The drive from Te Anau to Queenstown took about 3 hours, and we left first thing in the morning so we could get there as soon as possible. The drive was really nice, especially when we were nearer the town and we drove around the edges of Lake Wakatipu. When we arrived in Queenstown in the early afternoon we went straight to a camp site to check in. It was quite busy even though there wasn't any snow yet and the ski season hadn't really begun, but apparantly in summer they can turn up to 50 people away everyday. Queenstown seemed a very popular place! We both had been looking forward to getting there as we had heard good things about it from almost eveyone. We went out for lunch and so we could have a walk around the town, despite the bitter cold, and did a bit of exploring. It was quite busy and very touristy but still has a good atmosphere to it. I have to admit we were a bit dispaointed though because it didn't seem like there would be that much for us to do there. The main emphasis of the place is on adrenaline activites and unfortunatley we don't have much money to spare at the moment! Obviously we have already done a skydive, and Justin did want to do a bungy jump but he decided it would be for the best if he didn't at this time as his hip was giving him a lot of trouble already. He wanted to be able to walk for the rest of our time away! (That was the excuse he gave anyway!) That only really left things like jet boating, which I'm sure would have been fun but I wasn't bothered about it enough to warrant spendinG much money on it. Despite all that, I was still sure we would have a good few days here. The campsite was nice, and we just went and relaxed there for the rest of the evening.

The next day we had another walk around town and the shops and stopped for lunch. We also went for quite a long walk through Queenstown Gardens and around the lake which was very nice. It was extremely cold that day though, but still sunny, for the time being anyway. The following day was the first day of rain we have had here, and it really made up for being sunny for so long! We had already decided we would have a lay in that morning anyway because we had been getting up early since we arrived, but we couldn't really get out of the van much for the rest of the day as it was pouring and pouring. Rain seemed to make the cold even more unbearable and the thought of walking around in it didn't really appeal much to be honest. We just had to spend most of the day in the van or around the campsite eating or watching TV. It wasn't the most exciting or enjoyable of days, but in a way it was kind of nice to be able to relax and be lazy for a day wiothout feeling guilty about it.

Luckily the rain died down that night and we went out to watch a Maori haka display. We thought it would be a good thing to do so we could see some of the Maori traditions, as it is a very big part of the culture over here. To get there we had to take the skyline gondala up to the top of one of the mountians. Even at night we could see for miles as we went up the steep hill, and it was nice to see the town all lit up. When we arrived at the top we had to wait around for a bit, then we went into the stage area they used for the haka shows. The whole thing lasted for just over half an hour and we got to see a lot, not just the haka itself. They talked a lot about their traditions and sang some songs and did some ceromonies and things. They also showed us the sort of weapons they used in the past, and of course all the performers were dressed in their traditional costumes. At one point they showed us the poi, which are balls on the end of pieces of string that they used to swing to practise for battle. All the girls in the audience, including me, had to get up at be shown how to use them in front of everyone. I don't think I did too badly, but I hit myself in the face a few times! At the end of the show they performed the haka, and then let us pose for pictures with them. It had actually been a really good show, and we were glad we had seen something like that. After it had finished we went back down to the ground in the gondala and then went out for dinner. Even though it was just fish and chips (or fush and chups as the kiwis say) it was still nice not to be eating something we had cooked!

In the morning we had gotten up early so we could leave as soon as possible. That didn't quite happen in the end as the battery in the van wouldn't start. I had realised it when I had tried to put the light on when I got up and it wouldn't work. Groan! This was the last thing we wanted. We called the hire company and they said they would send someone out to fix it. They actually arrived really quicky, much quicker than we had expected anyway as Justin was still in bed. He started up the engine, and then we had to drive to the garage so we could get the battery replaced. It was actually quite painless and we still managed to leave by 10 ish. It was 1 breakdown and counting then so far, but fingers-crossed no accidents yet! We left Queenstown to drive to Wanaka, a small town about 2 hours away. It was another nice drive around the mountains, but this time we took a quicker route called Crown Range, and we ended up driving right through them. We went up the steeopest and most bendy road we had driven on yet, and it was also the first time we had driven through snow. It was a bit nerve-wracking!

We were only in Wanaka for the one night so we only had that afternoon to look around. It seemed a really nice place, but there were loads fo people hanging around because there wasn't any snow to go skiing. It is mainly a ski resort town I think. We parked up the van and then went for a wander. We booked a trip at the information place to do in the next couple of days and then walked around the lake and the shops. Lake Wanaka is really pretty and one of the nicest we have seen so far, out of quite alot. We just had a chilled out sort of day, and stopped at a cafe for a hot chocolate to warm us up! The only down side to the place was that the campsite was a bit rubbish compared to the ones we had stayed at so far, but we could live with that. We had an early night so we could get up early again in the morning to leave for the Franz Josef glacier. It was a longer drive, and hopefully we wouldn't break down along the way!