I've just realised that we've been travelling for over a month; that doesn't actually sound either long or impressive, but it feels like I've been travelling for years!

Today was just what the doctor ordered: a chance to recharge the batteries and unwind a little. Queenstown is the perfect tonic for a weary traveller, with its laid back attitude, abundance of alpine air and plentiful eateries - you can't help but feel instantly at home.

Browsing the shops for something spectacular proved to only be captivating for a few short moments, a situation not helped by Chelsea insisting on trying on skiing helmets and enquiring about the price of ski goggles in every shop - we aren't booked onto a skiing holiday and all the snow here has melted so what she's playing at I don't know. Eventually, it got to the point were I just stood out on the rain and looked in at her through the window, this is a tactic my dog, Lola, uses and it seems to evoke pity so I hoped it would work for me. It didn't and I was sodden.

We then walked around Queenstown's gardens, a nice way to spend a few hours amongst the rich smells of New Zealand's flowers. The gardens are also laden with memorials for influential members of the old British Empire and offered a few eyebrow raising facts. For example, a man named William Gilbert Rees founded Queensland and was the first settler there, he was from Haverfordwest in South Wales! Also, Sir Edmund Hillary who was the first person the successfully reach Everest's summit with his Napalese Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay firstly scaled Mt Cook in New Zealand as a sort of practise swing.

Drizzling rain began to fall from the sky but did little to dampen our spirits as we filled up our next couple of days with exciting activities in the local i site. With time for a quick swing in the local park and a swift pizza (a 'meat lovers dream' with a BBQ base) we headed back to our campsite for an early bed down.