So after an adrenaline packed couple of days we decided to take it easy in the comforts of Milford Sound and Lake Wanaka. I can feel another lecture coming on.....

Milford Sound is known as a Fiordland, a large valley formed by glaciers over many thousands of years! It runs 15 kilometres inland from the Tasman Sea and is surrounded by sheer rock faces that rise 1200 metres or more on either side. As the glaciers eroded away at the moutains they not only create large steep valleys but fill them with water 1280ft at the deepest point. There is also a large abundance of dolphins, seals and yellow eyed penguins that live in these waters... This place was truly spectacular, this island just gets better and better!!

At Milford you can venture out on these boats, which take you all round the sound. The valleys these waters run through are absolutely HUGE, especially in comparison to our boat! As you look through the photo's you'll see a cruise ship; just to put into perspective for you, the cruise ship in the photo's is called the Princess Sapphire, the largest cruise ship in the South Pacific and not far off the largest in the world. As it sailed through the Sound look at the pics where it's right next to the mountains, apparently it's called the dwarfing effect, but we'd just say they're just some bloody big ass moutnains!

The sheer rock faces of the valley hosts a temperate rainforest, don't even get me started on how these are formed with no soil, or i fear i may bore you to tears! Anyway as we sailed through the fiord we were explained how everything has changed over the years, and we were also taken through and under one of the waterfalls, we got absolutely soaked but it was way cool!! It was a great afternoon out and the skippers were a good laugh, we got a good old mexican wave going as the posh cruiser went past, must a thought we were right donkeys on our little boat!

After our little geology lesson it was time to leave the wet and windy Milford Sound and head for Wanaka, the 4th largest lake in New Zealand. It wasn't very touristy which maked a change, it was only a small quaint little town with a huge lake in it, 43km long infact, put our pesky little lakes in the UK to shame! We didn't really do much in the way of sightseeing in Wanaka, apart from a visit to the infamous Cardrona Hotel. Based halfway between Wanaka and Quenstown via the Crown Range, a little hotel which looks like a complete dive from the outside is in fact one of the nicest pubs we've been to throughout our trip. It was just like being back at home, sat in a beer garden in a proper pub, it was great. Well almost like home, there's not usually big mountians surrounding the Oast and Squire now is there! It would of been quite rude to go there and not have a few drinks so we did, and also a pub a lunch, our little friday treat!!

We left Wanaka sunday and headed for the west coast glaciers, that I'm afraid we will have to tell you about in our next journals as we are running out of time! But before we go we're just gonna tell you quick about our little adventure we've been trying out this past week...free camping, which basically means we're being gypsies!!! In NZ you don't have to stay in campsites all the time and you are free to camp in rest areas along the highway. We're getting the hang of it slowly, but we keep driving for ages with not a hope in sight or we have to park in the most ridiculous places, but it's good fun all the same. The first night we did it it was a bit scary, halfway down one of these highways, there's no lights or anything, so it was pitch black. Like something out of a horror movie sometimes, waiting for a mass murderer to come up and shake the van then disappear under it, then when u go out to investigate as they do in horror films...ooh theres a strange noise lets go investigate, then BOOM they hit you over the head with the back of a hammer or something! But we're getting there, and it's all good fun, so we'll have to let you know next time how it's going... that's all for now!!!!