Thursday 15 August I was up and ready for Stray bus at 8.40am. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that my bus driver was Splash (my driver for the North Island). It was great to see him again, we always have such great banter! It was awesome to catch up with him during the drive to Mount Cook. When we arrived, I went up one of the mountains with an aussie guy from the bus. There were lots of steps it was definitely a work-out, but I think we both encouraged each other to get to the top. The evening was pretty chilled with a pub quiz bur I ended up heading to bed at about 9pm because I was so tired. Then one of the deutch guys from Stray came into my room and we ended up chatting away...so this intended early night wasn't quite as early as I hoped!

In the morning we drove to Lake Takepo - it was perfect blue sky so it was really picturesque. We eventually arrived at Rangitata Lodge which is one of the places the Stray bus take us to that is 'off-the-beaten track. We had the lodge all to ourselves. It had an open kitchen/dining room with a big log fire. The bunk beds were 3 stories high! A few of us went for a walk in the hills (3 Deutch guys, 1 English girl and an American). We got lost on our way up so the other guys decided to head back and leave Bart and I to find our way up to the top of the hill. And we did J And glad we persisted with it because we got 360 degree views that seemed to go for miles as it was such a clear day. We tried not to get seen by any farmers on our return as I think we were on private land, but it's never very clear if that is the case. Well we didn't get caught and we made it back in daylight too! It was shower time, dinner and a very sociable fun evening with all the Stray guys in one room chatting, dancing, eating....and most getting drunk! It's always so nice when everyone is so friendly as quite a few of them knew each other before hand, but they were very welcoming and I ended up being one of them by the end of the two days. It was sad to leave most of them in Christchurch the following day, but as Splash had kindly offered to give me a 'free ride' to Kiakora, I thought I would be stupid to refuse. It was the worst day I have had in NZ weather wise as it was constantly raining so a good day for travelling.

After checking into the Lazy Shag (yea, what a name hey!) on Saturday we went to see the one and only Captain Hook - I say this because he was a one of a kind fisherman with a wooden leg and he had lost 3 of his fingers to a shark. Not kiddin' ya, I was well and truly CREEPED OUT! If the weather was better we were going to go fishing, but instead we just tried some of the weird seafood (including Crayfish, pawo - currently checking with my bus driver what this was called!) and drank some wine Most of us were able to try the food even though it wasn't to our liking, but one of the girls from Hong Kong was getting stuck in - she said it was really expensive where she came from so I think she was trying to make the most of it! After trying the seafood we had a great evening listening to one of the guys play some acoustic music. It was brilliant, we were so lucky to have him perform to us in such an intimate venue (the porch of this fishermans house, with the rain sounding on the roof. Ben has been travelling around NZ performing in different venues - nice life hey! Not only did he have an awesome voice and could play the guitar well, but his beat boxing was out of this world. I felt so connected right then, so content...I definitely had a moment to myself. Splash came over and gave me a hug - he thought I was cute! We eventually headed out and went to get some food back at the hostel, as we were all feeling a little tipsy from the wine. It was an early night, even though it did feel like the early hours of the morning. I think starting wine at 4pm was the problem there!

I had to say bye to the rest of my Stray buddies today as they were off to the North Island. I said farewell to Splash, who again didn't want me to leave his bus J! I spent the morning packing and drawing up a sign for Hanmer Springs. I stopped an old couple on my way to the main road to check I was going in the right direction. The old man was very negative about the situation saying that I would have to walk 3k further, there is no shelter so no one would pick me up in the rain as I would get their car wet and so on....but his wife had a completely different opinion and said yea just walk a bit down there and hold your sign up. So they had a little debate and the lady told me to make my own decision and not specifically listen to her husband! It was quite a funny scene. So I decided to go with it and try it for half an hour. Turns out an old sophisticated kiwi couple (maybe mid 50's) stopped to pick me up within 5 minutes of me waiting. I was so chuffed! It was their first time to pick up a hitch-hiker so we had a great conversation all the way to Hanmer. They were doing a 2 week trip around the South Island. They lived in Invercargill and even though the city itself wasn't great, they did point out that it was a cool place to live as if offered everything within a 2 hour drive - beaches, coastal, mountains, hills, ski resort! It was interesting to hear their story. After checking into Kakapo Lodge I went to buy some milk and then went for a jog along the Forest walk and up Conical walk which had 360 views of the surrounding area. And then I treated myself to the famous Hot Pools. It was awesome being outside in hot pools especially when it got dark and the moon was glowing. It was a really special experience. I managed to avoid talking to anyone for about an hour as I really wanted some time to myself without making conversation. I knew it wouldn't last long as I got chatting to an old couple - but it was a interesting political conversation so I'm not complaining. By the time I arrived back at the hostel I was feeling really ill so I grabbed some porridge and went to bed.

Today is Monday 19t. I initially planned to hitch to Christchurch today but I was really ill last night and didn't actually have any energy to get out of bed this morning. I have been feeling very sorry for myself, bed bound this morning...I managed to get myself out of bed and have a shower by 2pm and then tried to get some fresh air by walking to the library for some free wifi. I have been keeping myself up so that I can sleep tonight - it's now 8pm so I think I will head to bed and hopefully I will feel great tomorrow J