DAY 12 - FOX GLACIER TO QUEENSTOWN its boxing day but alais no cold turkey sandwiches, just another hangover. today we go on a helihike up fox glacier. after brekkie, 1 peice of toast is all i manage we head the 20 paces into town. big place see. we pay for the trip and off we go to the helipad. we load up with our multiple socks and waterproof boots then board the helicopter for the journey onto the glacier, its been raining so we have been warned its quite slipply under feet and to take care when we get of the helicopter. dont forget to duck . the helicopter ride up to the glacier is prety spectacular with the pilot making an effort to bring up breakfast with with some nice swoops and turns around the mountain. we land and are told to crouch down as when the helicopter takes off again it fires ice in your face and can knock you off your feet. noisy b*****. we collect our hiking sticks and put on our metal strap on spikes to our boots, now we are ready to conquer the glacier, well at least walk a bit of it. the guides head off in front to axe out some foot holdings while the rest of us follow in single file while trying to break off as much ice as we can with our sticks. we are at the back so we just mess around a bit. i tarnish the ice with some spilt sunscreen, but at least i didnt spit out my chewing gum like kate. i lecture kate on the possibility that that chewing gum could suface at the bottom of the glacier in 30 years time and could be eaten by a rogue penguin whose jaw gets stck together and is unable to feed its family causing a chain reaction that will lead to the animals extinction in NZ. which is nice. we come across a nice ice cave that you can slide down and emerge through the other side, we are warned to watch your head as the ice could slice open a wound in your head. which is nice. my head is entact but my arse is now wet and will remain so for the rest of the hike. i know it takes 30 years to reach the bottom as a plane once crashed at the top and 30 years later parts popped out at the bottom. fox glaceir is one of the few glacioers in the world that is still growing, whereas most are retreating. we go through a few more ice caves and explore a bit more. we are on the ice for a few hours before heading back toward the helipad. i get shouted at and told off for trying to break off a big piece of ice with my stick and running off track. that told me. anyways back to the chopper and our journey back. i still have a wet arse but at least i have a crappy certificate to say i have conquered the fox glacier. which is nice. we meet up with the rest of the people on the tour and and grab a quick lunch before getting back on the coach for our journey to queenstown. i want to sleep but the scenery is just too awesome. we pass through haast pass. we stop at thunder creek falls, you guessed it another waterfall. we take some very steep roads up the side of a mountain before negotiating back down on some very tight bends overlooking the edge, we see a car down the side of the mountain that had obviously misjudged a corner. the coach on a few occations looks like its going over the edge on some of the tight turns but the front wheels are a good few feet behind the front of the coach thankfully. the scenery is incredible, we go past mt doom although in reality its called something else. the weather seems to be getting worse the nearer queenstown we get. nz weather is odd, one minutes its sunny and you can feel the sun burning you, very little ozone see and within 20 minutes its raining. we get to queenstown and it rteally is beatiful, look at the photos from the hotel looking over the lake with the mountains in the background. it's bloody horrid weather though. we are staying in the rydges hotel, which is pretty nice. i could never remember the name of the hotel until we had left the place. time for a shower and then i meet up with kevin and neil for a few pre dinner drinks. we meet the rest at dinner before heading to the bar for a very quick barcardi breezer shotgun, just to get the night going. we are off into queenstown town centre tonight with the promise of drinking cocktails from teapots. which is nice. its only a very short walk to the town, quite a small place but really nice. and plenty of bars. 1st stop was frazers bar where we enjoy a few beers a few whiskeys and a couple of shots. a few had some shots with apparently requires the whole bar top to be set alight before you can drink it. which is nice. they have a wall full of pictures , we count the number of birds who flash for the photos. our next stop was the world bar, home of the informous teapot cocktails. while most seem to buy teapots to share, neil and i naturally buy a teapot each, this reaches 5 each by the end of the night. a few amusing incidents occur tonight. myself and paul perform an impromtu performance of a proclaimers medley. i go to the dj booth to ask for a song and inadvertantly start a conga chain, which was nice. a couple of us pick nick up and force him to do some involutary breakdancing by dropping him on the dancefloor on his back and spinning him round with his legs in the air. nice moves nick. lots of cheesy dancing, i think this was the place where mandy ripped her skirt. everyone is well trolleyed. kate and i enjoy the company of a local outside who offers us some form of drugs, we are not quite sure what he is offering us but we politely decline before he disappears to find his friends, before returning again, then going again???? people filter off home leaving only me jenna nick and jenny. thankfully there are people left behind as i probably required assistance getting back. we stop for a fergburger, not furburger as it comes out when drunk. a little dancing while waiting for the burger followed by the extensicve walk home dropping half the burger on the floor. i decide to take a run up a very steep hill, just cause i can, then stagger back down it. we finally make the hotel and unfortunately i think its clever to steal the giant stocking under the xmas tree. take a leak in the ladies loo by mistake, im sure they were the blokes, oh well. i tyhen proceed to beat nick up with the stolen xmas stocking, which wouldnt hurt if it wasnt for the big bottle of water i dropped on his head at the same time. i think thats about all the embarrassing things i got up to this night, but there may very well have been more. anyways a busy day tomorrow. am i up for it, of course. cant find the key and forget my room number, work it out and have to wake steve up to get in.