Hello Everyone,

So we have been in Queenstown just over 2 months now and thought we would give our loyal followers an update on how we are getting on and what we have been up to.

So we are currently living in a holiday home up on Queenstown hill about 5min walk from the middle of town. It's a spectacular view from our windows over the lake and surrounding hills. Nikki and I are living with one other student at the moment but by the end of the month four of our friends will be moving in with us, which will be great. The house itself is up two incredibly steep hills but worth the pain for the view! We are in a block of holiday homes, all three bedroom apartments with kitchen and living areas - perfect for us.

Nikki has got a part time job working at Queenstown Gym, which is great. She is working between 15 and 17 hours a week on a good wage, commission for memberships and a free gym membership for herself. The only huge downside is a very early start at 5.45am twice a week. I am still trying for work in town but so far not having much luck but won't be giving up anytime soon.

Since being in Queenstown we have both been concentrating on finding work and permanent accommodation but that doesn't mean we haven't had any fun! I along with a couple of friends from our hostel went mountain biking in the surrounding hills. For people who don't know, Queenstown is home to some of the best mountain biking tracks and trails in the southern hemisphere. They have a gondola providing access for you and your bike to the top of the downhill runs without having to push or ride back up every run. It was a great day, even with a few crashes, cuts and bruises.

Also I have found a new sport in Frisbee golf. It's like normal golf with tee's and specific pars per holes but you play with Frisbee's and aim for a post with a metal chain net. Its taken very serious over here with 300 courses country wide and different frisbee's for different holes, like clubs in real golf! There's an 18 hole course 5min walk from our house which I normally play daily with some guys from the hostel. Nikki on the other hand thinks I have become addicted and uses it as an excuse to get out the house away from her :P.

Nikki has made good friends with a couple of girls from the hostel so now and then she has a girly night out, which I'm sure she loves. Last week she went for a girly day to Remarkables shopping park in the next town of Frankton and came back hours later, bags in hand with a huge smile on her face.

Christmas was rather tame here compared to the UK. Due to it being the start of summer here, there's no snow, no early nights, no Christmas lights and very few Christmas trees. On the day itself, the staff at our hostel held a BBQ on the lake front with everyone from the hostel. It was a great day with lots of games and fun but the only thing that made it feel different from the day before was people wearing Santa hats, very strange.

New Year was very luxurious for us as our parents very kindly brought us a hostel room at the Hilton Hotel from the 30th to the 1st. The hotel was beautiful with an amazing room with lake views and bathtub, a 25m indoor swimming pool, spa, sauna. We decided to stay at our hotel for the New Year's night and watch the fireworks from our balcony. It was a lovely treat from our share hostel rooms and was very much enjoyed by both of us.

At the moment we are organising ourselves before my two friends Sean and Andrew come to visit at the start of February. It will be great to see them and I'm sure we will have a great time. After that we are planning our travels for the rest of the year. It's looking like we will be staying here in New Zealand until mid-July before heading to Australia for two months. Finally we are heading to South Africa where hopefully we will meet up with my family for a final two weeks before heading home to the UK. (Fingers crossed)!!

We will continue to update you every now and then on our lives and upload pictures of our activities in this gorgeous town.

Finally Nikki's best friend has just begun her world travels leaving the UK on the 20th January heading to India before Australia where we will hopefully meet up with her.

Please follow her blog:blogs.statravel.co.uk/kateeveratt

With love from our new home in Queenstown

Ben and Nikki xxx