I left off last time after an incredible fancy dress party in Lake Mahinipua. Our next stop was somewhat more cultural! We travelled down to Franz Josef which is the home of a very unique glacier. The glacier descends from the tops of the Southern Alps into rainforest at 300m above sea level, so off we went in full gear, lunch in tow up the steep incline into the heart of the ice. Whilst the bottom sector is quite dirty and almost unsightly, once you climb an hour or so into the purer ice, the scenery is quite amazing. We left in the first group at a quicker pace to get higher into the ice, and were rewarded at the top when our guide took us into some deep crevaces, up rope ladders and down some serious drops where the depth of the ice gives it an eerie blue colour instead of the standard clear stuff nearer the surface. The views from the top were hindered by cloud cover and rain, but the challenge of the walk made for still an interesting descent! We were rewarded back at the hostel with a long dip in the hot tub before an evening of bingo, both standard, Irish, and almost a naked version but it didnt get that far!

The next day we headed on to a town called Wanaka where we stayed for just one night. During the day however we visited a sort of adolescents heaven, a small outlet which offered clay pidgeon shooting (in which i got beaten by a girl), straight rifle range shooting (in which i had a 100% record) and a golf driving range where I felt very very rusty. That night was the Ireland vs All Blacks game which is not really worth discussing! The next morning on our way to Queenstown we visited a place called "puzzling world", and believe me, it was. It was like a house of horrors, combined with those annoying mental apptitude tests they give you at law interviews, combined with a lifesize outdoor maze and also a series of crazy illusion rooms and eye tricks which kept us amused for well over an hour and a half! Next stop, Queenstown.

Queenstown is generally the first place anyone will tell you to go when asked about New Zealand, which gave it a lot to live up to...and boy did it. The first night we arrived was a pre-organised Toga party for the 2 bus loads of us who had been together down the west coast. 40 Julius Caesers and countless Roman mistresses later, we partied in full dress until the early hours. At this point I would like to mention the finest and bestest everest fast food joints IN THE WORLD.FERGBURGER. I was warned of its merits before I came to NZ, but you always have to question how good can a burger really be? Heston Blumenthal and his "perfect" hamburger with massaged cows and cheese from a frenchman´s chaussure can sing for it, fergbuger is soooo tasty it just cannot be described, and is quite possibly a reason in itself to move to Queenstown and be forever contented.

Anyway, after slobbering all over the keyboard just now, I´ll continue. The next day it was time to start my adrenalin trip, and no better way to do it other than to begin with the Nevis Bungy jump. At 134 metres high, it is the 3rd highest in the world, and does not actually start from a bridge or a platform, but a cable car suspended between the sides of a huge gorge The 8 or 9 of headed out on the 40 minute journey to the site listening to some creepy mixtape of songs about death and falling and other "put-you-off" type of melodies! We were all pretty damn quiet, a quietness that became deadly silence once we were all standing in the pod over the gorge where the jumps take place. You jump in weight order with the heaviest first. Suprisingly someone was heavier than me (he´d spent a few days in Fergburger) so I was second. I was pretty scared, but the first guy was petrified! When he jumped, my adrenaline started to kick in, and when he came up saying how amazing it was, I just thought "harden up, and get on with it!" I didnt hesitate on the podium, and just went for it, and it was absolutely utterly amazing. Unlike a skydive where you dont get any perception of depth until 5000ft, all you see when you jump off is the sky, the rocks, and then the river coming at you so so fast. I came up absolutely buzzing with adrenaline and was almost tempted to do another one!

The next day, pretty much everyone from the buses decided to do a day-trip down to the southern part of the south island to a place of outstanding natural beauty called Milford sound. After an early start and a 3 hour drive stopping to take a few snaps on the way we reached Milford and boarded a boat. The scenery is called Fiorland, and basically millions of years ago a glacier carved a huge gorge which is now filled by the see, meaning steep steep mountain greenery now drops dramatically straight into the ocean. We saw many many waterfalls, visited an underwater observatory, even saw Dolphins and seals and got a lovely buffet lunch thrown into the bargain! Great photos and an all round beautiful day.

Next day was the start of Skiing, as Queenstown had just had its first dump of snow for the season The ski deal through the hostel was unbelievable, and the 3 days skiing only cost around 150 quid with all equipment passes and ccomodation included. Now I havnt skied for about 4 years so thought originaly that I would start nice and slow and get back into it. That was until 5 minutes into the first run when I though I was back to being a grand super slalom champion, and decided to start getting in race mode around obstacles and slow signs. This was until of course, I mistook what was an X which meant danger, for a tricky little slalom gate, and ended up 50 yards down the mountain with out skiis, poles, or any ounce of pride left whatsoever! Ejit! Unluckily, 2 of the lads also saw this little episode and I was duly reminded of it constantly, until they in fact bushhted into eachother, one lad almost concussed himslef, and I fell over with tears of laughter and slid a further 50 yards over the icey piste! The next days skiing was cool, but the last day was cancelled (with a cleverly obtained refund, just ask Abi) due to lack of snow. As a point of interest, Indian people (dots not feathers) really cannot come to terms with the concept of a ski-lift, bless them, but it did provide a rare hours worth of free hilarity during lunch on day 2!!

