Kia Ora!

I feel I have so much to catch everyone up on since I've been in New Zealand!

I started out in Christchurch arriving at my hostel quite late after flying from Fiji via Auckland. The hostel I was in was a converted old prison which had a lot of character to it, all the rooms were former cells so was definitely an experience! They offered complimentary hot water bottles, this was going to be a significant change from living on beaches in Fiji!

I had a day off to explore Christchurch and sadly because of the earthquake there wasn't a lot to see. The city centre is all still a 'red zone' so basically a giant unsafe building site that the public can't access. I desperately needed to buy some warm clothes and was directed to a mall, low and behold in was a westfield. Can't get away!! It turned out to be the wrong time of year to buy a coat, but I managed to get one plus a sweater and scarf for £20. Was pretty chuffed with myself!

I then took a long walk around the city, like I said it's pretty devastated which is sad. They have built a mini shopping centre next to the red zone out of shipping containers which was impressive and had a lot of character to it.

After a night of washing everything I owned and repacking my whole backpack to apply to the climate change, a skype with Bob, Shell and Elsie and a fight with HSBC who kindly decided to cancel my debit card without telling me, it was bedtime and up early to get the Stray bus that would be taking me around NZ for the next 3 weeks.

My first driver was called ET who made us do a pop quiz far too early in the morning called 'stranger danger' as me and Adrian and Anita, a couple from Ireland, were the new people on the bus. We then headed up to Kaikoura where we checked into our hostel for the evening, which looked like a pub you would find in the middle of nowhere in England, and then Bridie one of the girls from the bus and I headed out to do some whale watching. The boat was really choppy, about 6 people were throwing up which made it interesting! We then came across some sperm whales which was truly amazing to see. We saw 4 in total and they were just beautiful creatures, I was truly in awe, all be it freezing clinging on for dear life on the side of a boat! We we're also lucky to see a pod of really rare dolphins swimming about round the bottom of the boat. Was definitely a trip worth doing!

The whole group went out for a meal together and to the 'Irish' pub. One thing I've learnt about NZ, there are Irish pubs everywhere, but few have any relevance to Ireland. This one wasn't too bad though and we got stuck into some sheep shagger's lager. Yup, it's a real brew.

The next day we headed to Picton, the main port town on the north of the south Island where the ferry's connecting each Island left from. I said goodbye to most the group including ET as they were all continuing up to the North Island, and settled into the hostel with Adrian and Anita who were also staying on the south Island. The hostel was really cute, a bit like a family home and very welcoming, they even had free apple crumble and ice cream in the evening which is always a winner. I went for a walk round Picton and soon discovered it didn't take very long at all, the place was very small but it was nice with the sun out for a change. Back at the hostel I had a chilled night drinking wine and playing card games with some of the guys from my dorm.

The next day we were collected by our new driver Gollum and headed to Abel Tasman National Park. We were staying in a place called Old Macdonalds Farm which was quite literally in the middle of nowhere within the park. I was sharing a cabin with Kate and Manon, two girls from the bus who we dropped off to go skydiving, and there was a main cabin with a kitchen and tv room, it was all very basic and rural. Adrian, Anita and I visited an outside gallery of carvings down the road. There were also shllamas on the farm, these were sheep and llama cross breeds which basically looked like a llama but with short legs and a very fluffy coat. Pretty bizarre to say the least. The night involved us all having drinks round a fire and checking out the stars, which was all very chilled.

The next morning we woke to a torrential downpour. It was a bit like being at a festival having to trapse through mud in order to just go to the toilet, felt right at home! Brian, the horse guy who was meant to be taking us out came to pay us a visit as it had to be rained off. To say he was an interesting character doesn't really cover it…. I literally have no words, it was exhausting being in his presence! The rain eased for an hour or so which meant we could get out for a walk which was good as we were going stir crazy sitting in the cabin.

The next day we headed to Punakiki, stopping for a trek to a seal colony on the way. We were staying in a little chalet in the bush which was really cute and nice as we had it all to ourselves. We cooked a roast together and had a lovely night just chatting over the dinner table. Kate, Manon and I had a whole mezzanine floor to ourselves which was really cozy.

TBC.....