Hi everyone im sorry its been such a long time since i have updated you all, so here is the long awaited diary of my time in New Zealand. Thanks for all your messages they are great, its good to keep upto date with everything thats going on. so here we go.......... Mon 10th April Hanmer Springs we arrived here in the afternoon, it is a small town inland on the south island and was about two hour drive form chrsitechurch, we booked in the hostel which was lovely, like a small lodge and we ahd our own room. We decided to check out the springs straight away, well after some lunch anyway. the town is beautiful and because of the time of year, all the colours are oranges and reds, with beacutiful snow capped mountains in the background, it was quite cold there too. the hots sprongs were great you pay to get in and then have a choice of different temp pools ranging from 36 degrees to 43 degrees (which were the sulpher ones which actually hurt they were that hot and they were a bit smelly too) it was great thou because it was freezing outside the water but so lovely and warm in, i couldnt get out. we sepnt a coupkle of hours there and had a wander round the small village, it was very relaxing. in the evening the hostel had lit is open fire and we just sat and chatted around the fire and had a nice early night. Tues 11th April Kiakoura We set off from Hanmer springs along to the coast of Kiakoura, this is the main area in New Zealand for whale and dolphin watching. it took about another two hour drive here and when we got there the weather was lovely, really warm, you could feel the sun burning, it was great, so we went foe some lunch (again, its become a set thing now when we get somewhere...he he) and explored the town, we then went and booked our whale watching trip for the following day, i was very excited about this. However we found out that that day all trips had been cancelled due to rough seas, so we had our fingers crossed. That evening we had a couple of glasses of wine and sat in the hostel and chatted to some other travellers, which was cool, telling us all the best places to go. Wed 12th April Kiakoura and Methven Woke up in the morning, the weather seemed ok, a bit windy, so we headed down to the building where we were supposed to meet and found out that the trip hd been cancelled and that all the ones before and after had too, so we were all a bit disapointed so we decided to head off to our next desitination, which was Methven. The drive here took abit longer than we planned, but when we arrievd at the hostel, it made it worth while, we found out we had the entire hostel ourselves, because they were waiting for the ski season, the town was very quiet. it was great the kitchen and lounge area were huge and had an alpine lodge feel about the place with stuffed animal heads on the wall, we had a few glasses of wine and charlie cooked spag bol for us and we started up our own log fire and we all chilled out there (the girl who was running the hostel on her own was from ramsbottom, small world so she joined us in the evening and we ahd a few drinks in the local and then watched lord of the rings (how appropriate...well when in rome....dont really think that the right phrase but who cares!) Thurs 13th April Mt. Cook the next day we had a wander round methven but it was really more a stop off place than anything so we headed off again to our next desitnation, Mt. Cook, the weather was great again and we had amazing views as drove there. We stpped of at a couple of lakes, one was called lake Tekapo and i cant remember how to spell the other one. the views from the lake were so beautiful, they did take my breath away and i ahd a little tear in my eye (you know me, very emotional!) the colours were fantastic, the most turquoise colour i have ever seen and the lake againts the mountian was great, i have got some great photos and the colours look great. Even thou everything looks so amazing, you just feel great here too, when you breath in it feels so fresh, its great! (check me out he he he but its true) we then carried on our journey to Mt.Cook. The drive thru the valley here was brilliant, i felt like there was just us on the road and the views around were spectacular, as you'll be able to see when you see how many photos i have taken. we arrived in the village, which was tiny surrounded by the mountain range (cant remeber the name) and also Mt. Cook. It was great, the weather was cold but very sunny and it looked brilliant, we had a wander around the village and decide to treat ourselves to a nice meal at the posh hotel...he he. It was great the food was fantastic and was pretty cheap too. we had a couple more drinks and headed for bed. Friday 14th April Mt.Cook and Queenstown In the morning we had an earlish start, it was frezzing, but again sunny, we decided not to give one of the walks ago, mainly because it seemed quite difficult but also because we didnt really have any proper gear (any exciuse i know) but it was great views from where we were and that was good enough for us lazy girls. we started our journey to Queenstown and passed thru a place called Lake Wanaka. Again this was a beauiful lake and the town was lovely too (would prob stay here if i came again!) so we had soem lunch surpirse surprise and got some lovely photos and we headed for this place just outside which was a puzzle museum, it was ok, we were prob a bit too old to go in but it was a laugh, lots of tricks of the eye stuff and then a maze, which i did loose my paietence with and ended up hoing out off the fire exit, in a proper louise style "i cant be bothered with this anymore, where is the cafe!!!" but is was fun, we then made our way to queesntown and because it was bank holiday, we had booked soemwhere to stay, earlier that day. So when we arrived we fortunalety asked to look at the room before we paid because it was minging. it smelt like cabbage and wee and we kindly told them to stick there room, so we were stuck in queenstown on bank hol weekend with no accommodation, so we drove round looking for somewhere and we managed to find a motel, with views of the lake and got a pretty good deal, so it all worked out in the end. it was pretty late by then so we just got some tea and chilled out (again) it was lovely we had our own lounge and kitchen and TV, these things do become a luxaury when your staying in hostels. (i also had my own room with double bed and an electric blanket, it was heaven!) Sat 15th April Queenstown we got up quite early cause we had to check out, but managed to get another motel sorted for the next night, so we left all our stuff in the car, while we explore for the day. Because queenstown is the X-treme sport place place of NZ i felt i shud do something extreme, We booked (me and Charlie) a jet boat ride thru the shot over down the river. It was great fun we got picked up and taken to the river and we were given spray coats and life jackets, we were given a brief safety talked which consisted of hold on or else you'll be swimming and off we went, it was brill. i cant rememeber now how fast it was going but it felt very fast. we skimmed the rocks and stuff, it was so funny, then we did soem 360 spins, it was great. the pictures they too were good so i got a copy to show everyone. we then headed back to the town and checked in our second motel and had to get ready for our bigh night out (not really) but we booked on a Moari Night. We got picked up and taken to a tradditional village and we learned a bit about the culture and also some language (Kia Kora...i think thats right which means hello and your welcome and thank you, basically you say it all the time) we then had a ritual and were allowed to enter there house and they did a show, the men did the 'haka' which was great and the women did some dancing with poi which is a ball with a string on it. It was lovely because it was a small family, the children performed and the mum was on the guiter and dad was in the background somewhere, really friendly people, then of course they got us to join in, mum you would have loved it! we then went thru to the dinning room and had tradditional food, it was mixture of meats and root veg all cooked under ground and had a very smoky taste, it was interesting anyway! then we had to do some more dancing and then they drove us back to town, where the uncle played his guiter and sang, it was so funny, especially when he did some elvis song, bless! we had a couple of tipples in Queenstown and back to motel as we had an early start for milford sounds the next day. to be continued......im sorry im pretty tired now, so will finish of tomorrow and try and get some pics too miss you all so much lots of love Lou Xx