HORSING AROUND IN MIDDLE EARTH WITH A FILM STAR DAY 39: Queenstown After waking up to the most spectacular view from our bed, we had a luxury breakfast (considering our others) of poached eggs on toast before Skyping our families. At about midday we walked down the hill into town to meet Lisa and Josh for today's activity. But before that, Josh convinced us to go to Cookie Time for a fresh, warm cookie and a glass of milk (on tap!). You have to take a bite o...

ROOM WITH AN INCREDIBLE VIEW DAY 38: Wanaka to Queenstown After checking out of the hostel and one last look around Wanaka we parked up outside the hostel and sat in the sun whilst we waited for our next Stray bus. When the bus arrived, it was pretty busy but we found a few seats near each other with Josh, Lisa and Laura. Our first stop as we drove through the Otago wine region was at Jones' Fruit Stall (well, more of a shop with a whole fruit farm attached ...

WANNA LIVE IN WANAKA DAY 37: Wanaka A much more relaxed day today, starting with a lazy stroll along the front and browsing the shops. The weather was beautiful and it seriously got us thinking about moving here, for 3-6 months anyway. It's such a lovely place. A beautiful lake, great people and superb weather - you get a nice hot summer and snow in the winter for skiing. And the scenery is unbeatable. Such a relaxed place too. We grabbed some fresh salad an...

A LEAP OF NATH DAY 36: Makarora to Wanaka Today, I jumped out of a plane at 12,000ft with nothing but a Brazilian called Mac strapped to my back. Luckily he had a parachute attached to him. We'd left Makarora on our tour bus reasonably early in the morning, on what was a beautiful, warm and clear sunny day. A perfect day for skydiving. After stopping for a few photos along lakes Hawea (a huge 35km long) and Wanaka (an even huger 45km long), we were dropped o...

MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE LAKE - WHERE'S THE VIEW, FOR F***'S SAKE? DAY 35: Franz Josef to Makarora We left the beautiful alpine village of Franz Josef early on and made our way towards Makarora through the Southern Alps. Our first stop was after about an hour at Lake Matheson, famed for its mirror lake that reflects the view of the snow capped mountains. Unfortunately, today it looked more like a fishing pond in the UK on an overcast day, with not a mountain (o...