So... Haven't really written anything in quite a while... Am now going to try and compress 5 weeks worth of activity and travel in New Zealand into 30 minutes worth of internet time.

I arrived in Auckland at the beginning of March and LOVED it. I think this was mostly due to the prevalence of healthy food and, most importantly, thousands of sushi and Japanese food outlets, hooray! I spent the first couple of days pottering around Auckland with a girl I'd met in BA, shopping, running, eating a lot of sushi and hitting the beaches and doing a bit of hiking on one of the volcanic islands off the coast - Rangitoto. Managed to mildly sprain my ankle while running away from a wasp, but all in all had a great time in Auckland.

Next day I started on the Kiwi Experience bus - it's basically a coach from touristy place to touristy place, that also books your accommodation and activities for you. First stop was Mercury Bay, via a few small towns for lunch and a beautiful beach called Cathedral Cove at Hahei Beach. In Mercury Bay met some British girls called Philly, Flossie and Lulu (not even kidding) who became my travel buddies for the next few weeks. We all went out for some drinks and to meet the locals, and had a rather entertaining car ride to the beach involving fitting 11 people into a standard saloon car and a lot of panicking every time we saw a police man.

Next day we had an early start, followed by a swift hike around the Karangahake Scenic Reserve. Feeling a little better after this, we headed out to the tiny town of Matamata, also known as Hobbiton, which was the location of the filming of 'The Shire' in the Lord of the Rings films. Not the biggest fan of LotR, but I do love a good photo op. We then jumped back on the bus, managed to cobble together an awesome playlist including Journey, Lonely Island and some Girls Aloud (win) and belted out some classics on our way to Rotorua. Rotorua is the location of natural hotsprings, which sounds lovely but in reality means the whole place stinks of sulphur. Non-ideal. We stayed in Rotorua for 2 nights (after discovering our hostel had a swimming pool), and on the first night I headed to the Tamaki Maori Village for an 'authentic' Maori experience and Maori meal. Bit pricey, but a really good night involving a lot of Haka and a LOT of food. Headed back to the hostel to meet back up with the girls, whereby we went to the nearest local bar for a pyjama party night (amazing excuse to wear pyjamas in public) and tore up the floor (boom) for a couple of hours. Next day we lazed by the pool all day, then went to a toga party in the evening and met our new bus mates for the next day - a very promising bunch indeed. Unfortunately, pyjama bottoms so soaked in Tequila and black stuff from the floor (from the break dancing, obviously) from the pyjama party night that I had cleverly put them under my pillow rather than wear them, and forgot to pack them the next day: lost item number 1.

Next day we headed to Waitomo, a tiny village in the middle of nowhere, which has access to loads of glowworm caves. Given a number of activity options for the day, I chose to dive right in with the 'Black Abyss', a 5 hour caving trip involving waterfall jumping, climbing, abseiling and rubber tubing. The whole thing was immense fun, even if it was terrifying at times - for some reason a 40m abseil doesn't scare me whereas 7m waterfall jumps, zip lines in the dark, and crawling through tiny spaces really does! All in all an amazing time though, thoroughly worth it and one of the best activities I did in NZ.

Next day we headed off on the bus again, this time to Taupo on the banks of Lake Taupo. Flossie and Lulu immediately braved the skies and went for a 12,000m skydive, whereas Philly and I chose the rather more extreme option of finding a lovely cafe and having a really nice lunch. Hmmm. We also tried our hand at golf - turns out those lessons before leaving were a complete waste, as my 1 shot on the driving range (into the lake, random) went about 15m. Excellent. Got a super early night, and up at 5.30am the next morning to catch a bus to the Tongariro National Park to do the Tongariro Crossing - a 19.4km hike across the volcanic mountains, with a chance to climb up Mount Ngaurahoe (aka Mount Doom from LotR). Unfortunately when we got there, the weather was so bad that we were warned by our driver to definitely NOT attempt Mt Doom - b*****. I did the whole thing with a couple of girls called Jo and Vicky, who I turned out to have loads in common with (Body Combat anyone?), in about 5.5hours, so not bad at all. Got back to Taupo absolutely knackered and dehydrated, and decided it was a great idea to go out on the lash - perhaps not. A lot of cheap white wine and some stolen cowboy hats later, I collapsed into bed and managed to get a whole 1.5hours sleep before the next day...

