Hi everyone! Well the campervanning has begun, we've had such an incredible week! Last Tuesday we spent the day in Christchurch just wandering around. It was so so tiny though, it literally had a main square where the cathedral is and that's pretty much it. The cathedral was just like big church but really beautiful. The architecture around the squre was old colonial style so it had a relly nice feel to it. We saw some Maui dance in the square, 8 girls and 5 guys who did traditional dances and singing, was really cool, the guys did the Haka! Was really nice to see Christchurch, but it did feel quite isolated from everything.

On Wednesday we picked up our campervan woop! We had a few troubles with paying etc but we finally got on the road! We stopped at a supermarket and stocked up with pasta!! We then spent 6 and a half hours driving to Queenstown. It was such an amazing drive though, after an hour we got out in to the mountains and for about 4 hours there really wasn't anything but mountains and valleys!! Was a great first day of driving as we were just in awe of the scenery! I think we said wow about 100 times lol! We stopped a few times on the way to take photos. When we arrived in Queenstown we tried to find somewhere to park and could only find a quiet street near the high street which we though would be fine, but got woken up on Thursday by someone from the council telling us to move! We spent the morning around Queenstown which is a really nice town. I think in summer there would be much more going on and lots of people about, but it was really quiet when we were there. It's right on the edge of a huge lake which was crystal clear and so serene. The weather wasn't great when we were there, lots of low misty clouds, but it was awesome as you could see the mountain peaks above the clouds. We then drove to Te Anau which was on a beautiful lake too. The town centre was non-existent, literally nothing there, it was so quiet. We parked in a campsite this time, so we could use the facilities, and then we treated ourselves to a nice dinner out to mark the half way point!! In some ways it seems so long go that we were in Delhi, but also the fact that we are now over half way is scary! 2 months left now!

Friday was an incredible day. We drove to Milford Sound and went out on a boat trip for a couple of hours out to the Tasman sea, through where the glacier used to be. You'll have to see the photos, as it's so hard to put it to words the magnitude of everything. There were waterfalls everywhere and snowy peaks amongst pine trees, and because it had rained and then become relly blue there was a full rainbow over the water! On the drive back to Queenstown we stopped at the 'mirror lakes' which really did mirror the mountains in the background! We stayed in Frankston which is 10 minutes from Queenstown, as we found a campsite right on the waters edge. We cooked our pasta dinner (which we're having every night as it's cheap lol!!) and then played cards and read in our van. We're becoming quite attached to it, it's only tiny!

On Saturday we drove all the way up to Franz Josef which was quite a drive! We set off quite early and then stopped off at lake Wanaka and made a cup of tea. It's one of the most famous lakes and I can see why, it was bsolutely stunning. I love how you can see snowy mountains at the back of green mountains and how the water is so still and clear! The town in the summer months is aparently heaving, there is so many watersports and activities you can do from there. We stopped at the Fox Glacier on the way but we weren't able to get very close as they'd fenced it all off as 2 Australians died last year as they wandered in on their own without a guide. We managed to get a photo from far away though! When we got to Franz Josef we booked on to a glacier hike for the next morning, and then watched a couple of movies in the common room area with lots of cups of tea :)!

Sunday morning we went off on our glacier hike! We met at 8.45am and there were about 25 on our trip, we all got kitted up with walked boots and rainproof jakets and crampons and went in the coach for 10 minutes to the glacier. We split in to two groups (we were in the faster paced one!) and started the 4hour walk up on to the ice. The glacier has receeded so much in the past 100 years, there are photos of where it was in the valley, it really had melted so much. As it's melted, the ice has split to fill the width of the valley to create lots of jagged paths within the ice. There are guys whose job it is to cut steps in to the ice each day so that it's easier for us tourists to climb the ice. We wound our way quite far up to where there is a little cave that you can walk in and come out a different way, so that was amazing! The ice is so so dense that's it's a beautiful turquoisey-sea blue! We got back to the town at 2ish and then drove up to Westport right at the top of the West Coast where we thought we might be able to find somewhere to stay but it was a nothing town too so we drove a bit further on to Murchison and stayed there.

On Monday we drove to Nelson and booked our ferry to Wellington and explored a bit. Even though it's meant to be a fairly large town, it was so quiet, and there again didn't seem to be much going on there! We enquired in the information office as to where we could stay and the girl reommended Kina beach which is just along the road to Golden Bay, it had minimal facilities, but it was right on the beach which was so nice! We went for a walk along the beach as the tide was right out and collected some cool shells and then cooked our usual pasta meal! It's really difficult to find cheap places that we can park up in, which was something we hadn't forseen. It's worked out quite expensive paying for campsites each night but it's safer than wild parking in a layby or something.

On Tuesday we went to Golden Bay which is where my Grandad really loved when he was in New Zealand 54 years ago. We drove all the way around to Collingwood and then drove back and went to Pohara beach. I can see why he loved it so much, it was really beautiful! We searched for 'fesh and cheps' on the bech but couldn't find anywhere so we just walked along to beach for a bit. We drove to a campsite in the Rai Valley so that we were close to Picton to get the ferry today. The North of the South Island isn't nearly as mountainous and impressive so the drive isn't as spectacular. We can't believe we've done the South Island already, it's been so breathtaking!!

This morning we got the ferry over to Wellington which took 3 hours. It was so gloomy and drizzley but the sea was still a beautiful azure-emerald colour! It was quite choppy so I had to stand outside in the cold for most of it, you would't believe my grandfather was a seaman, I'm rubbish with sea-sickness!! We drove to a hostel/campsite place where we parked up and went in to the warm to use their facilities and cook dinner! We can't wait to do the North Island, and do our skydive at the weekend woo!! I will try and write sooner next time, as we'll be doing so much each day!!