Greetings from Wanaka where normal service has resumed! You know, we've only been here for a few days, but already we feel so settled and content, Cromwell is but a distant memory! The 2 weeks we spent there is actually only a fraction of our total adventure, but while we were there it felt like it would never end! But we did manage to sort some stuff and eventually made friends with some of the door-slammers. Once you get talking to other travellers you soon realise that most people are in the same situation as us, but some are less fussy over what they will do for money. Or perhaps they simply have more tolerance than us to suffer the really crap jobs, while for others their English just isn't good enough for other types of work. One thing did make us look twice a few times. There was an elderly Asian lady who was staying there with her son who was working in the orchards. It turned out that he needed to come here for the money but was unable (or unwilling!) to cook for himself, so he brought his mum to do it for him, and he treated her like his servant - upon demand she would jump up to make him a hot drink, or move to his seat while he went to the toilet to save his prime spot in front of the tv, while we watched on in disbelief!

In an attempt to find some beauty in Cromwell we wandered along to Old Cromwell, an area by the edge of Lake Dunstan where they have rebuilt some old buildings saved from the original town which was flooded in order to make the lake. While it all seemed rather fake, it was pleasant enough for a brief distraction and we did find a couple of lovely shops there: Earth Elements where a lady was selling her beautiful handmade glass & wire jewellery and home decorations (oh for a little extra cash!) and a fabulous design shop that wouldn't have looked out of place in Brighton. It was also home to the Central Otago Farmer's Market on Sunday mornings, which was a lovely little market where we were entertained by a group of characters from Vanuatu and where we bought some tasty and incredibly strong garlic! But our favourite foodie purchase came from the Dam Good Fruit Stall just outside of Cromwell where we bought a bowl of the juicy sweet fresh apricots - never tasted anything like these beauties - and a generous punnet of fresh cherries. What a find - the fruit was absolutely divine!

Wandering a little further afield we made a couple of trips to the Queenstown area. Now Queenstown itself was hugely disappointing for us. It was obviously a very beautiful place once upon a time (and no doubt takes on a different appearance during the winter ski season) but through the eyes of a pair of nature lovers, this place was been ruined and its beauty scarred by its transformation into a circus of adventure sports, drinking games and trendy shops. Plus it was far too busy and hectic. We stayed long enough for a Fergburger (a 'sweet bambi' venison burger, yumm) which was a gem of a find courtesy of one of the door-slammers, then headed for a quiet spot around Lake Wakatipu, called Bob's Cove which was a tranquil spot that we shared only with sandflies! Not our most successful day out!

We had a better day when we went back to Arrowtown, a small town close to Queenstown that came to prominence during its gold-mining days. It is undoubtedly a prime tourist spot for visitors to Queenstown, full of expensive shops, but it was a pretty, quaint little place, nice to wander around for a couple of hours and we had enough time to have a look at the Craig Potten Gallery, a NZ photographer whose work I love, as well as sample a naughty little cake from the bakery! Afterwards, we stopped to watch the mad idiots throw themselves off the original bungy, the Kawarau Bridge Bungy, before heading into the Gibbston Wine Valley for a little birthday treat from Su - as she knows how much I love fine wine and wine tasting so she paid for a wine tasting trip and the wine of my choice. We visited a couple of wineries and had a lovely experience at both. Chard Farm was very 'old world' in appearance, with some stunning Pinot Gris & Pinot Noir wines on offer, as well as a celebration birthday bubbly which was gorgeous, but sadly a little out of budget. But we found a winner at Peregrine and actually left with two bottles of wine! I chose their Saddleback Pinot Noir as my birthday bottle, their cheapest Pinot Noir, but the best to drink now - the other 2 were very much food wines and need a period of lying down before they are ready to drink. But we also found we couldn't leave without their Sauvignon Blanc. Now Central is not known for its Savvy, and in fact most vineyards don't even bother growing it here, and bring the grapes down from Marlborough instead, but Peregrine do and the result is a Savvy totally different from the traditional ones, but utterly mouthwatering.

And now we are happy and content in our new home at Wanaka. We're staying at the Wanaka Top 10 Holiday Park, in a dilapidated old caravan named Buttercup, which we've quickly made into our home, and we've started work. So far, so good - our employers are lovely, we work in a friendly team of people, we have ample time to do a good job, unlike working at Quest in Wellington, and we have a beautiful view as we work! Oh, and the highest pay we've had so far in NZ! We're slowly catching up with our sleep (although I had a nasty souvenir from The Chalets in the form of bedbugs, which came with me in my sleeping bag! Yuk! I've fumigated and they seem to have disappeared) and are now ready to explore the area, top up our tans and swim in the lake. Tonight we're going to a barbeque at the house of a French traveller we are working with and life is good again!

And before we go, we must pass on our congratulations to Steve & Janette Gillet on the birth of their son Morgan Thomas Charlie, born on New Year's Eve - he looks gorgeous! Lots of love to you all, Jo & Su, xxx