Needless to say the bus ride the next morning was not ideal. We headed to River Valley, a place in the middle of nowhere that is not even a village, just one hostel next to a river. It's a fantastic place for white water rafting, but because the girls and I had no interest whatsoever in that we had nothing to do the whole day. Probably for the best really, definitely needed some sleep!

Next day we drove straight to Wellington, NZ's capital city. We arrived after a very long day on the coach by about 4pm, and just had time to hit up the supermarket (sushi), liquor store (vodka) and a few other shops (unneccessary dresses) before getting ready to hit the town. Wellington is definitely a party town, and Lulu and I managed to not spend any money all night. This doesn't sound that impressive, but we drank an awful lot (so much that on the way home I had a press-up competition with some boys and won one of their jumpers, ha) and ate an awful lot of takeaway food - fish and chips, chinese, curry... Shameful. Again, collapsed into bed at about 5am, thoroughly looking forward to my first lie in in a very long time. The next day after waking up well into the afternoon we headed to Wellington harbour to watch the ships, and managed to stumble into a prom convention. Very strange indeed. The other girls then headed out for another night on the town, while Lulu and I were in bed by about 8pm - wild, I know.

Wellington was our last stop on the North Island, so the next day we headed to the ferry terminal at some ungodly time in the morning and made the 3 hour journey to Picton in the South Island. Unfortunately our ferry was full of screaming 14 year olds, and the only thing shown on TV was some horrific GMTV equivalent that was full of shopping channel style sections. Hell on earth. From Picton we headed to Nelson, on the North-West coast of the South Island, and definitely one of my favourite destinations of the whole trip. Nelson was thoroughly beautiful, and I ended up staying there for 3 days, only wish I'd had longer. On the first day we did a quick 20min walk up to the centre of New Zealand (on a hill, conveniently) for gratuitous photos, and then headed back down to get a few bevvys in at the hostel bar (owned by a Mancunian, typical). After a beer tasting session and a late night trip to MacDonalds accompanied by our incredibly drunk barmaid, we all hit the sack. That was my last night with Philly, Flossie and Lulu, so waved them goodbye and got ready for an action-packed couple of days. Next morning I was up crazily early again to catch the bus to nearby Abel Tasman National Park. The NP is so so beautiful, if anyone ever goes to NZ I thoroughly recommend visiting - it looks like all the NZ adverts on TV! It was a beautiful day, and I spent 5 hours kayaking around the coast line with a group of people, absolutely stunning scenery. We even got to see penguins and seals, including a seal ripping an octopus apart. Exciting! Next day after a lengthy lie-in I pottered around town, hitting up a few shops and the local farmer's market, where I was persuaded to buy many random and not-particularly-cheap things such as pears, corn and salad. Free samples are the death of me. That night we hit the town with a couple of friends that had just arrived on buses (Amy, Tom, Harry, Ed, Jerome, OB, Craig) to celebrate St Paddy's Day. Messy. Early morning again the next day to head back to Abel Tasman for some hiking - on my own this time. Hit the Coastal Path and managed to cover 21.6km from Marahau to Watering Cove in just 4hours - the path is pretty flat with some stunning views, and got to eat my PB sandwiches on the beach, yum. Unfortunately the rather swift pace meant that I completely shredded my feet (gel orthotics and all) and spent the next few days limping around (mostly for sympathy).

Jumping back on the bus the next day, our first stop was Lake Rotoiti, a glacial lake not far from Nelson. Because it was so beautiful and the water was so very cold and full of eels, all the boys decided it would be a good idea to jump in. Never one to shy away from a challenge, me and Amy decided to give it a go too. Suffice to say: yes, it was cold, but it was worth it for the photos. We then headed to Westport, and after a quick trip to the supermarket and a long walk to the beach (I got us lost), Amy and I decided to have a night in (sensible) and to watch a movie and get an early night. Best laid plans and all that - we were woken up at 3am by our very drunk roommates Craig and OB (bloody scousers) who wanted to play Question Time. Oh dear.

Next day we again had a refreshing walk first thing (noone was very happy about it this time) along Cape Foulwind to try and see the seals, and then around the Punakaiki (Pancake) Rocks and Blowholes. There were no blowholes, what a gip. We then stopped at Greymouth for some supplies (see below) before heading to Hokitika and Lake Mahinapua. There is a hostel at the Lake which is used solely by Kiwi Experience, and is basically a party place, run by a very strict, very old publican. All the parties are themed, and our theme was Geeks and Freaks (hence the supplies). All I really need to look like a geek is a pair of glasses, but decided to jazz it up with some very high shorts, socks&flip-flops and a crossword book. The party was good fun, especially towards the end of the night when everyone had gone to bed and the stragglers were all dancing to 80s classics. Big night.

Next stop was Franz Josef, a town at the bottom of the Franz Josef glacier. We stopped at the Pukikura Bushman's Centre on the way there, famous for its possum pies, but unfortunately had to settle for hare pie as apparently they couldn't find any possums there recently! On to Franz Josef, which was raining. A lot. All the time. Nonetheless, it's a beautiful place and very outdoorsy, so I decided to stay 2 days there to get the most out of it. Unfortunately the weather didn't relent enough for me to try my hand at ice climbing on the glacier, but I did manage to get in a couple of long runs (in the rain), an afternoon of kayaking on a glacial lake in the rainforest before watching the sunset over the mountains, a full day of 'hiking' (very Bear Grylls style, I had to wade through rivers and climb rock faces) in the rain, and even managed to stay up til 3am to watch the Liverpool-Man U game (wish I hadn't bothered). All in all a really good couple of days, made better by my discovery that there would be a 10k road race in Wanaka while I was there, and by my running back into some old friends, Steph, Faye, Tom and Harry.

Next day was on to Wanaka, yay! Had been looking forward to Wanaka the whole trip, because it's supposed to be really beautiful and I've spent years craving having the time/money to go board there during the winter - the ski fields and snowparks are supposed to be amazing. Unfortunately it is only autumn here, so no such luck this time! It definitely is beautiful though, and is my all time favourite place in NZ, I can't wait to go back. The tiny town is on the edge of Lake Wanaka, which stretches off towards the mountains. When we were there it had just snowed up in the mountains, so you could sit on a beach, looking over a lake, towards grass covered hills, grey rocky peaks and snow covered mountains, all under perfect blue skies - bliss. On the first day we scoped out the town and then headed to the local cinema, Cinema Paradiso in the early evening. The cinema is unreal, and is how all cinemas should be. It's a tiny screen where all the seats are big cosy armchairs or sofas. There's an interval half way through the film, where you can go out into the lobby for freshly baked cookies, brownies, ice cream, and even a meal - if you order before the film starts it's there waiting for you when you come out of the interval. Amy and I went to see 'Up in the Air', which I can only describe as the most depressing film ever, particularly if you are single, travelling and travelling alone. After bolstering our spirits with hot cookies, lasagne, garlic bread and ice cream, we legged it back to the hostel to try for an early night. Next day we got up reasonably early and decided to treat ourselves to a healthy fry up. Yum. After breakky, and a long time trying to fix a very broken watch, we headed off to our respective daytime activities; I went to walk along the lake side for a couple of hours. In the evening Amy decided to have a quiet night in; I decided to go back to the cinema (it really was that good) to watch Sherlock Holmes (and I have been waiting to see it for a long time). Queue more hot cookies. Amy decided to leave Wanaka for Queenstown (party town) the next day, so I booked onto a half day climbing course up at Hospital Flat in Wanaka. It was amazing, definitely a sport i'm going to try and keep up when I get back. However, probably not the smartest idea to do that considering the 10k was the next day. Having entered there was no way I was backing out, and that evening I ran back into Steph, Faye, Tom and Harry who had all come back for it: Steph and Tom were running the half marathon, Harry and Faye were present in a supportive capacity (Harry slept through the whole thing, Faye took some really terrible pictures). The 10k itself was horrific, a really good display of what happens when you do no training and eat a lot of crap. Not a good time at all, but finished and run the whole way so could be worse. Spent the rest of the day hanging out with the others, and took advantage of the group situation to cook a big meal and watch some DVDs.

