We had another start this morning, getting back on the bus at 8.15am ready to leave Dunedin. But before we left the city we stopped off at Baldwin Street, officially the world's steepest street. When stood at the bottom of the hill I was full of bravado and was noisily proclaiming it had nothing on Sheffield. Ten minutes later however, I was stood at the top of it trying not to vomit - they win, it is steep.

We carried on with our packed day of sightseeing, stopping next at Moeraki to see the Te Kaihinaki boulders which are spherical, bizarrely. Then we had a quick break in Oamaru before continuing through the Waitaki Valley, pausing at the edge of Lake Pukaki to admire the view of Aoraki/Mt. Cook. Apparently the peak is normally circled in cloud (and Aoraki means 'cloud piercer' in Maori) but the weather was so stupendously good today that you could see the whole thing. And I have never seen water like it - it's blazing turquoise from the sediment in the water - just awesome. Our final stop of the day was at Lake Tekapo where we're staying the night.

It is ridiculously beautiful here. The lake is the same colour as at Pukaki, there are gorgeous flowers encircling it and the mountains are towering above it all. Jim and I relaxed in the garden at the hostel for a while before going for a wander by the lake, paddling in the icy cold water and sunbathing on rocks. I left Jim to it for a while to check out The Church of the Good Shepherd, this tiny little stone and oak church overlooking the lake. Unfortunately, coachload after coachload of Japanese tourists kept turning up so I left them to it and rejoined Jim.

And that's about it for today. We're on our final leg of the Magic Bus tomorrow to Christchurch so it's nearly time to come home! Booooo!

Love you lots x x x