I will finally finish my blog of New Zealand, I think I am ahead with my photos so you can make up your own stories from them if you wish. After reluctantly leaving Queenstown we got a new driver on the Stray bus and headed south to Milford Sound. It rains 2 out of 3 days here and yes it was raining. We went on a boat ride and saw loads of waterfalls, clouds and some seals which was nice, we also got very wet. After feeling alittle miserable with the weather we were told about where we were staying the night. It was so different from Queenstown I can't explain it. If I say it was accommodation for old road workers and it hadn't been updated since they used it, I think this will give you some idea. They were basically sheds. You had to keep your own fire going in the shed to keep you warm and what made it worse was that it was raining and the nasty sand flies were out in their thousands. I covered myself head to foot in fly spray and slept in the clothes I had sprayed, oh and the bed was another story. I could feel the springs and couldn't move or I would fall out it was that small. This was my only complaint with New Zealand!!! Gladly leaving this lovely camp behind we headed even further south and had the option to go to Stewart Island, after 3-4 weeks of doing various activities this one didn't appeal to me and it saved me some money. We stayed in a place called Invercargil, can't really say anything about this place as it is a ghost town but they come alive at night. There are some very strange locals and alot of boy racers. It was only for one night, we chilled and watched TV. The following day we left for Dunedin, on the way we stopped on the beach to look for Sealions, these are the big ones and OMG did we see a big one. After being chased by one that came out of the water at us I turned around to see the biggest Sealion I have ever seen. One of the guys went to stand near it to have his photo taken, it wasn;t happy and growled at him, it was hilarious he ran so fast. We didn't arrive in Dunedin until 5.30 which wasn't great as we were leaving at 7.30 the next morning. Most of the group went to the brewery and me and Anna had a curry. We all met up around 10pm to go out for a drink. As backpackers you need cheap drinking places and Dundein had alot of wine bars. After making one drink last about an hour we decided to go back to the hostel. It looks like a lively place though. We headed to Mount Cook and again saw the most amazing scenery on the way from snow capped mountains to the bluest lakes you have ever seen. Girls - I am having my photo taken with my TShirt on in every country to show you that you have been with me to all the places I have visited. The first was taken on a beach in Fiji and with the mountains behind me in New Zealand. I will try for Sydney harbour bridge for Australia. Mount Cook was awesome. The hostel was like a 5 star hotel. We had an ensuite room with a bath and a balcony with the most amazing view you have ever seen. We went for a walk to see the iceburgs which was so bizzare as we were sunbathing whilst looking at snow capped mountains and icebergs on the lake around us. We all had dinner at the bar and played drinking games. It was coming to the end of our time together which was really sad. 3 of the group were trying to get jobs in Mount Cook and would leave us tomorrow. We left Mount Cook for Christchurch. We had a group meal at a mexican restaurant the first night and agreed we would all meet in Amsterdam at the end of April as it was mine and Nicolettes birthday on the same day. I have already booked my flight!!! The next day I got a bus to Lyttleton just over the hills from Christchurch to visit an old school friend who I hadn't seen since I was 16...yes 20 years ago. He saw that I was going to New Zealand and invited me to see him. Spookily he works in advertising and runs his own business. He worked at a couple of agencies in Manchester which I know but I had never come across him there. It was great to see him after all this time and catch up on what we had been upto. We went for lunch and he gave me a tour around the area showing me the destruction that the earthquake had caused. Shaun has been in N Zealand for 10 years and has only been back to the UK once. People just fall in love with the place. He took me back to the hostel to meet the others and we made tea in at the hostel as our last supper together. I was leaving the next morning for Melbourne. Sorry it was a long one but I needed to get upto date. Obviously i have done so much more than I have written about but I need to leave some things to tell you when I get back. xx