Ok so it's been a while and I know some of you are getting eager to hear some news of what we've been up to. Frankly for the last week internet resources have been poor or scarce and we have been very busy so now we have loads to tell you.............

River Valley - We arrived in a beautiful and remote valley at the most amazing hostel. It was a big old country house with an open fire, amazing food and cosy little cabins. We settled in for the night with a roast dinner and a very funny game of "Who am I?". We headed for an early night in preparation for a big actvity the nest day. White water rafting! Absolutely wicked!! We drove about 30 minutes from the hostel and received some basic training on the river bank about what to do if you fell out of the raft and general instructions which basically involved doing what you were told at all times unless you wanted to die! This left us a little scared given that this training was accompanied by the knowledge that someone had died doing the same trip as us a few weeks earlier!

For a moment I considered pulling out but by God I am glad I didn't. We had the most amazing 3 hours of rafting down grade 4 and 5 rapids, alternating between paddling and ducking into the boats and holding on for dear life. The trip was full of laughter, mostly when people fell out of the raft and once when the raft flipped! We also jumped from an 8 metre rock into the river. Believe me, way more scary than it sounds!!! After throwing our guide in the river for all the times he had done it to us we headed upto the hostel for a hot shower and some lunch. That afternoon we were sad to say goodbye to such a beautiful place but it was onto the next stop.......

Wellington - New Zealand's capital city and our home for the next couple of days. Our time here was mostly spent relaxing. We visited the Te Papa museum and learnt lots more about Maori culture and the integration between the Maori and European people. We had a few nights out including Sara's birthday which was great, a hangover breakfast, bowling and trip to the cinema. New Zealand city's are generally quite small which I guess is reflctive of the population. Wellington's is about 200,000 which seems pretty small in comparison to our cities. This makes them seem small for cities but nevertheless we had alot of fun here.

Onward from Wellington we got the ferry over to the south island and went to our first stop - Nelson. Nelson was just an overnight stopover so we mostly went out walking and spending time with the group of friends we have been travelling with - Katie and Scott that we met in Paihia and Alex and Tori, two sisters from Surrey. We have spent most of our time with them in fits of laughter - a very funny bunch of people.

Our next stop after Nelson was Lake Mahinapua where we stayed in a family run hostel literally in the middle of nowhere. On the way we went for a few scenic lake walks and stocked up on supplies for the fancy dress party due to be held that evening. The Kiwi bus was the only group to stay at the Pu pub hostel and so we had a brilliant night. The fancy dress theme was decided as "The Letter P" which inspired Jon and I to go as a Pirate and a Princess (Ok so this was originally inspired by a one Lucy Page). Scott went as Potter, Harry Potter, Katie as pussycat, Tori as a peacock, and Alex as a present. We also had pixies, a pensioner, a playboy bunny, Popeye and lots more besides. We had a great night as you can see from the pictures!!

Next morning we headed to a museum, which with a hangover was not a popular choice, and to a place called pancake rocks, for fairly obvious reasons, where we had a walk and saw a small seal colony. After a picnic lunch we drove on to Franz Josef where we are now. The main thing to do at Franz Josef is to see the glacier here by some method or other. Much as we would have loved to do the helihike funds would not allow so we opted for the full day hike up the glacier. It was amazing!! We spent 9 hours hiking which would normally be my idea of hell but the views we saw and the amazing ice forms could have kept us amused for days on end. it was a truly beautiful sight as you can see from the pictures.

The Franz Josef glacier is the fastest moving and lowest glacier in the souther hemisphere. The huge amount of snowfall here allows it to survive in a subtropical climate. It descends to about 240 metres above sea level and is one of only a few glaciers in the world which are surrounded by greenery. Most of the day was spent hiking and climbing but for a few minutes at a time we were side shuffling through narrow crevasses. This was hairy scary to say the least and i had to remind myself a few times that I was not going to die in an effort to remain calm. Despite the blisters we have come back feeling triumphant at what we have achieved and in awe of what we have seen., not to mention utterly knackered!!!

A quiet night tonight with a tummy full of bolognese shared with the group. Tomorrow we go to a quiet little town called Wanaka which is on a lake so that should be nice. Then onto Queenstown where we stay for a few days and then Christchurch and Kaikoura.

We are amazed at how quickly our time has gone in New Zealand but we are having a brilliant time. The scenery on the south island is out of this world. Just the bus journies alone are an experience, driving through towering mountains and along rivers!! This is a truly beautiful place and one we won't forget.

Hope everyone at home is well. We can;t believe we have been away for over 9 weeks. Time flies when you're having fun. Oh and my lesson for the day.....all Swedish people are nice. We have met loads and we are yet to find one we don't like!! Our lastest favourite is a guy called Magnus from Gothamburg!

Lots of love to you our nearest and dearest - we miss you more everyday xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx