Queenstown to Auckland

Well guys we are now on our final leg in New Zealand we have turned the corner of the south island and we are going north, north, north. First stop was Christchurch, then Kaikora, followed by Wellington and finally a few days with Matiu and Reagan in Auckland before flying off to India. Thanks guys your hospitality has been incredible!

Queenstown

Day 1 - It was an early start this morning as Liv, David and I all went skiing at Cordrona - hurray! Following a brief photo shoot with the resident snowman we headed off in the direction of the beginner classes. Despite David and I having done the same skiing lesson in Tongariro he took it upon himself to inform the instructor he could ski so he was sent to level 3. I then told the instructor what we had actually done and I was sent to second stage level 1 and Liv was put in first stage level 1 as she hadn't skiied for 10 years. There were only 2 people in my class so we progressed very quickly, to the point where we were up on the green slope in no time at all. As we were going up in the chair lift (which takes about 10 minutes!) when I happened to notice a poor fella who was all over the place and losing his skis - I'll give you 3 guesses who that was! I was a little scared of the chair dismount but fortunately I managed to do it without falling down and then we then did a gentle ski all the way back down to the resort which I absolutely loved.For the afternoon lesson I was moved into level 2 which is where David was too now. Liv had progressed really well in the level 1 class so she decided to skip the second stage level 1 afternoon class and join us in level 2 instead. In the afternoon we went down 3 more green runs and despite my feet pinching from too tight boots, I managed to more or less follow her ski line and not fall over. Liv did fall down a few times though and unfortunately on one of these occasions managed to hurt herself quite badly - so much so that she had to be taken off the slopes on a medics skidoo with the siren wailing.The injury : sprained ankle, sprained knee and suspected fracture of the foot!!!!

Dinner this evening was at the infamous Fergburger that Queenstown is notorious for follws by a night on the town in Winnies where a brilliant live band were playing - we had such good fun - great night!

Day 2 - Today was a sad day as the gang began to split up - Breda and Lora left early for Christchurch and Becky left us in the early evening. The weather was ok today and yet the slopes were closed to skiers and snowboarders. I spent most of the day just hanging around with Becky and then in the evening Liv, David, tall Becky and I all went to the cinema to see Bruno - oh my goodness, Mum, Dad I do not recommend this film for you - believe me!

Day 3 - Today I was back on the slopes this time with tall Becky. David was learning how to snowboard but I was practicing my skiing as advised by the instructor. The previous night I kept waking up worrying - I think the combination of skiing for the first time without an instructor and Liv's injury have freaked me out a bit. So unfortunately I did not approach the slopes with a very positive mental attitude today - everything felt wrong, my equipment wasn't comfortable, my thighs hurt when I skiied and my confidence was rock bottom. I did the green run 4 times before we stopped for some lunch and a rest. After a short break we were back on the chair lift where a combination of Becky and some random dude convinced me to try a new green run. I have to admit that the start of the run was breath takingly beautiful but after a short distance we got completely lost and ended up on a blue slope which was way too steep for me . In the end I had to take off my skis and walk to a flatter bit where I could ski from. We made it to the bottom in one piece but my confidence was completely shattered! Fortunately I didn't give up though and continued to do 2 more green runs before the end of the day. As it was Liv, Becky and My last night together we were out on the town again with ouor roomies Joe and Mohammed.

Christchurch

It took a full day to get to Christchurch in the most miserable weather and on a bus which didn't have a working heater - aagghh!! To compensate for the dreadful journey Liv and I decided to treat ourselves and book into the Sanctuary level of the Base hostel. This is a girls only section which gives you complimentary bubbly, white fluffy towels, no smelly or snoring boys and electric blankets - oh yes! As Liv is injured and on crutches there is only so much she can do so on our first day we decided, as the day was so lovely, to go up in the gondola where we had fantastic views of Christchurch, Banks Peninsula and the Southern Alps. Later Ileft Liv and went for a wander thrugh Christchurch and it's botanical gardens. Christchurch is a really attractive city with a river called the Avon River running right through it, which you can walk along or even punt on if you so desire. I followed the river all the way round until I arrived at the Botanical gardens.

The followi ng day I was up bright and early to go to the hairdressers for a bit of a tidy up before we head off for Inda.Later I met up with David and a german girl called Katrina who had just arrived from Dunedin. We had a bit of an action packed afternoon as we went to the Christchurch museum with it's interactive mind and body exhibition, walked around the botanical garden, had a chance meeting wth a coathanger tree, had a beer tasting session at a local micro brewery and finally had dinner and drinks at an Irish bar called The Bog.This was actually the second night I'd spent in this bar but tonight was more memorable as there was a 20 piece Irsh band playing traditional Irish music which was so good.

Kaikora

We spent one afternoon in Kaikora, an absolutely beautiful coastal town famous for its seals, whales and dolphins. We all went on a whale watching trip where we saw 2 sperm whales and heaps of dusky dolphins. Now I know this sounds horrible but in retrospect I think we could have spent our time more productively - in actual fact you can only see 10% of the sperm whales body from the boat and it just sits there doing absolutely nothing to the human eye. The most exciting part is it's tail flick when it goes back under the sea and that is only good because you can get a nice photo!

Wellington

Well we are all of the opinion that Wellington is the coolest place in New Zealand. In particular we fell in love with a street called Cuba Street which is full of vintage stores, music shops, cool cafes and bars. Our fave haunt for the evening was Mighty Mighty and we loved Fidel cafe for during the day. After one night out in Wellington it was time to say goodbye to Liv who was heading straight back to Auckland for a flight to Oz.

David and I stayed in Wellington for a few days as we had to collect our passports and visas from the Indan High Commssion. We spent the whole time with a great guy called Johan from Sweden who liked to say 'Sweet Ass' a lot though he did start saying 'lovely bottom' to appease my sensibilities.

Whilst in Wellington we did a fair bit of walking - we went to the Botanical gardens (the best one I've visited in NZ!), walked on the attractive waterfront with it's lagoon, walkways and beaches and walked around the town itself. Wellington is home to one of the best museums in New Zealand called Te Papa, as it was free Johan and I visited over a period of 2 days. We saw the largest squid ever caught there which was absolutley disgusting and there was a special exhibition on The Scots in New Zealand which was quite interesting.