I have been a bit rubbish at writing the blog- mostly because internet here is so very expensive- can't wait to get back to free wireless in Asia- it's a dollar (50p) for 10mins everywhere! We have just arrived in Te Anau which is the gateway for Milford Sound where we will head tomorrow. A couple minutes before we got here we hit the 2000km mark in our van so we've been doing quite well on the travelling around front...

When we left Franz Josef we headed down to the Fox Glacier- checked it out and took some pictures but we did feel like we had kind of done glaciers so we continued down the highway to get some miles under our belt. We spent the night at Haast which is kind of a nothing place and then got up the next morning and drove to Arrowtown. Arrowtown is really pretty- It's an old gold panning village that still looks the same- it also had some amazing food including an old fashioned fudge and sweet shop that took our fancy! We also managed to have a genuine Cornish Pasty made by a lovely English woman in the village store. We spent the night there and then the next day Charles got his hair cut for the first time since leaving home- by a woman who went to the same school as his sister back in Wallingford, Oxfordshire- quite a coincidence.

We then headed down to look at the old Chinese settlement. Loads of men came from one small province in China in the 1830's to pan for gold. They were heavily discriminated against and quite excluded from New Zealand life. They lasted a long time living in small huts outside of the village that have been well restored before eithing dying or returning home in around 1890. The government formally apologised to the Chinese in 2002 and since then have worked hard to show recognition of their part in history. It was very interesting to visit although as per usual for us it was tipping with rain!

From Arrowtown we headed into Queenstown which is an absolutely lovely place and mostly famous for all of the extreme sports you can do there. We decided against bungying but instead opted for a jetboat ride between the canyons in the Shotover river. It was really good- 30minutes at high speed so close to the cliffs that you felt like you were going to crash. the driver was obviously highly skilled as he swung the boat round including 380degree spins. Charles loved it and now wants to be a jetboat driver as well as a skydiving instructor. In the afternoon it was raining again so we wnt and played a ound of mini golf- our second so far and I'm afraid I am rather hopeless at it so Charles always beats me- I think it is a patience and concentration thing!

Today we went up the gondola to the 'skyline' above Queenstown to see the view. The main reason though was to do the luge which is an 800m track down the hill that you go down on go kart type things. It looks pretty tame when you are watching but you actually go quite fast and it is really fun- we had 3 tries and Charles won every time- I won't let him have it though and insist that it is because he is heavier!

Speaking of being heavy I'm afraid there is more food news....we found the best Burger place! It is called Fergburger and has recently had a review rating it as number 1 in the world! Charles loved it so much that we went back twice- even my falafal one was amazing. We have now vowed to set up a burger kitchen of our own one day with happy meat! We also found the best ice cream we have ever had in an Argentinian chocolate shop where we also indulged in alfajor biscuits that I have been missing since we were there...Yes we are very fat but are telling ourselves it is dieting time soon- some things are too good to pass up!

After indulging in our last burger and ice cream it was back in Bruce, our trusty camper for another stunning drive to Te Anau...as I said at the beginning tomorrow we will go to Milford Sound which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful journeys in the world- can't believe we only have a week left in New Zealand!