Hello Everyone,

So after a rather heavy night the night before the next morning was a bit of a challenge for quite a few people with some people worse than others. We checked out the hostel at 9am and boarded the bus ready to leave and headed south to Lake Mahinapua.

Our first stop was at Cape Foulwind after a half an hour drive where we went for a 1hour walk around Tauranga bay to visit one on New Zealand's largest seal colonies. The point of the bay is also the closest point to Australia. It was a lovely sunny day with incredible views of the coast and surrounding headlands. The path itself was loose gravel which caused a few problems for some more fragile people. The seal colony was situated on the headland on the far side of the bay with a viewing platform directly above them. The seals were incredibly well camouflaged with the wet rocks but after a few minutes you started to spot them relaxing in the sun. After a few photo's we continued back to the bus to continue our route down the coast.

Our second stop was a Paparoa National Park and the Punakaiki Pancake rocks and blow holes. The pancake rocks are a series of stratified limestone stacks which, over thousands of years, have been eroded to resemble giant piles of neatly stacked pancakes. It was a spectacular site with the blowholes causing explosions of spray every time a large wave hits the coastline.

The next stretch of the drive heading into our final stop of Greymouth took us past some of the best surfing beaches the country has to offer. They were amazing to see and only wished we had a chance to stop and play but unfortunately we continued passed and headed into town. We stopped in Greymouth for an 1hour and a half to get supplies and costumes for Lake Mahinapua. For people who don't know, Lake Mahinapua is the location for the Kewi Experience bus fancy dress party. The theme for our party was anything that begins with the letter 'P'. Greymouth was also the last big supermarket stop before Wanaka in 3 night's time so people stocked up on food for the next few nights.

So costume in hand we continued south on the bus to our final destination of Lake Mahinapua in the middle of nowhere. It was a small dated hostel in the middle of field just off the main road, with the beach 500m one side and a large fresh water Lake 750 m the other direction. Once checked in to our room a few of us decided to head to the lake for a sunbathe and a paddle. I decided I would venture into the lake for a swim in the murky brown water and quickly regretted the decision after diving into the freezing cold lake. After a quick swim, we wondered back to the hostel for a warm shower before the evening's festivities. The price of the hostel included our evening meal which was spectacular - a fresh grilled steak with potatoes, salad, corn-on-the-cob and venison stew. It was amazing, fresh and cooked perfectly. Once everyone was fed and watered we headed back to our dorm rooms to get into our costumes before heading to the bar to meet everyone. Fancy dress was a normal thing for Nikki and I after four years at university so after some quick thinking and $4 charity shop purchases we were transformed in a pig and a prostitute (You guys can decide which way round!). Some people had really made an effort with all kind of costumes . . . presents, Parisian, pencils, priests, paddies, Prince Harry, popeye and my personal favorite Paris Hilton. It was worth dressing up for as up for grabs was a Canyon swing in Queenstown. Lake Mahinapua was also the location for the bus group photo, obviously in fancy dress after everyone had arrived we got the photo done before the party started. It was a great night with everyone on the bus having a great time, the only downside to the evening was the music which was juke box which we had to pay for. After a few hours of fancy dress fun and still feeling the effects of the night before Nikki and I decided to head to before our long drive to Franz Josef the next day.

From Lake Mahinapua in Fancy Dress

Ben and Nikki x