We are starting our return journey north now. We have travelled from Queenstown to Wanaka today and have just returned from puzzle world where we successfully completed the maze in an resonable time..good on us. However the puzzle games were a different kettle of fish and all together it took me over an hour to complete one of the small puzzles! I kept my cool and resisted kicking the helpers backside everytime time he asked me if i needed help...NO I DONT! b***** OFF!

So one of us is a little older now...Amy is now 28!. We had a 4 day celebration in Christchurch with Rob & Emily...we did lots ranging from B'Day drinks - the races - sightseeing - meals out & riding the tram. Excellent. Christchurch was a very green city - lovely when the sun is out. Again another place you could see yourself living in. Me and Amy had a successful day at the New Zealand Cup Races - need a loan? come to us - $42 richer..woo hoo! Thanks to our horse Daffodil.

After we dropped Rob & Emily off at the Airport we left Christchurch and travelled inland to Lake Tekapo...where the lakes are an amazing turquoise blue. Apparently in this area the air is the cleanest in the whole of Australasia...suck it up. The town was very much a resort area so we had to go cheap and sleep in the tent. Which was OK as we had a view of the lake from the hill we were on. We just spent the 1 day there as the food options were limited and that very much has a bearing on all things we do...so we had a long drive through the mountains & the Northern Otago region heading for Dunedin. Along the way we had several stops...one close by to Lake Tekapo to catch a view of the snow covered Mt Cook, Australasia's highest mountain...it was an amazing view as a huge clear lake was in front of it. Other stops along the way were at Elephant Rocks...here they filmed Narnia, where Aslans (the lion) camp was. Lots of large flat lime stone rocks....very windy! Close to Dunedin we had to check out Moeraki Bay...on the shore were these weird ancient boulders....hard to explain what they looked like so best to look at the pics.

We arrived in Dunedin in the evening and booked into a cabin in the local holiday park.....2 thumbs up for bunk beds. Why is harder to get up on top of them when your older? It was a nice city..lots of victorian buildings, a big student place so there was lots of places to eat & drink. That evening we aimed to find 2 things...the Otago Highlanders Stadium, Carrisbrook, and the Worlds Steepest street! I was happy to stand outside of the staduim i have seen for years on t.v watching supers 14's but the street was crazy....it was really steep! Its in the guinness book of records? We went to the cinema as well to have a little down time after christchurch and travelling on the road.

We travelled as far south of New Zeraland as we could after Dunedin...we drove through the Catlins then heading west along the coast and then started to venture north...by the time we arrived via the south scenic route to Te Anau it looked like made a smile shaped journey. Te Anau is right by N.Z's second largest lake and we used it as a base so we could travel to the Milford Sounds. Its part of a larger area called Fiorland which is a world heritage site...fantastic mountains overlooking the area. On the second day in Te Anau we drove 120km to Milford Sounds.....stopping along the way to see some strange sights ..such as a place called mirror lakes...the reflection from the plants and mountains hanging over the lake were so clear..just like a mirror...duh. We had to pass through a tunnel that cut straight through the mountains..it took 20 years to make it. It was a 1207m tunnel which had a really steep gradient but only enough room for oner way traffic so you had to wait 15 min until you could pass through...it was pitch black so if your head lights wereent working then you were screwed. We didnt get to see the Milford Sounds completely as it is done by a cruise...outside of our budget but at least we got to see a little of it. When we travelled back through the tunnel we pulled over just outide of the entrance to park up and go for a walk to get up closer to the mountain face with snow still on it. The track was only short and you didnt get up that close so I decided we should carry on and climb over the volcanic rocks up to the snowy area. Seemed like a good idea at the time but it turned out to be a lot harder than it looked from far away. Amy pulled up after a little while but I was motivated to reach the top. Getting up there was OK, and seeing the water stream down the mountain by the snow was good but getting back down turned into extreme rock climbing. I had planned to head back to Amy as that was the easy route but she had walked off on her own adventure through the marsh. It took me forvever to get back down as i didnt know which way to go..i wasnt really fit enough for this and to this day my legs are still stiff. When we met each other by the car there was a large Kea, a New Zealand native bird. It was sat on top of my surf board. Later that day i noticed that the little pest had chewed its way through my surf bag in several areas!

After Te Anau we drove to Queenstown, quite a short journey, arriving there on the Sat. We managed to get a cheap large double room in a nice place as we have both grown to hate our tent. The night before in Te Anau i had to get up 3am to pack it away as I almost blew away...Amy had decided to sleep in the car that night leaving the tent to me as her hatred for the tent is beyond words. That Sat we were blessed with a very hot day , 27, so we took it easy taking in what the small resort town had to offer. Its known for being the adventure capital of the world, we both agreed that this is the place for us...definately the top pic for a future home. You can do anything from bunge jumps, sky diving, canyoning etc but we are saving our money for a bigger activity - a glacier hike which wil happen this week. We had a good night on the town that night starting with a drink in the Minus 5 Bar...everything was made entirely of ice....it was - 8.3 when we went in but you are equipped with cold weather clothes for your 30 min experience. After that we bar hopped for several hours. The next day was quite a contrast to that of Sat...gloomy, freezing wet day...it rained non stop from 9am - 9pm. I was glad through as the the sports bar there was showing re-runs of all the rugby from back home...i was in heaven. N.Z v Ire, Scot v S.A & Eng v Aus. Wow! And for the record, for any one who cares...Ciprinani is a ****! I know you agree Dad.

So this morning we arose, ate and left Queenstown. We went to visit a near by town called Arrowstown...an old gold mining town. Its pretty much still in its original state....a quaint little place. Then from there to here , Wanaka. Dont know how long we will be here for, we have booked our tickets for the Ferry to take us back to the North Island on Sun and there are a few places left to visit. Only 3 weeks left till we leave for our XMAS vacation in the sun.