On Sunday, we left Queenstown to go to Te Anua.  We had a little extra baggage that we picked up in Queenstown, by the name of Ashley from Folkstone.  Typical, we come all this way and we still end up hanging out with a Kent boy. 

On Monday, the 3 of us went to Milford Sound.  This included a stop at Mirror Lakes where everything reflects perfectly in the lakes.  We had to drive through Homer Tunnel which is only one lane wide and 1.5km long, traffic lights control in 15 minutes apart.  When we emerged the other side, we saw a Kea (mountain parrot).  They are very devious and confident.  They are so cute though and little entertainers.  One even jumped on the bus. 

We started our 2 hour cruise of Milford Sound where we saw lots of waterfalls and high mountains.  It is said to be the most spectacular scenery in New Zealand.  We could see why.  At one point, they put glasses on the front of the boat and slowly edged towards the waterfall so we could have a taster.  It was very clear and tasted very pure.  Later on, we donned raincoats and we stood underneath the waterfall.  They even played classical music while we done it.  We couldn't believe how strange it felt and there was even wind coming from the waterfall.  Marie also walked around with mascara down her face talking to people.  Krisha did not tell her!!

On Tuesday, we took the 5 hour drive to Dunedin which is celtic for Edinburgh.  This explains the Scottish feel of the place.  The first hostel we picked out, we took one look at and decided not to stay there - it looked very haunted.  We managed to find a hostel right in the city so we were then happy.  That day, we decided to walk up the steepest road in the world (Baldwin Street).  We left percy (the car) at the bottom as none of us thought he'd make it.  We struggled up but luckily it isn't a very long road.  We even got our certificates on the way back down.

 On Wednesday, it was Anzac day so all the shops were shut til 1pm.  We took a drive onto the peninsula which was really pretty but the road was a little too close to the sea for our liking.  We took a walk along the rocks and couldn't work out what the nose or smell was.  When we turned around, there was a massive seal just lazing about on the rocks.  He didn't take any notice of us and he was a bit too lazy to move.  Its closest we've ever been to a seal, thats for sure. 

We'd also booked up to go on a 'Hell Raiser Ghost Tour' that evening.  So that evening, we stood outside the visitors center, in the rain, waiting for our guide.  In the distance, we saw a bloke in a long black cape and black hat.  He also had about 5 people behind him so we assumed that he was the guide and they were the other people on the tour.  We were half right.  He was the guide but we were the only people on the tour!! We had to control our giggles as we walked around, trying to act serious.  The stories were quite interesting until we got to the last part of the tour.  He took us to underground room and pretended his torch broke.  The 2 of us were standing there with our eyes closed, holding hands as we thought he was going to try and scare us.  We were pleased when he didn't and when he turned the torch on, we couldn't leave the place quick enough.  And to think Krisha was going to go by herself if Marie didn't fancy it.  When we got outside and left our guide, we couldn't stop laughing for ages. 

On Thursday, we thought we couldn't leave Dunedin without a visit to Cadbury World.  We had a tour around the factory which smells delicious all the way round.  We had lots of free samples all the way and watched a ton of liquid chocolate fall from the sky.  For health and safety, we had to wear lovely hair nets which you can check out in the photos.

As we didn't set off until 1pm, we didn't reach our next stop, Lake Tekapo until 6pm.  We settled in for the night as this was only a quick stop over on route to Christchurch.  We had a quick look at the lake in the morning before setting off. 

By the time we got to Christchurch on Friday, it was raining again and we were in desperate need of doing some washing.  That took up the afternoon so we didn't get much of a look around.

On Saturday morning, we woke early to phone Whale Watch at Kaikoura to see if they were running that day.  We booked onto a 12.45pm tour and set off.  It took 2.30 hours and when we arrived, the weather had once again turned.  The tour was cancelled.  We booked onto one for Sunday and just went away hoping.  We read and watched a lot of TV that day as Kaikoura does not have a lot of indoor activities.

Sunday morning, we were up and ready to find out if our tour would go ahead at 7.15am.  Luckily they said it was but the sea was quite rough.  We were happy as this was about our 7th attempt.  We set off on the boat and noticed how rough it actually was.  The front of the boat was dropping 1 - 1.5m onto the waves.  We kept stopping to track the Sperm Whales and also saw some Albatross.  It took about an hour before we first spotted one.  We couldnt really see the full size of it (approx 20m) as its head was underwater.  It wasn't on the surface long before it dived down and thats when you see the tail.  We managed to see another one which was on the surface a little longer.  Marie got a little too excited about seeing them to worry about sea sickness, but what can we say, Krisha got to try out the sick bags.  There was a lot of green people on our boat!!

It the afternoon, we headed back to Christchurch and decided it had been too long since we had had a roast dinner.  As we were in New Zealand, Krisha thought that she would try out the Lamb while Marie stuck to good old chicken (no suprises there).  We made it in the hostel and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 Today we've had a wander around the city and visited Botanic Gardens, Canterbury Museum and Christchurch Cathedral.  It is quite a pretty place with old style buildings.  Apparently it is based on Stratford and you can see that it is very English.

 Well we can't believe we have been here a month and we are off to Oz tomorrow.  We have had a great time in New Zealand and enjoyed its world renowned scenery.  We would definately recommend it.  Check out the rest of the photo's for the South Island and so off to the next chapter of our adventure....