With the third days skiing cancelled, we needed to find something else to fill our days. Not a difficult task in Queenstown whatsoever. We had another childish day of fun which included Luging (again), mini golf, a gondola trip to take in some stunning views over queenstown, and finally to an ice-skating rink. As a group of 8 or so of us, we were probably collectively the most balance-challenged individuals in the world, and spent our entire tim ehugging the sides. Lame. Some flash New Zealander even gave me a race end to end, and he went backwards and he spanked me. Flash Bast··rd

Time then to move on, saying goodbye to an absolutely stunning group of people in Queenstown who made the last 3 weeks of New Zealand so memorable. Still, it was nice then to head up to Geraldine, a spot in between QT and Christchurch to see The Feeneys, who emmigrated just 3 years ago. It was unbelievably refreshing to have a full double bed, a sofa to sit on that isnt rotting or got 3 others on, a remote control in my hand which required no consideration to anyone else about what i watched, and a bathroom that didnt make you heave! I was treated very very well indeed, and headed up to Christchurch fully refreshed, which was just as well considering who I was due to meet there!

Now, Christchurch was the scene for a huge reunion with pals I hadnt seen for over 5 months, best pals. The 3 lads, Matty, Jimmy and Berto were flying in from Australia, 6.20pm on the 17th June, so I duly headed off, banner in hand, safe in the knowledge that only 1 of the 3 lads actually knew I´d be meeting them, and for the other 2 it would be a complete surprise! When i got to the international terminal, I looked at the board and to my horror it sadi no international arrivals until 11.20pm! I checked my email to see if jimmy had left me a message or the plane was delayed but could find nothing. Disaster. I dilly-dallied for a while before deciding to grab some food, go over to the domestic terminal and by a book to pass the hours as it was hardly worth trudging all the way back into town. As i walked back to the international gate, I saw Bert and the lads on the phone- I´d missed them coming out of the gate, but they hadnt yet spotted me! I dumped the snack and quickly outflanked them, and stood motionless with the banner aloft until they spotted me- then I was crushed by 3 big lads when they noticed! Brilliant, but so close to being a nightmare. What I hadnt known was that they were flying down from Auckland, so it was a domestic and not international arrival. I had to apologise to Jim for a fairly strongly worded email I´d sent at around 6pm when i first got to the airport! Needless to say, that first night was fairly memorable. Its not every day that you are 18,000 miles from home with your bestest big dog pals.

The next few days we trudged around a fairly quiet and sleepy Christchurch, and, apart from meeting half the England rugby team and the best player in the world Dan Carter, Christchurch left a little to be desired. We had a great time, and I was gutted to have to fly up to Auckland and miss out on the England vs All Blacks that the boys were going to at the weekend. Never mind eh...

The next chapter of my travels thus began, and I flew to Santiago Chile, at 5.45pm on the 22nd June 2008. I then, by the miracle of space-time travel, arrived in Santiago, at 1.45pm on the 22nd June 2008! I could have actually phoned myself in New Zealand, and told myself to get an aisle seat instead of being stuck in the middle block of 4!!

It took me a couple of days to over the jet lack, but it wasnt too bad to be honest. I was however very disappointed with Santiago. Although the hostel was old worldy and snug, a true gangster mansion converted into rooms, the city had no real substance or culture. I would even go as far as to say it was 3rd worldy, with many beggars, a genral low quality of shop faces and streets, a lack of colour, and a fairly smoggy atmosphere. I think the key to a lot of thge South American towns is to actually explore the smaller more ornate villages around the outskirts of the cities, but with only a month to get everywhere, I am relying on the places i go to entertain me for a day or two each!

I next moved on to Mendoza, a 11 hour overnight bus ride, (something I am becoming very used to, but not shocked by as I was given a flavour whilst in South East Asia) and arrived the next morning feeling less than fresh! Mendoza was a place where i had only the bare 2 days, and spent the first by having a good long walk around the city, bordering the outskirts, but was warned of a few dangerous spots, so was always on guard. The city was much nicer than Santiago. Smaller, more personal and more Spanish! The culture here was very much more like I expected with row upon row of small delis and cafes, an eerie quietness around 2-4pm where the shops everywhere closed for siesta and even the dogs refused to roam! This gave me a chance to cook for myself a steak the size of a small cat which i had bought earlier in a butchers for about a pound sterling, and it didnt disappoint! Argentinian beef is mint, so soft and so cheap.

Time again however to move on, so north i headed to Cordoba where I had 2 nights over the weekend. Cordoba was in face even more impressive. The streets were clean and bustlign with market sellers. The plazas and squares were subtly decorated and well maintained with cute individual shops and some larger trendier stores. You would not be wrong in thinking you were in the outskirts of Madrid, where Cathedrals and churches sprout from every corner, coupled with bar after bar offering great anti-pasti and supplementary steak sandwiches The nightlife for friday and saturday was amazing, bu tthe culture very different. No one dares go to even a bar before midnight, and no clubs really open beopfre 2am. The real partying happens between 4am and 8am, with an after party if you really feel the need. The only problem of course is that with even a minimum 5 hours sleep, you´re not up and about until 1 or 2pm the next day! We did however manage to drag ourselves out of bed and down town to visit the old market and Cathedral before settling down to watch the final of Euro 2008! I am trying my best to get up to see the Bolivian Salt Flats, and a bit of the capital La Paz before heading back to BA in a weeks time, but with all the overnight ravel, and my restriction on time, its always a squeeeeeze. At least, in fairness, the overnight buses are very comfortable, (in Argentina at least) God knows about Bolivia, but we will soon see!

My Spanish is also slowly improving...Ciao for now ;-)