We were pretty cranky when we finally arrived in Abel Tasman about 6pm after having been on the road/boat for most of the day and feeling slightly worse for wear from the night before!

However the crankiness soon disappeared when we got to the hostel which was a converted barn smack bang in the middle of the national park and when we tucked into some tacos made by the Hoff (cue arms and elbows everywhere as it really was every man for himself, and some very loud clacking!) and a few beers! We also did some mussel tasting which were the biggest ones I'd ever seen!

As it was bonfire night we then headed to the beach for a firework 'BONANZAAAAAA!!' (this would become a bit of a catchphrase for the bus!) unfortunately the tide was in so there was only a small patch of beach, and the fireworks were pretty old school compared to some of the displays back home, but it was still really good fun and made us feel all fuzzy inside (unless that was because the tacos were dodgy).

The barn was pretty chapping overnight, had to sleep in hoody and big socks! As I was moaning about this the next day, I realised my audience was a Canadian guy who must have thought I was a right wuss coz for him it can drop to minus 30 back home!

Next morning bright and early we set off along a coastal walk to Anchorage which would take roughly 3 hours and then we would sail back to the hostel across the lake in the afternoon. The walk was really good and some of the scenery and beaches were beautiful. We were all looking forward to chilling on the boat in the afternoon in the sun. I had even put my bikini on in case we went for a swim. However turns out I must have been deluded because on the boat it was freezing and very windy (obviously it hadn't occurred to me that you need wind to sail). The guide was pretty unenthusiastic as well which is a sharp contrast to what we were used to and there were slightly too many people on the boat so we (I say we- I mean Jonny) had to play musical chairs to make sure we didn't get taken out by the boom (I've been scarred for life by what happened to Joe in Coronation Street ha ha). There was a German dude on board who no matter where he sat was in the way and who kept getting absolutely soaked by random waves coming over the side of the boat. Was very funny to watch!

Once back on dry land we got brilliant fish and chips from a takeaway near the hostel then headed to the pub to watch NZ v Australia rugby league match. We thought this was going to be a good chance to mingle with the locals but they must have had a heads up that the Stray crew were on their way as we were the only ones in there! Unfortunately NZ lost (much to Hoff's disappointment) but it was good to see them do the Haka at the beginning! And I have learned two important lessons: NZ have a different national anthem to England; and a country can play a rugby league and a union match at the same time. Enough said!

After watching some people' skydive DVDs (think it made me even more nervous if that's possible) we spent another Baltic night in the barn. Next morning we were up by 8.30, as we were promised we could plant a tree. However what we didn't realise was it was one tree for the whole bus! Still, Jonny stepped up to the plate and did the digging! We were all congratulated for 'earning back some carbon points' when, as we left, one of the guys trod on and crushed one of the trees that had been planted the week before, oops! Back to nil carbon points for us!!