Back on the bus again next day, with noone I knew, and our first stop was Puzzlin World. Now, I can see that Puzzlin World could have been fun if a) you weren't too tight to pay the $10 entry fee, and b) had some friends or just knew someone else there. Unfortunately this wasn't me, so I spent the time sat in the cafe, eating cake and trying to do puzzles which are apparently way beyond my capabilities - Oxford education my arse. From there we headed to Queenstown, stopping only at Kawarau Bridge to watch people bungy jump off it. Just when I was thinking that I was going to spend the whole day on my own (sniff sniff, sob sob), who should arrive but Steph, Faye, Tom & Harry! Coincidence or what! They were on their way to the South of NZ, but we figured out that we'd all be in Queenstown together for our last night there, so arranged a big night. Then back on the bus (starting to loathe the bus travel now) and in to Queenstown. Now, Queenstown is just a massive blank in my diary. I'd like to say that I did a bungy. Or that I skydived. Or that I hiked. But what I actually did was drink a lot, dance a lot (not necessarily in dance-specific locations), and eat one hell of a lot. Had a good few nights out in Queenstown, followed by a good few rather fragile days, and in particular the last night was really good fun - Amy, Tom, Harry, Steph, Faye and I all headed out together after pre-lashing illicitly in hostel rooms, with our first stop being Buffalo Bar, who were offering a free $50 bar tab to anyone with ginger hair. At last, I knew it would come in useful for something. After that we headed to get some teapots (full of cocktail) in World Bar, and after that who knows, I'm reliably informed that I had fun though.

Far too early the next morning Amy and I got on the bus one last time to head to Christchurch. Having only gotten in at 5.30am, by the time it was time to leave at 8am the next day, I was, shall we say, not entirely sober. Therefore I thought it was a really good idea to eat a sausage roll and a cream bun for breakfast. Of course. One 2 hour coach journey later, I wasn't so sure. On the way to Christchurch we stopped at some really beautiful lakes for snacks and photo ops, and fresh air for Amy and I. After an incredibly long coach journey, we finally arrived in Christchurch and checked into our hostel. Somehow we managed to score double beds; we thought we'd been really lucky until that night when we discovered our room was right over the bar. Unsurprisingly, I managed to sleep but I think the other people in our room were less than pleased! Next day we transferred to a different hostel just down the road, which was much nicer and much cheaper. As we were wandering to MacDonalds (don't judge me) we saw the next Kiwi bus arrive, and who should get off but Tom and Harry! Getting spooky now isn't it? We persuaded them to come to our hostel with us, and had a huge slap up meal of steak and mash, with pancakes and angel delight for desert. Yum. Turns out Tom and Harry are heading to Cairns on the same day as me, and doing the Oz Experience bus (like I am) so we're going to be travelling together for a while longer yet... Which is actually quite good, because they're the most easy going and polite people I've ever met. For example, the morning after this when I got in from my run, Tom came up to me and said 'I realised last night that I forgot to say thank you for making the pancakes last night, and I couldn't sleep for ages last night because I hadn't said thank you.' Bless.

Next day after an early run, Amy and I hit up the shops, heading to the Westfield Centre (yes, same company) where we'd heard there'd be a big easter sale on. Grabbed another bucket load of sushi for lunch, and spent ages planning an epic final meal for the four of us - breaded beef schnitzel, rosemary roast potatoes, peppercorn sauce, veg, all for $3 per person, win. Flight's at 6.35am, so getting a very very early night now to try and maximise sleep hours - daylight saving tonight helps. Can't wait for Australia, hope it's warm and sunny!