Hey guys! So here I am in Auckland during my last day in New Zealand. Tonight I am flying out to the tropical paradise of Fiji! I have had a great few weeks here, most of which I spent taking a coach tour around the South Island. I would really reccomend these type of tours (such as Kiwi Ex or Stray) for people who want to see a lot in a short space of time.

My New Zealand adventure started with a few days spent in Auckland. I booked into the Fat Camel Hostel, and lo and behold, three people I knew from the Maze were working there in some capacity! That really helped soften the blow of leaving behind so many good friends in sydney. Spent the days walking around the city and along the water front, which was nice enough if not as spectacular as Darling Harbour. The only activity of note I participated in was the hostel football on sunday, which lasted for three hours and as I had not even kicked a ball in months the repercussions went on far longer!!

The next day I flew out of the North Island to Christchurch. Here I spent a night in jail for my crimes against humanity! No, not really! I spent the night in a hostel called the Old Jail House, which was a superb establishment on the outskirts of the city. Up until the early 90s it had indeed been a prison, and it had a really quiet and peaceful atmosphere. I really reccomend it to anyone looking for a place to recover from the constant partying in aresa bigger cities. The following morning I boarded one of kiwi experience's hop on, hop off buses that was going to take me all around the south Island over the next three weeks. Our first destination was Kaikoura, which lies to the north of Chirstchurch. We spent the night here, and I entertained myself by going to see a sheep shearing exhibition, which was suprisingly entertaining. I then took a short walk along the coastal road to a seal colony, which was cool. I think seals have the best lifestyle ever, all they ever do is sleep and eat! Reminds me of my uni days....

The next day we moved on to the most northern township on the south island, Nelson. We stopped off on the way at another seal colony, but this time it was the sea view, not the animals that held sway over my attention. We had two days in Nelson itself, the second of which I spent Kayaking through the Abel Tasman National Park. This was a greta experience, as although the wildlife was not as forthcoming as I had hoped, the dramatic diorama of the cliffs and forests meeting the sea was too special to miss. We stopped and had lunch on a beach and then started to work our way back along the coast to the start point. At this stage our guide deicided to get us all to raft up, and then made us a sail out of the groundsheet we had used for lunch. As we moved along under the power of the wind, the guide left his kayak and stood on the front of ours, and did the Haka!! It was so funny, espeically when he fell in the sea!

The following morning we left Nelson and made the journey down the west coast to Westport. On the way we stopped at Lake Nelson, which was an amazing lake framed by mountains and woods. I took a short stroll though the woods here, and then nearly got eaten by small ravenous ducklings that I made the mistake of sharing my lunch with! On arrival at Nelson, we went to the beach. It was nice enough, but just could not compete with Fraser Island or the Whitsundays. We tried to brave the waves as well, but even by english standards the water was freezing!

The next stop on our tour was Lake Mahinapua. On the way we stopped at a place called Cape foulwind and took a 45 minute coastal walk, all of which seemed to be uphill, but it was well worth it, we even saw more of the now typical seal population. In the evening, we had a steak dinner put on for us by the hostel we were staying in, followed by a fancy dress party, the theme of which was 'things starting with the letter P'. I went as a photographer, but other people were pirates, puppets, petrol pumps and purple grapes. It was a really good evening which ended with a night time walk along the sea front.

The next day, however, was the one I was really looking forward to! We were heading further down the coast to Franz Josef, a township up in the mountains and surrounded by glaciers! On teh way we stopped at a Bushmans Museum, which was all about the history of deer hunting and farming. It was not great and some people found it pretty distasteful, but the musuem itself was well laid out with all sorts of suprises, like a light switch that when you turn it on, it sprays water at you! They also had live possoms and a giant pig, so it was a good enough experience in the end. i spent the evening exploring Franz Josef itslef, which was a very nice, quiet township. We had two nights here and on teh second day I decided to tackle the Franz Josef glacier itself. I did this via an activity called ice climbing. You start the day hiking up the glacier trench and then up onto the glacier itself. At several points, however, you turn off the main path and climb vertical walls of ice with the aid of ice axes and crampons. This enables you to access more remote areas of the ice that the less elite day hikers can not get to. It was well worth the small increase in cost, as the views were truely, truely amazing. The ice was as hard as rock and blue in colour, and the panaramic surroundings as grey cliff met with ice, was breath taking. It was, however, a very long and tiring day, so although I am of the firm belief that Frank Josef is a must see for anyone in NZ, only attempt this activity if you are fit and well.

The following morning we were up early and on our way to Wanaka, a township just a bit further south of the glaciers. On the way we stopped off at a Lake Matheson, which due to the mineral content of the water shoudl have had amazing reflections, but as it was overcast it just looked muddy hehe! We moved on pretty quick and stopped instead at an amazing waterfall, the 61st tallest one in the world! If you would like a picture of it, I have one on my phone and will text it to you if you ask! We spent the night in Wanaka, but I used it to have a real nice and quiet time, recovering from the rigours of the last few weeks.

The next day saw the us reach the final destination before the return to christchurch; Queenstown. On the way we paused at a place called Puzzling World. thsi was a really fun place complete with two level maze and hundreds of illusions, including a room where you rmind tells you the floor goes one way, but in reality it goes the other so, for example, coins roll up hill! I had four nights in Queenstown, as it was the place I most wanted to see. The first day I spent chilling out and doing all the boring but necessary stuff like washing, but the next day we went on a day trip to Milford Sound, a massive lake right up in the moutains. It rained all day but that was apperently an advantage as there were more waterfalls that way. We went on a boat cruise on the lake and also down nine meters underwater to an observatory to see coral and fish. It was a great day, but not as good as I had been told, as the scenery was not that special compared to what we had been seeing day in, day out. The buffet lunch on the boat was an added bonus though.

The next day I had free and a friend and I decided to go up into the mountains around the city via a gondola. The views were again fantastic, mountains sloping down into the deep blue of Queenstwons massive lake. Once on top of the mountain, we decided we did not want to take the gondola back down again, and so we threw ourselves off the cliff, attached to a man with a parachute of course. Paragliding in such scenery really took my breath away, even if the guide would not let me fly the 'chute through some rugby posts!! We then went for a walk through the local botanical gardens, and that was it, my south island adventure had come to an end!

So, now, after another bus and two flights, I am back in Auckland. Tonight I fly to the very damp sounding Fijian Islands, so I will speak to you from there!!