Hello!!!

Apologies it has taken us sooooooooo long again to update this...always so much to do in such a short space of time!! (planned on doing this before we left New Zealand.......never happened so we are now actually in Santiago, Chile!!!
Okay, as you may heard, someone stole my phone and that was where I kept notes of what we were up to in New Zealand....so this may not be as informative as the previous blogs...but I will try and fill you all in as much as I can remember.

When we arrived in Auckland we heard about the "Magic Bus" which goes round the North and South islands....a bit like a hop on hop off bus....but the great thing is the driver can book your accommodation and trips/activities you want to do wherever you are going to be staying, and also stopped at some interesting places for us to take photos etc.....which took the hassle out of it for us...meaning more time to do the wine tasting and brewery tours....... Ooops I mean enjoy the scenery!!!

Before we left Auckland we went on a whale and dolphin safari which was fab...we managed to see both!!! Amazing. They were so fast and it was a bit difficult to get a photo (Iain is on the computer in front of me and said he put a few of these on...you may have to look closely though!!!)
So after leaving Auckland we headed for Rotorua. On our way there we stopped in Matamata (the town near "Hobbiton")...so for all "Lord of the Rings fans" we´ve posted a picture of Golem!! This place was the movie set for some of the film, as was pretty much most of New Zealand!

We arrived at Rotorua where there were boiling mud pools.....with the smell of rotten eggs!!!! This was very strange!!!

We then headed for Taupo and Wellington, then took the Interislander ferry from Wellington to Picton (South Island.)
To be honest, we literally only spent one night in each of the places in the North Island as we wanted to get to the South Island asap!!!
We loved the South Island...weather was great and there was so much more to do!!!
So our first destination in the South island was Nelson.....which we loved and wished we stayed longer...we went on a wine tasting tour and visited 5 vineyards, Brightwater, Siefried, Woolaston, Rimu Grove and Stafford Lane.....this was pretty much a full day trip and we surprisingly didn´t end up too drunk by the end of it..... and I think we can honestly tell know the difference between a Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and a Reisling....although we will have to keep buying a few bottles here and there to refresh our memories!!!

On our way to our next destination, Greymouth, we stopped at Cape Foulwind, this was where Captain cook was blown off course....hence the name. It also home to a seal breeding colony.
We also stopped at Punakaiki,which is home to the "Pancake Rocks"..........Very strange sight.....and cannot be explained, apparently????

After a busy day sightseeing, we went a brewery tour that night......much fun........and there´s me thinking that beer tastes all the same to me lol!!!

Franz Josef/Fox Glacier was where we headed next..... amazing place...... especially when you see the Southern Alps in the distance and you are standing with shorts on!!!!
We managed to fit in a few things here.....as well as someone stealing my phone......which I won´t bore you with!!!!!!!!

But it was a great place. We manage to take a guided hike up to the Glacier. I am so glad that they provided us with all the gear as i dont think i would have survived with just wearing shorts and flip flops lol!!! ....... and this was in case any you lot saw the photos and wondered why we were both wearing the same clothes!!!!

This was AMAZING!!!!! blue ice as well!.... the photos really don´t do it justice!!!!
The glacier hot pools are great aswell....... they had three of these all at different temperatures 36, 38 and 40 degrees!!!!
After speaking to a lot of people we realised this is the place to do a skydive!! so after it being postponed due to it being cloudy we eventually did it the day before we were due to leave...................again AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can´t believe we did it!! it was 12,000 feet and the scenery was sooooooo good!!! got to see the highest mountain in New Zealand, Mount Cook (12,316 ft) and Mount Tasman the second highest 11,473 ft.) I would def do this again!!!!!!! such an adrenalin buzz!!......Now I know how Paul, Lynchy and Iain felt after they did their one!!! although don´t think it was minus 20 degrees!!!

As we left and headed for Queenstown we passed by Lake Matheson which is often called the Mirror Lake, it is famous for it´s reflections of the Southern Alps.........although the morning we were there it was a bit cloudy (not the best for taking that picture postcard photo.)

Queenstown really wasn´t what we imagined......had thought it would be more like a busy city.... We wished we had booked longer to stay here as it was a really nice place. The only thing we really had planned was to do the Nevis Bungy which was 134 metres.....i was def more nervous about that than the skydive!!!!!!
We managed to stop off at Kawaru bridge took some photos (Esp for Nicola and Ross.....and Christine i´m sure you did the bungy jump here aswell??) Think that bungy was 42 metres..... after seeing some people jump was feeling just a little nervous about ours the following day!!!
The drive was about 40 minutes from the centre of town...which wasn´t good as that just gave you even more time to reconsider doing it lol!!!

But we got there and DID IT..... there was a group of us and I was last.....8.5 seconds of free falling......the worst part had to be standing on the ledge and convincing myself to just jump...Iain was brilliant though, he kept referring to the time when Jame Bond did it in Goldeneye...so yes he tried to re-enact this scene ha ha ha!!!

But totally worth it!!! and we even got a free t-shirt!!!

Needless to say we went out that night with a few friends we made on our Magic bus.... and had a "few" drinks." I especially liked the ones that were in the World Bar......cocktails in teapots........ but as i was a little drunk couldn´t really read the list they had, and asked the barman to get me whatever one he thought was nice......... don´t remember much except for the tequilla taste......... and the headache the day after!!!!
But the following day was our last so we did the shotover jet and went up on the skyline gondola the view of the town and mountains, which were amazing! think it was about 790 metres high. Also had a go on the luge to cure the hangover...we didn't get the same adrenalin rush as from the skydive or bungy though!!

As we left Queenstown we headed for Dunedin, which is known as "Edinburgh of the South" here we walked up the worlds steepest street, and just chilled.

The next day we left for Lake Tekapo, and then onto Christchurch on our way there we stopped at a place called Geraldine!!! Christchurch was our last destination on the Magic bus...... was great to meet so many new friends and will def keep in touch!!! So hopefully that is you all filled in with what has been happening with us in the last few weeks!!!

Keep in touch, as even though we don´t update our blog as often as we should we always love to come on here to read your comments......

P.S No more footie talk......not that there´s a need with a certain team not doing so well!!.............JOKE lol.
Take care,

We will keep you posted on our South America travels.

Love to you all xxxxx