Finally in NZ, admittedly the next 3 weeks is the part of the trip I've been looking forward to the most (with the exception of fiji of course) I've heard so much about the scenery, the people and all the stuff you can do. One of the alternate ideas for my year out was to go skiing in Queenstown - where I'll be in a week or so. Been wanting to visit here since I 1st looked into gap years, aged 15, so hoping it lives up to the hype!

Quite relaxed last day in Melbourne, the 22nd started as normal, up early for the free breakfast. Then a quick flick through the free 'guide to melbourne' I picked up at the hostel. It recommended a few different things, hadn't been to any museums, so contemplated that, usually find them a bit boring though. Also hadn't been to the botanical gardens, again thought they may be a bit dull, and the weather wasn't looking great. Eventually decided on the famous 'queen Victoria market'. 

Asked the very nice lady at reception for the quickest route, and booked my airport shuttle for the following day too. Leaving me with $19 to use. 

Set off on a massive trip - my hostel is south of st Kilda, which in turn is south east of Melbourne. The market was in north west Melbourne. Hopped on the tram only to find it stopped before the city centre due to roadworks. 

Ended up walking the mile or so the rest of the way instead of taking the transfer buses. Got some cool photos along the river and of Melbourne city centre. Eventually found the market, and walked through the 1st part which was all seafood, not really of interest to me (although there were blue crabs!) the 2nd part was all fruit and veg. Beginning to get worried here - the guide had vaguely mentioned a 'general merchandise' section. Was really hoping I hadn't just trekked across town to see a food market. 

Eventually found some stalls that did 'general merchandise'. Lots of tempting things here (if I had any money). Saw some interesting colored contact lenses (everyone had them in Thailand, so been meaning to get a pair) then a cool piercing stand, had some quite funky buffalo bone earrings, but were $40. Some other vaguely interesting stalls but the rest was either tacky 'Australian' souvenir stalls, kids toy stalls or clothes. 

Ended up getting a bracelet, going to aim to get one from each country. Also got a pair of thick pants (only have my craghopper pants, or my massive harem style pants i got in Thailand.) 

Am running quite low on space now in my backpack, what with my Bondi beach hoody, the new pants and various other things I've picked up. I've only got a 40 liter backpack - roughly from my hips to shoulders, just very slightly wider than me. Everyone who meets me always comments how amazed they are I fit everything in there. 

Anyway, where was i - had a proper look round Victoria market, leaving at about half 1, having got there at 10. Another big trek back, drooling over the countless sushi stores, knowing full well id get back to noodles and mystery meat. 

Got back to the main tram stop and jumped on the 1st one that said via st Kilda. Inevitably it just barely touched the very northern edge of st Kilda before turning 90 degrees. Got off sharpish but still had a 10 min walk to the nearest tram stop that was on the right route. 

Got back and cooked up some delicious noodles (just kidding they tasted crap) before crashing out in bed. Woke up at 6 and cooked more noodles - desperately trying to finish them off as I literally had no room in my bag. 

At 7 a local musician came round for the usual 'Sunday session' he puts on every week. Grabbed a front row bean bag and sat eagerly waiting with my mug of ovaltine (I'm addicted since Thailand) 

Was not disappointed at all - really funny guy who had an amazing voice and some great skill with his guitar. Happily listened for the whole of his 2 and a half hour set, mixing in a few of his own compositions with covers of any song you could think of. 

After he finished i spent my last night chatting to the Irish girls i had befriended. Eventually made my excuses at around 11, knackered despite the nap, and dreading my 4:30am wake up the next day. 

Or that's what should have happened if my phone had decided to cooperate. The 23rd of may was not a good day for me. 

So my shuttle bus was due to leave at 5:15. I woke up at 5:20, and panicked, threw all my stuff into my backpack and ran out to see the nightporter waving to something out the door. Turns out the driver had come in to ask where I was, and had just left. 

Fortunately I had booked the earlier shuttle, as they only leave every hour, and I had decided to be earlier and sit around rather than late. Not to worry as it meant I would still arrive an hour and a half before my flight, as opposed to 2 and a half hrs. 

The nightporter rang them up and they let me change my ticket to the following hour. Had a shower, repacked my bag and redressed. Lost track of time and nearly missed the next bus too, fortunately it stopped as someone else was catching it from the same stop and the night porter yelled at me it was outside. Ran out and threw my bag in, then ran back to the hostel as I had forgotten to check out and get my $10 room key deposit back. 

