Hi all,

Sorry it's been a while we've been very busy moving from place to place rather quickly. So, what have we been up to.

Rotorua

In Rotorua we went for a wander around the massive lake which has lots of geothermal action going on and took some good pictures. We also went to a traditional Maori ceremony which we mentioned last time, this was lotsa of fun if not a little staged. The food was brill and best of all we got to see some Maoris perform the famous Haka....!

Waitomo

Next up was Waitomo, home of the glow worm caves, unfortunately we couldn't afford the trips on offer and were told that there were plenty to see for free in the wild in South Island, fingers crossed. Had a great hostel and were upgraded to a twin room so, peace at last ha ha.

Taupo

Taupo was ok, we didn't really do anything cultural here but they held a really tacky party for us (wet t-shirt competition, cringe, and no we did not get involved). The guy on reception took one look at our tired faces and upgraded us to a double for two nights yippee so that was brill, great place to stay. Rained most of the time too which was a bit gutting.

River Valley

Next stop, River Valley, place of white water rafting. This was cancelled due to the flooding and landslides but we didn't want to do that (too scared ha ha) so we had marshmallows on sticks in front of the log fire and slept in the most random dorm. You basically sleep in this eco-lodge with human sized shelves in for us to all sleep next to eachother, wierd but slept fine.

Wellington

This was our favourite stop so far, we had a toga party one night which was a laugh but the main reason we loved it was because it was sooooo beautiful but also most stuff was free. Our activities included Te Papa museum which was fab. Four floors full of interactive/educational stuff about NZ, also visited Wellington City Museum (boring). We went to the Weta Caves, home of Lord of the Rings. We spent one day walking up Mount Victoria which had spectacular views of Wellington. We also rode cable car/furnicular up to the Botanical Gardens, walked around the harbour and the city. There was a brilliant exhibition on at the harbour which was the World Press Photography Exhibition 2010, very beautiful but rather harrowing in parts. The sun came out for our entire five day visit and the sky was incredibly blue. The grass is also much greener in NZ, strange comment but it makes for a beautiful contrast between the sky and the land!

Picton - Nelson

The ferry crossing to South Island was great, amazing views, unfortunately saw no dolphins....! Nelson was fine, we walked up to the geographical centre of NZ. The sky was very moody and the pictures look rather cool. We had free beer tasting and I won the beer quiz which meant I got a free 'pub crawl' ticket for Queenstown worth $25. Free food, drink and photos of the night! Excellent!

Westport

Not sure why we stopped here as there was nothing to see, however, our new WICKED driver "Q" took us down for a night time beach bonfire which was loads of fun. We did a few walks on the way down to Westport which were great, but wet and muddy!

Lake Mahinapua

Home of the "Poo party", basically this is a pub in the middle of nowhere owned by a really old man and it's all kiwi experience people who go. You have a theme for a fancy dress party, our was the letter "B", I went as Batgirl (wings made from a brolly) and Adds went as a Bandit (any excuse for a toy gun ha ha). Had a good night with our new bus mates and felt rough this morning. I won 2nd prize in the fancy dress (Bill and Ben the Flowerpot men won....!) I got a DVD and photo package for the highest bungee in NZ, too scared/broke to do it so have sold it for $50 nice one! At 3am we all decided to walk through the bush to the lake and saw loads of glow worms.......cool!

On the way down here we stopped off at Punakaiki, (pancake rocks) can't remember how they form, sure my dad will know but it was amazing, the rocks literally look like a stack of pancakes and there are loads of blow holes in the rocks where water sprays out of for miles......! Cool as.

Franz Josef

Now we are in the glacier town, very very very excited as tomorrow we can finally do an activity. We have saved up for this one. We are doing a full day glacier hike, you are up on the ice for 6 hours walking over cracks and crevices, through small gaps in the ice all using cramp ones (metal teeth clipped onto your boots kind of like a bear trap) all with this company www.franzjosefglacier.com. Afterwards we have booked into the hot pools spa that are supposed to be incredible www.glacierhotpools.com. Will let you know. Our hostel is fantastic too, it has a hot tub which is free YAY www.rainforestretreat.co.nz.

That is all we have for you for now, we are here for two nights then are off to Wanaka for a night, then Queenstown for six nights. Not long left in NZ to be honest. It's flying.......!

Take care, lots of love as always, and a massive HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Grandma Morton for Wednesday.

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