Hello all!

I am currently in Queenstown, waiting to go paragliding which the winds have delayed. Yesterday I went for a ride on the Shotever Jet, a boat which is very like a jetski which carries 14 people! The very experienced driver took us down the Shotever River at what seemed like amazing speeds through narrow very shallow canyons, almost hitting the sides and performing 360 degree turns. I got absolutely soaked and was actually the only person in the boat who got that wet, I happened to sit in the one seat which got sprayed whichever direction we went! I met a couple of angels in the form of a Canadian couple who sat next to me with a towel and have taken me address and promised to send me a copy of the (rather expensive) DVD of the trip. They said they had done the budget travelling before and were now happy to help those who were still in that phase of life.

I have actually met many wonderful people, some Kiwis, some travellers. Since I last wrote I have been to Te Papa, the fantastic National museum in Wellington, and seen the Monet exhibit which was very interesting. From Wellington I went to Picton for a night then on to Christchurch, where I met Joel and John, from Melbourne and London respectively. They were friendly chaps, offering amusing conversation and wine during train rides.

From Christchurch I went to Franz Josef via Greymouth. In Franz I stayed in the nicest backpackers I have stayed in so far, I went on a walk to the glacier which was really very daunting, a huge piece of ice which moves really very quickly. Two guys from Australia were killed there in January and although the guides have always been very safety conscious, the risk seemed even more real. From Franz I took a bus to Queenstown and met Paula, from Durham. We had some interesting conersations, seem to have a fait bit in common, and I hope to meet her sometime here in Queenstown. The following day I went on a day trip to Milford Sounds, which was simply incredible. The photos I have taken cannot portray the scale of the beauty of the area, I was awestruck.

On that trip I met many more people I enjoyed sharing time with and we had such random and interesting conversations I'm sure we all learnt facts about something we didn't know we were interested in! Topics included (light hearted) railway suicide in England, the colour of sheep in NZ (lots of talk about Emmy here too), VW campervans, NZ hunting and rednecks, American politics and much more which I can't remember.

Well loads more has happened, more people have been met but I haven't got time to tell you about all of it now. Unfortunately I can't uploads my photos right now, I'll try to do it in the next few days.