Every other stop the driver didn't stop unless there was someone stood there waving. So was very fortunate someone had been trying to get on at the same stop. 

Got to the airport at 7:15 - still had an hour and a half til my plane left so really wasnt bothered about missing it. Still checked in and got through security and immigration just to be sure. Got a ridiculously expensive bag of crisps then sat down next to the gate and waited. 

Only half an hour or so then they opened the gate. I was flying with jetstar this time - Australia's version of easyjet. A very budget airline, bit of a downgrade following my 3 emirates flights, but it was just a 3 hr trip across the Tasman sea to Christchuch. 

Pretty standard flight, managed to doze off with my head on the fold out table for about an hour before spending the next hour or so reading every page of the inflight magazine. Then did my New Zealand immigration card as slowly as I could. Ticked more boxes again that I shouldn't have, knowing full well I'd get searched again. Realised at this point I'd forgotten to clean my shells, whoops. 

Landed and power walked through to passport control, trying to beat the rest of the plane getting off, needn't have bothered as I got stuck behind some japanese grandmother, who clearly didn't speak a word of English, and couldn't tell the immigration officer where she was staying, where she was from or even what flight she had arrived on. 

Eventually got through and picked up my rucksack, got stopped two separate times by police so a dog could sniff my trousers a bit. Then headed through to biosecurity, inevitably got stopped, and questioned why I had ticked yes to 3 different things I shouldnt really have. Same as Sydney really - got them out and showed them to the nice immigration man, who rubbed the shell a bit, then inspected my noodles before getting bored and X-raying (is that a word?) my bag. 

All cleared I walked out of arrivals and found the nearest tourist office, asked where a nearby hostel was and got given a few simple instructions on how to get there. Picked up a few maps and some free guides before getting on the bus into town. 

Here was the best bit of the day - got off the bus at the wrong stop and ended up being about 40 mins walk from the hostel I knew about, or about a 50 min walk from the centre of town. Started walking towards the hostel I knew about before changing my mind and walking into town. 

Both times ive arrived somewhere new - Sydney and Melbourne - I've walked into the town and found 3 or 4 places to stay in about 5 mins. Had a look at them all, weighed the pros and cons, checked out the prices before finally booking 2 nights at one. Then if I want to move I have time to find another few hostesl and work out which one to try next. 

Christchurch was completely different. My 1st mistake was going the wrong way up a huge road and only noticing when i got to a crossing and found the wrong street name. Then got lost again trying to take a shortcut through a park, and ended up in some botanical gardens which had a strict path you had to follow as the grass was off limits. Wandered around before finally making it out of it's maze like confines.  So altogether took me about an hour and a half to get to the city. By which time my bag was really starting to get heavy - was feeling very glad I had listened to other peoples advice and packed light, only 10kg as opposed to the massive 20kg bags some of my friends had. 

The 2nd mistake was completely underestimating how big the feburary earthquake was 3 months ago. I'd assumed by now it would be buisness as normal - there's still a "red zone" completly cordoning off the whole of the centre of Christchurch. Didn't notice anything at first - the odd bit of wall missing or a slightly bigger than usual crack in the pavement, it progressively got worse closer to the centre - whole buildings toppled over or with huge cracks running down the side. Walked by 2 hostels that were closed before hitting a huge wire fence with "caution - extreme danger" written on it, I had finally reached the 'red zone'.  

Took a break for 5 mins - didn't know whether to head for the hostel in the south which i knew was definately open, or try having a look around the north. Knew there wasn't much else in the south, and was worried if there wasn't any room at that hostel, whether there was another one nearby. 

Ended up walking the wrong way anyway, and went 10 mins in one direction before waking up and correcting myself when I saw the botanic gardens again. By now it's about 5:15 - 2 hrs since I got off the bus. 

Made the big walk through the city - tried to be clever and walked up a road that turned out to be closed for about 10m right at the very end. There wernt any side streets so had to walk all the way down again and then turn and go up the next street. Finally got to the top of Christchurch and above the red zone. 

Maybe 20 or so motels along this road, but wasn't desperate enough to pay $60 for a room just yet. Eventually found a place one of the free guides had recommended, which was full. 

