The day had started off with a row with Andy about why I'd bought so much stuff if I knew I only had 15kg luggage limit to fly to queenstown (as I tried to offload some of my belongings into Andys case), however we needn't have worried as when I checked in, my case that had been 18kg at Heathrow, 21kg in Auckland (despite having taken some stuff out) was now only 13kg - 2kg underweight!!

However the other excitement was that as I checked in I was asked to see a member of staff because there was a problem....they needed to see my NZ - London plane ticket to prove I wasn't going to stay - hopefully that means my Aussie work visa is being processed?? Luckily I managed not to end up on sky's Border Patrol documentary and convince them I will come back to the UK (for a short while anyway!)

The flight into Queenstown was amazing. Usually I've flown over hills then cities then over open space onto the runway. But flying into queenstown I flew through the hills (and over a rainbow), was spectacular how they towered about us coming into land. The airport is situated close to the lake so the drive into town was great too, and coming in Autumn meant the leaves on the trees were all different colours, really pretty, and I had a lot of time to admire it, the traffic was quite bad - the first time I've seen traffic in weeks it seems! Queenstown is also bigger than I was expecting - though having done no research or planning I shouldn't be surprised! Guess am used to the little seaside towns of Australia and the north island!

I'm staying at the lakeside YHA(I thought I should try 'backpacking' while am here (though got a feeling am not quite doing it properly with my rented Ford Focus, wheelie suitcase & private room). Come winter it will have a view of the lake but there are still a few leaves on the trees in the way at the moment. After getting my room sorted it was already after 5pm and starting to get dark so I grabbed my camera & headed out to explode queenstown. The uninterrupted view of the lake from the shore was amazing. I walked towards the town and came across a little Italian doing $15 pizza before 6. It was now 5.57 and I hadn't eaten all day (I gave Andy all the Australian money to take with him on the earlier flight to Auckland forgetting I would need breakfast!)

After a pizza & glass of local Pinot noir I continued to wander around the town. The town is very much geared up for tourists, is lots of bars & restaurants, info shops selling tours & souvenir places. Luckily I also managed to find a shop selling waterproof jackets that was still open since I'd discovered my £6 primarni waterproof jacket was not actually waterproof & its forecasting a week of rain here.

It was then back to the hostel to plan what the hell am doing next given i'd organised nothing. To keep it simple I'd decided to drive up to Milford sound, stay overnight & do a wilderness cruise. After spending ages researching & picking a cruise, I came to book accommodation & discovered there wasn't any! At all! It really is wilderness! And that explains why there are so many day trips there from queenstown, it is pretty much the nearest place to stay unless you have a camper van (instead of a Ford Focus!)

So change of plan, am now off to Dunedin to see penguins then will drive to Te Anau and up to Milford Sound from there for an afternoon cruise on Saturday