Greetings from Queenstown!

I arrived here yesterday after having to stay in Wanaka for longer than I intended. It's good to be here because it's a buzzing party town and it's been fun already!

I last did a blog entry when I was staying for a couple of days in Wellington. I managed to visit the Te Papa museum, which was very good. I learnt a bit about volcanic activity and Mauri culture. So thats all very good and sensible stuff ey?

I had to get to the Ferry early in the morning to continue my adventures and pretty much slept for most of the crossing in a chair. Got on the new bus with new driver at Picton (driver was Ricky) and set off. I'd had a bit of news that some people from the last bus were still in Abel Tasman where we were heading that day, so I was due for an unexpected reunion. We stopped off to do some wine tasting and I experienced my first bit of good NZ weather. It was sunny and hot! The wine tasting was only $2 and we tasted 4 wines - so thats why! We also stopped at a beach town somewhere I can't remember the name of.

Abel Tasman was a gorgeous place and the weather stayed sunny for the whole two days. I went on a boat and coastal walk which was pretty good. The walk was a decent length and I ended up trekking along by myself so I could go at my own pace ahead of the small group I was with. The scenery was gorgeous and the blueness of the sea and skies made it a very memorable part of the trip. On the second night at Abel Tasman most of the bus went to a local bar and there was an open mic night. It honestly felt like I was in Totnes! Hippies everywhere! :-D (I love it) It was a really good night and I think I first realised the hilarity that must ensue when hanging around with Andy - who features in my photos for this leg.

We then all headed onwards to a very bizarre little place called Barrytown on the coast. It was a bit awkward because we were being told that we WILL party and get totally off our faces that night and cross dress coz that's the theme etc etc and play mad drinking games. Everyone was knackered and not into the idea but most of us plunged right into it anyway. So the cross dressing was pretty funny. The girls all felt comfortable enough, even with fake facial hair drawn onto our faces (my mustache 'evaporated' by the end of the night. It has been suggested that I absorbed it and one day it will re-appear.) However, the men all felt mightily uncomfortable, much to our delight. But hats off to them for the effort they made. I learnt that I am not good at applying make up onto someones face having done this for a bloke called Chris. There were some blokes at the end of the night who were very sincere when they said "lets not speak of this night again - what happens in Baz Vegas, stays in Baz Vegas."

The next morning alot of people went to try bone carving and greenstone carving - I didn't actually go for this option and slept a bit later! It was completely rubbish to hear that the greenstone carving class didn't happen coz the person running it didn't turn up. I went to the beach to find greenstone - we were told you could do that at Barrytown. Absolutely none to be found but loads of green rocks to fool you.

I'm having a weird moment right now. Behind me are most of the group I am typing about checking into this Queenstown hostel. This is what happens when travelling. Alot!

After Barrytown we carried on the road towards Franz Josef and the glaciers. We were told that the hostel we would be staying at is one of the best on the whole trip. This was a complete lie. The dorm room was basic and smelt strongly of chlorine. I also got bitten on my face by a sandfly, which was the beginning of a bad thing.

I'd signed up to do a Heli-Hike, which involves going up over the glaciers in a helicopter and then doing a 2 hour hike through ice caves etc. The trip got cancelled at the last minute due to bad weather conditions, so myself and the other guy from the bus who wanted to do it signed up for the afternoon trip. We got told it was all good and to pay up and go and get all the gear on. We even had our cool boots on ready for the hike when suddenly it was called off again due to, ooh I wonder what this time? Bad weather. So that was a weird day overall.

The next day we drove to a place called Makarora - where there wasn't much except some dark looking mountains and quite bad weather! But I had a fantastic time and won't forget it. Happy memories :-D

The next day I decided to get off the bus and stay in Wanaka for a couple of days. Wanaka is a really nice little town and I managed to do Puzzling World and the Cinema Paradiso on my first day. However the next day was not so great! The bite on my face had gotten infected and the infection spread across my chin. It did not look nice at all and I ended up having to pay to see a doctor. Thankfully the antibiotics i'm on have started to properly clear it up but at the time I was devastated! I ended up staying in Wanaka for 2 more days in order to ensure that I wasn't infectious anymore.

Theres only so much you can do in Wanaka and I was desperate to leave by the time I did leave. I got on the new bus yesterday and we stopped off at the A.J. Hackett Bungy Site, which is the first ever commercial Bungy Site in the world. We got to watch people doing the Bungy Jump there which was fun. It's quite a short Bungy compared to the ones set up since. Nothing anyone said or did convinced me to sign up for a Bungy Jump but what i've gone and done instead is paid to do the 'Nevis Arc', which is a Canyon Swing. This will happen tomorrow. I've since been told its very scary and i'm getting a little bit nervous about it. We'll see tomorrow if I regret this decision! However, I am now in Queenstown, the 'Adventure Capital of NZ' and I am doing something adventurous. So thats pretty 'choice'.

I've met some cool people on the current bus and have had a good night out in Queenstown. There'll probably be more yet!

Lots more to come with the Southern Tip part of my trip and then Christchurch. I'm starting to feel a bit more tired but I will make the most of the rest of my time here no matter what! Even with infections and evil sandflies and missing people and everything!

Until next time, take care!

Emily x