As were the next 2 hostels I tried at. Getting pretty desperate, but thankfully the guy at the last hostel helped me out by ringing a few others and got me a bed in one only a 20 min walk away. 

Basically the only hostels left are the ones on the outskirts. Around half of the hostels were in the center of Christchurch (now the red zone) and all the ones in the centre were the bigger commercial ones, as opposed to the smaller family run ones in the suburbs. So christchurch has lost at the least 50% of it's hostel beds. Making it very hard to just rock up at 6pm and expect to find a bed instantly. 

Eventually got to the hostel, after 3 hrs of walking around. It was named "foley towers" (there's lots of faulty towers jokes posted around, never seen it so don't really get them) worried it was going to be a complete dump and i had no other options but was pleasantly surprised. Got a very cheap 'share room' which only had 3 beds in it, as opposed to the 10 bed dorms I'm used to. 

Was starving by this point, so got directions to the nearest fish and chip shop (no way was I having noodles again after that walk). After a 20 min walk, feeling very naked without my massive bag on, I found the shop. 

Ran by a chinese husband and wife, It also doubled as a newsagents. Took a few minutes to explain i wanted fish and chips, ended up having to point at the board and hold up one finger. After she finally understood, she turned around and got a lump of breaded fish out of what looked like a birds eye packet in the freezer and some chips and dumped them both in the fryer. 

About 5 mins later walked out feeling very happy with myself - huge bag of fish and chips, grease literally dripping off the bag. All for just $4.40 (£2.20). 

Finished by the time I got back, and got into my room to crash out. Smelt something really bad for the 2nd time and couldn't work out where it came from. Noticed both times that i could never smell it when I 1st got in the room, it was only after I sat down on the bed. 

Worked out after a while that the horrific smell was in fact my feet, after 3 hrs of walking around with no socks on (don't ask why, I don't know why I didn't put them on either) 

Pretty odd for me as ive never had a problem with foot odour in my life. After spraying my feet and shoes liberally with hand sanitizer (hey it's multipurpose!) and deodorant, I fell asleep at about 8. Woke up the next day at 10, and realised there was another guy in the room.

Talking to the lady who runs the hostel later on she said she had shown him to his room at about 9 and saw me crashed out, on top of the covers, fully clothed. Then laughed when i came out of the room at about 10am still looking knackered. She said i obviously needed the sleep if I was out for 14 hrs. 

Woke up and got dressed in the only clean clothes i had left - beach shorts and my black moon top before doing a laundry session. Again got laughed at by the hostel manager who asked me if I was going to the beach (it's late autumn over here) so had to explain that they were the only clothes I had left, and that 18 degrees isn't actually that far off summer in Manchester. 

While the laundry was going I had a shower, then set about booking the next bus out of christchurch. When you've seen everything in a 3 hr walk at night you know you need to get out quick. 

Found a phone and managed to get a phone card and ring the bus company. Booked myself on the next day, at 8:15am. Then had 30 mins on the Internet and sent yet more emails. 

Took another walk to Christchurch, down the east side this time, much the same story - everything is closed. So really theres only houses and the odd newsagents. For example - it was a 20 min walk to the nearest ATM. 

Found another shop that did food and had yet another bag of fish and chips, then walked around a bit more, taking the scenic route back home. Got lots of photos of leaning buildings and rubble, before ending back up at the hostel. 

Slept for a bit, amazingly was still tired! Then walked back to the nearest shop for a bag of chips for dinner. (healthy!) got back and was still hungry so cooked up my last bag of noodles. Then grabbed some random magazines in the bookshelf and sat in the hostel lounge reading with my mug of ovaltine. Got through a climbing magazine, one about Asia and a fishing magazine before getting bored and making another cup of ovaltine. Got back and started chatting to an Irish guy who showed me a video of president Obama's car getting stuck at the irish embassy. (this is how random some of the conversations I have are) 

Talked for ages before heading off to bed at 11. Couldn't get to sleep for ages which was a bit annoying. 

Woke up the next day, showered, packed up the last of my stuff and then checked out. Walked up to where I'd be meeting the bus, grabbing a steak and cheese pie on the way. Worked out well, only waiting for 5 mins or so before my bus arrived. I'm on a special tour bus, not a public one. 

