God Save The Queen(stown)

Queenstown might just be the coolest place on earth, even cooler than say Cullen or the Black Dog. Tremendous times.

Franz Josef Glacier Climb was pretty special once again, got a glorious day for it, views were spectacular, saw some beautiful ice caves and our guide could not have looked more like Prince Harry if he tried. Well, maybe if he'd turned up in a Nazi uniform. Free entry to the Glacier Hot Pools came with the Glacier Hike and was just the way to relax after a hard day hiking over the ice. We'd paid for a fireworks display which was let off outside the hostel in the street in Franz, was a nice way to end the day.

If that was the perfect day then the following day was far from perfect. We were journeying from Franz Josef to Wanaka and about half an hour outside Franz, the bus broke down. Turned out that someone had broken into the fuel tank and pinched all the diesel from the bus, so the first time we went uphill, the fuel went to the back of the tank and the engine wasn't getting fed. No problem we thought, got a guy to come with some diesel and we're on our way again. Until we reach the Haast pass, when we break down again, our bus driver informs us that of all the places to break down, this is the worst. No phone reception, nothing to pass the time but some traffic cones. So we do what any people would do, start a mini-olympics with the traffic cones. Hammer, high jump, there was even about to be a game of rounders. Had to hitchhike, to send a guy to the next town, where the Stray (another tour company) Bus was staying to get the stray bus to come and pick us up. So we got to the town, the Kiwi Bus limped on to there, another mechanic comes out, this time it's fixed and we're back on the road to Wanaka. 3 Breakdowns later we finally make it, pretty much on momentum rather than engine power. Leo, our Dutchman and Lauren our bus driver somehow got us there. Leo fixing the engine all the time and Lauren driving round corners like a maniac to keep the momentum up. Even after all that happened it was still a fun day and it's a story to tell. 12 hours it took for what should only have been a few hour journey. We got some cracking photos along the way too, if there is a more picturesque place to break down then I haven't yet seen it.

Wanaka was just somewhere to sleep and then visit the awesome puzzling world. It's like a big Crystal Maze and I love stuff like that. Love the fact that you can take the pictures of yourself s***ing a building, check it out on FaceyB.

After leaving Wanaka it was on the road to Queenstown. Which meant stopping at the AJ Hackett bungy centre at the Kawarau Bridge. This was the world's first commercial bungy site opening in 1988. b******s, enough about the blurb, I jumped off that bridge. Was an amazing feeling, got dunked in the water as well, loved it. Everyone should do a bungee if they get the chance and my preference would be to get dunked in the water. I liked to think that it was a better dive than anything Ronaldo or a Hun could come up with.

Queenstown is a spectacular little town, for such a wee place there is so much going on and I've said for a while now that if there was anywhere on earth I could live it might just be here. The views over Lake Wakatipu are amazing and having climbed up the Gondola track to look over the town you'll see what I mean when I get the photos up.

Managed to win myself a day of River Surfing by successfully imitating 11 sexual positions on a stage in 30 seconds with my glamourous assistant Lucy. That will hopefully be happening this afternoon and then it will be farewell to Queenstown tomorrow morning. Back to Christchurch for a night where I get another new experience, sleeping in a jail. We've found an awesome bar here as well that is doing $3 beers and $10 massive jugs of beer. Free pool, free pizza, free fuzzball, cowboy themed, what more could you want. Sandy has a lot to learn in the chien.

Our bus full of people has broken up a bit now but there are still a few that will be on board on the way back north, thinking about a wee bit of swimming with dolphins in Kaikoura. Pretty much half way through the trip now, if the 2nd half is as good as the first it will be Sweet As Bro's..........