Hello everybody! This is the first update from snowy New Zealand. And it has been very snowy today. We arrived in Dunedin last Saturday. Fuzzy's snowboard was supposed to have been shipped from the Uk in time for us to pick it up in Dunedin. Well, of course that did not happen and his board eventually arrived in Dunedin on the Thursday - we left there on the Sunday, but had to take an 8 hour drive to collect it! The roads are crazy, as are the drivers. The hostel we stayed in in Dunedin was lovely though and had heating, so that was a bonus. Did I mention it is freezing here?? So we left Dundedin on Sunday and got a bus to Queenstown - again, the room we got in the hostel was lovely. We upgraded to a double so it had a bath and everything in it! However, the kitchen was rubbish, as were the staff and it was not a particularly friendly place all round really. We both went on the slopes on Monday and both got skiing lessons, which is much more difficult than it looks I might add! Fuz was a frustrated snowboarder the entire way through the lessons and kept trying to do things like he would do on a board, much to the frustration of the instructor. We had good fun though, even though I was covered in bruises from falling over at what felt really fast, but was probably about 2 miles per hour! Unfortunately on the Tuesday Fuz was poorly so we didn't go up the slopes (can't say I was overly disappointed!) and we basically had a bit of a mooch around Queesntown, which is mainly full of backpackers and people who were backpapckers but have now settled here and posh tourists. Went back on the slopes on the Wed which was much more fun for me. Had another lessons with a crazy Spanish instructor which was a good laugh. Fuz went in to a different group because he was better (showoff!), but he really only wanted to snowboard. I took a bit of a tumble on the Wednesday, which i basically stuck my feet into the skis, lost control immediately, headed down the hill and didn't get very far before i rammed my ski up a sitting boarders a***, fell over and twisted my knee (due to the ski being lodged). I managed to soldier on for the rest of the lesson, but my knee was agony for about three days. So we didn't get back on the slopes until Sunday again, because Fuz came down with a really bad cold and I had a limp (great start to the month!). Anyway, we've been out another couple of days and Fuz is delighted he is back to being a boarder. We've met a couple of lads who we've been giving lifts to the slopes so Fuz is delighted that he has boys to hang around with. One of the lads is Dutch and has been skiing since he was about 3, jumped on a snowbaord and looks like he's been doing it for years too. He's gave me a few tips for my skiing, which is grand. The other lad is English and has boarded for about 2 years but never on snow, which is hard to get your head round, and is loving it too. Since being in Queenstown we have bumped into 2 people we met in Oz - a girl we shared the house with and a lad we done one of the help exchanges with. Couldn't believe it! It is such a small world! Anyway, heading off to get something to eat. Thanks for the messages folks. Keep in touch, Em and FuzXXXX