Was expecting to meet people at the bus stop before, but didnt see anyone, which was a bit odd. Especially as the bus stops in just 2 places in Christchuch after the earthquake, and the other stop was right by the airport - miles away from any hostels and not many backpackers can afford to stay in expensive hotels near the airport. 

Got on and met the driver, nicknamed 'poncey' , who, when I asked if anyone else was getting on told me I was the only one on the bus. I was meant to be told this the day before by the lady on the phone, who had clearly forgotten. He was clearly irritated that no one had told me so rang them up and asked what was going on. 

Long story short they had screwed up so offered me a free upgrade to a different pass that was leaving the next day - 15 days touring as opposed to the 13 days I had paid for. Then sat with him as we both worked out how many nights I had before my flight, where I could stop off and for how long, before booking all the sectors up to queenstown - where I want to "hop off" for a few days.  

Really nice of him to help out, and cool to get some one on one advice on where to go based on what activities I wanted to do. Because he wasnt taking me he became the driver for the bus i was getting the following day. 

Very kindly he stopped off at the supermarket for me (more noodles!) and then dropped me back off at my hostel, which was just around the corner from where the drivers have their house. I arranged to meet up the next day just outside their house so I didn't have to walk the 20 mins or so to the bus stop. 

Checked back into my room and then cooked up some noodles for breakfast, using a recipe poncey had recommended - putting in 2 eggs and some BBQ sauce, which actually made the noodles taste ok, as well as giving me a bit of protein. 

Then it started raining, so ditched my plan of finding a cafe with wifi and sat writing my blog instead! 

Found out from poncey and from a few people that apparently there were 2 more earthquakes last night and all the power went down for an hour. Apparently they were a 3.8 and a 4.1. As usual slept straight through them! 

After a while it stopped raining, so set out to have a look at the south of the city, which I hadnt been to yet. It was quite far as my hostel is north east of Melbourne. 

Eventually got there and had a look around - saw the stadium where they were going to hold the rugby world cup in September, but they're thinking of relocating as obviously there isn't enough room for the fans to stay. 

Then found a few supermarkets and killed some time in there, treated myself to a $3 Mcflurry and tried to use the wifi in mcdonalds only to be told it wasn't working. 

Massive walk back, by which time the sun was setting as it was about 5pm. Got into the hostel and watched a film for a bit before cooking dinner - can you guess what I had?

Read a few of the fishing magazines which were quite interesting, some of the photos of the fish they caught were amazing - completely putting our tiny Thailand fish to shame. 

More lying in bed and watching films, which I had rediscovered on my phone, before finally drifting off. 

Up quite late the next day, then checked out and cooked breakfast - more noodles. Then ran a few errands, getting cash out, picked up some snacks and then repacked. 

Left the hostel and walked just up the road to meet up with the bus driver (again). Quick trip up the road to pick up everyone else, then stopped at the Antarctic centre near Christchurch airport. Here we sat in the cafe for an hour while our driver picked up the bigger bus and waited for some others on a different bus to arrive. 

Left for Kaikoura at about 4, getting there for around half 7. Fell asleep for most of the trip! Checked into our room and then walked down to the local fish and chip shop. Some great (and let's be honest cheap) fish and chips, before heading to the local pub for a few beers. 

Didn't realize how quiet the town was - walked by 2 pubs and 1 bar, who's total occupancy must have been less than 20 people. The bar we were headed for had a quiz on that night so was by far the busiest. Still had a whole room to ourselves. 

Got asked to leave at 11 because there was no one left in the bar and they wanted to tidy up. So made our way back and chatted for a bit in the lounge before going to bed. 

Up early the next day, on to the bus for our trip to Nelson. Some amazing scenery on the way, especially when we got into the Marlborough region where there was just miles and miles of vineyards. Before this we stopped at a baby seal colony, and got some very funny photos of seals frolicking around. One even walked up to me and gave me a bit of a sniff.

Stopped off for a wine tasting at a vineyard in marlborough, which was very nice, and something I had been wanting to do ever since working in an upmarket restaurant. 

Bit of a moment of luxury trying some excellent Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay after endless noodles and tap water. 

Eventually got to nelson for around half 3. Checked in and then had a free night. Chose to walk up a nearby hill which was supposedly the 'centre of new zealand'. The information at the top didn't really make any sense to me - there's lots of states/counties in nz and Nelson is in the central county (it's the north west tip of the south island) then in turn the hill was at the centre of the county. There was some other nonsense about surveyors and coordinate numbers I didn't understand either. 

