had to phone in advance as it was touch and go whether it would run as the river flow was high, close to 200 tons a second which is the maximum, hence the best day for rafting. In a nutshell it was high adrenaline stuff, especially the grade 5's, we managed to 'flip' the boat, no matter what the guide says, it was a bit of a panic. You never realise how strong the river is and it got the heart pumping. Two boats flipped out of four, unusual due to the fast river flow. One women got a bad cut as her tooth went through her lip as a helmet smashed into her face. We also jumped from a 10 metre cliff into the river which was fun. Great BBQ at the end and a fab day out, well recommended.

At night we had a big BBQ at the hostal, everyone just put there own meat on the grill, i bought some lamb steaks which were awesome, tender n tasty. There was a fair amount of alcohol drunk and party games, a bit racous really and Perry was a getting a bit p-ssed with all the noise. We decide to take the party to Sol square, we chilled outside Cartels on the sofa's in the street before hitting a dodgy Irish bar/club to watch a live band. Another 03.00/04.00 night.........

Mon 05th Jan - Drive to Queenstown

We have Mac (see previous blog) and Bernt (Dutch) on board as passengers who are paying the fuel. It's 500Km and quite a drive which me and Martin share. It's an increidble drive, the views just blow you away, especially as Mount Cook comes into view, massive imposing snow capped peaks, the sun high in the sky, which are powder blue. Our first stop is at a lake which is a really unusual colour, like mint which just adds to the wondferful views. It was quite surreal as at this point, there was a Bollywood movie being shot, we stood and watched it all unfold for 20 mins - bizarre. We also stopped at Lake Tekapo, a small town with views equal to what i have just explained, there's a small church perched on the edge of the lake where through the open door you look though the open window to a picture straight off a postcard. My explainations just do not do any of the views any justice. It's fair to say the whole journey blows your mind. As i drive the second leg of the journey i decide to stop off for some wine tasting, a great place where they have an aroma room and wine tasting from all over the region. We get a dorm at the black sheep hostel and have a bite to eat at ferdburger, the biggest burgers i have ever seen, washed down with a few beers.

So here we are Queenstown, Tues 05th, i said all along i wasn't going to do a bungy but martin is, and he did. The Nevis is the second largest in the world at 143 metres, i went in the cable car and into the pod, that was enough for me. Even that is an amazing experience, as i've said before, for me it's something i will do once in my life, mine was only 50 metres so i take my hat off to the big Dutch fella. The activities here are crazy, next to Nevis is a swing that drops you 60 metres, then swings you 150Km an hour for 200 metres - WHAT. In the afternoon we do the shootover jet boat with 520 horsepower that does 360 degree turns in the shallow river and goes inches away from the rocks in the tight valley, all at 85 km per hour - COOL.

So that's it, we have a pretty chilled day tomorrow and were just going on the gondola to the top of the mountain, it's a really steep 500 metre cable ride. Hence we are going for a mad session on the town. Thur we are driving to Te Anau, we will stay there for the night and stock up on food and ale for the trip to Millford. We are going on the Millford Sound cruise, will do a bit of a tramp and will probably stay overnight in the car.

Will see you in a few days.......