Anyway, we sat at the top of this hill and had great views over Nelson, the surrounding hills and of abel Tasman national park (google for photos) then at about 5 the sun set over the southern alps - very cool. 

A thought I had at the top - the uk is 11 hrs behind. So at 5pm I could see the sun setting in nz, meanwhile at 6am in the uk it would be just rising. 

Walked back down (suddenly very cold in the shade) and stopped off at the supermarket for drinks and snacks. Got a bit lost but eventually found our way back to the hostel. Had our huge roast dinner and then slice of carrot cake that I had decided to treat myself too. Then stayed up chatting again before falling asleep. 

Another early wake up. Packed and checked out then jumped on the bus. Stopped off at a supermarket and grabbed some random reduced price sandwiches for breakfast before continuing on with the bus trip. 

Stopped off at lake rotoiti for a dip (I didnt go in) but very funny watching some of the crazier guys freezing. 

Did a quick walk to a cool viewpoint before arriving into westport for around 4. Got into a great hostel - an 8 bed dorm and we had our own tv, kitchen and fire!

Watched a film before clubbing together with some others for a meal. (it's always cheaper this way) had sausages and mash and veg. 

Chatted then watched another film before going to bed. Not much to do in Westport really!

Next day we drove over to lake mahinapua along the famous route 6 along the coast. Stopped off for a few viewpoints and another seal colony. Couldn't get as close as last time but still cool. 

Then stopped off for lunch at punakaiki. Had some yummy potato wedges before checking out the famous pancake rocks. Very weird rippled rocks that are meant to look like stacks of pancakes. They dont really but you get the idea. 

Quick stop off after this at a place called greymouth. Here we picked up food and some people got costumes for the fancy dress that night. I already had mine planned - my dodgy green shorts and a funny green shirt a friend left me to match. 

Got to the hostel for that evening - set in the middle of nowhere and ran by a crazy old man called les. Who basically ensured we had a good time and came out with some hilarious jokes. Very funny night - some people putting far too much effort into their costumes! 

Woke up and got on the bus for 9:30 the next day. I wasn't hungover having stuck to beer all night, but a lot of others were. 

1st stop of was at the bushman centre - a museum dedicated to what people used to do for money out here about 50 years ago. Some crazy footage of people shooting deer from helicopters and diving out to capture them. Then looked around at the wild possums, eels, wallabys, pigs and dog they had in the museum. 

Then straight on through to franz joseph where we would stay for 2 nights. Arrived fairly early as it wasnt a long drive. Got in to the hostel for about 2 and settled in, then we all walked up and booked our glacier walk for the next day along the famous franz joseph glacier. Walked back and cooked up some lunch (pasta!) before going onto to the paintballing a few of us had booked that afternoon. 

Hilarious afternoon playing paintball in the rainforest, had a few games of capture the flag before ending the day in a free for all. Didnt get shot once all day, which was fortunate as the guns were stronger than usual - no shooting was allowed from less than 10m because it was too dangerous, usually it's about 2m!

Captured the flag once, and shot quite a few people too. Very fun!
Walked back and had a shower before falling asleep for an hour. Woke up and cooked before going out to the bar for the evening. Pretty quiet night as most were still remembering the alcohol from the night before, and we had an 8hr walk ahead of us the next day. 

Went to bed around 11 and slept soundly through to the next morning. Up and out by 9 for our glacier walk. Got to the centre and kitted up - boots, crampons, waterproofs, hats and gloves. Then hopped on the bus for the quick drive to the glacier. 

Got off and walked up as a big group along the private guided track to the base of the glacier. Here we split into groups based on ability, ranging from group 1 who were near running up the glacier, off track, and ducking and diving though any cave or crevice they could find. Down to group 5 who trundled up the well marked track and took photos every 5 seconds. 

Naturally was in group 1, so all 11 of us set off up the glacier at a fast pace. Far too many amazing things to write about, safe to say it was a brilliant day with gorgeous scenery and a lot of walking on ice. Some amazing shots squeezing along crevasses and just on the ice generally. 

Got back and sat down to finish off this blog before walking 15 mins into town to the free wifi I saw at some restaurant.

Apologies for the wait, will be on more of a weekly basis now. Also had some problems with my blogging app.

For now,

Josh xx