So, I have been in New Zealand for about a week now and yes I hear you cry, is it really that good, that beautiful, that worth upping sticks and leaving for. . . ? Well maybe. . . . That?s my sister?s question anyway?!?! But in answer to your cry?s. . . . It?s still too early to say. . . .

I had the time of my life in Australia, therefore NZ has got a lot to live up to, so in this last week, has it made an impression? Yes, yes it has. . . .

Now, I am not suddenly gonna say that I have fallen in love with the place and that I want to live here, but blimey, it is beautiful. . . . 

I managed to sort out a car for a week and decided to escape the comfort zone of dossing in Christchurch and actually see a bit more of the place in these 2 weeks. . . So I headed off for 3 nights away, with no real plan, just a bed for the first night in a place called Hanmer Springs and the ?Rough Guide to NZ? handbook.

So the little chicken chaser car and me mozied on up to Hanmer Springs and my first stop after driving into the mountains (wow ? You might hear me say this a few times!). Yes, my first stop. . . . Le Gite Backpackers, recommended by my handbook as the ?pick of the hostels?. . . . What a nice little place. . . Very friendly staff and cozy place with a very chilled out atmosphere. I ask the lady who worked there what she recommended for me to do, hoping that the next day I could go Whitewater rafting, etc. . . . She said, ?Of course you must visit the Springs?. Well of course I thought, how stupid of me. . . . ? However, I was eager to get out there and do some walking and exploring, but after a visit to the Info centre and a $1 purchase of the local walks map, I succumbed to the pull of the natural springs. . .And yes, I lazied around in the pools for the remainder of the afternoon. . . I know. . .Whatever. . . . !

That evening I managed to demolish 6 bottles of Corona while making and eating tea. . . Followed by lounging around watching films with the other lazy gits. . . . It was quite nice really, just chilling out. . . However, I did need to get up early if I wanted to make the most of the day!

I did get up, as promised to myself and made some breakfast (Rob?s omlete surprise!) before heading into town to the Thrill Seekers Canyon office. I had popped to the main place the day before and things weren?t not looking good for the rafting, etc. Not enough people. . . ! However, in the morning things were looking up as the lady said if you can get down there in 10 mins, you can join the Rafting and Jetboat experience! ?Right O me ode fruit?, I said, ?here?s me dosh?, and off I went with a big smile on my face!

All the usual kitting out and signing you life away before we hit the water. Now I am not going to make a big song and dance about how awesome the rafting was, because it wasn?t. Now that?s not to say I didn?t have a good time. To be fair I half expected it and when the lady said that it was classed as grade 2, well, I knew I might as well have been floating down the river Dove!

So, yes, I did have a great time, it was classed more as a scenic river ride and there were a few rapid of sort, but the scenery was pretty good and it was a great way to see things! Now then. . . .You may be feeling for me a bit here, well don?t. At the drop off point we got out the rafts and just in the freezing cold water, well I jumped in off some high rocks. . . Lots of times, it was great! But the best part is still to come. . . . . . !

Roaring in the distance was or taxi back to base. . . . hmmmm. . . twin V8 powered jet boat. . . . . . Nice! Blimey. . . . ! Wow. . . . . And also a little scary! The guy picked us all up and first headed further down the river, nailing it as close to the rocks as he could before doing a great 360 degree stop! We then headed back up to base doing more of the same. . . Was a good adrenaline buzz and well worth the money!

After finishing there, I was on the road again and heading towards my next destination Kaikoura. I hand rang ahead and booked a room for the night, partly because there wasn?t a room to stay in Hanmer (to do the walks) and mostly because I was really ready to move again and Kaikoura had some other things to offer!

I got to Kaikoura and found my hostel, again recommended by my hand book as the dog b******s. . . Now don?t be fooled by the name the place is really cool and chilled out, but yeah it?s called. . . . wait for it. . . . ?The Lazy Shag?. Now the story behind this is that supposedly that the woman who originally owned it, named it after her husband?!

So, after checking in there and meeting a very friendly Japanese lady who ran the place, I dumped my stuff and decide to head out to sort some activities, etc. . . .  I did however ask the friendly lady for some advice on Kayaking and fishing and before I knew it, I was booked for fishing at 8am and Kayaking at 1pm the next day! Happy days. . . .Well that saved me a job! And to fair the cost of things over here is very cheap, especially when you are carrying the pound. . . . !

So, with my trips planned, I had the rest of the afternoon free to roam. I headed into town and around before ending up at the peninsula and the local seal colony. . . .  There was also a walk that you could do along the coast, so without further a due and wanting to make up for not walking in Hanmer Springs, I was off. . . . Up the hill like a rat up a drain pipe! Up to the lookout and where a sign showed more of a walk. . . . I was off, around the coast land, the views were awesome the weather fantastic. I was a happy chappy! I walked for about 45 minutes along the cliff and hill face, before descending the bank down a relatively steep path. I hit the stoney beach and walked out across some rocks to get a great view of about 6 seals catching the last rays before sunset!

The sunset was beautiful to see and was my queue to head back. . . . I walked along the beach as I remembered another small track up to the top (well I thought I did?!?!) After climbing some more rocks like a little kid, I got to the point at which I thought the path was. . . hmmm. . . Nowhere to be seen. . . . So I headed further round and to the point at which you could not go any further. . . . hmmmmm. . . I looked around and noticed up the near vertical grassy bank some muddy foot steps leading the way to the top. Exit. . . . Happy days. . . . Well not by the time I got to the top. . . .I nearly died, my calves were absolutely throbbing! Good cardio burn though. . . !

So, after my little gaunt, there is clearly only one option. . . . . Earlier in the day I had notice a glowing Guinness sign on the side of a local establishment. . . . Clearly this needed investigating further. . . . So I nailed it back to the town, did some grocery shopping for my tea later and pulled up to the bar and let out a familiar cry. . . . ?Pint a Guinness love please?!

That evening, I cooked again and left some of the other slack backers, sorry I mean back packers looking in amazement as I conjured up a chicken, broccoli and pasta dish before there very eyes. It was as if I had just performed a magic trick. . . Many commented ?That looks nice!?. Yes, I thought. . . .Yes it did, I thought afterwards. . . . Enjoy your 2 minute noodles I mused to myself!

Later on, I demolished a load more Coronas while reading my latest Dan Brown book (Digital Fortress). I was glued to it and nearly finished it before having to drag myself to bed, as I had an early start for fishing! So, off to bed, tired and ready and great. . . Some dope was snoring like a warthog. Well he managed to keep me awake for too long before I finally got to sleep before I got woke up again by some girl getting ready and leaving at around 5am. . . . . Needless to say, when I did get up in the morning, it felt like I hadn?t slept!

After a quick check of the leaflet for fishing to confirm the start time of 8.30, I thought I would make some breakfast, however much to my horror, the start time was8am, Doh! No breakfast for me then as I quickly brushed my teeth and headed to the car!

I got down to the address I had been given and met the captain for the morning (Ian). He informed me that I was the only one out with him, so that was good in my book! I jumped on the boat that was hooked up to his truck and we headed straight down to the water, literally 2 minutes down the road. . . . . Before I knew it, we were in the water and away. . . . My own personal chartered fishing boat! I asked as to whether we would see any Whales or Dolphins, as this was the place for that and he said ?Whales, probably not, but we can go and see the Dolphins before we head out if you want?? I said ok and off we went. . . . Amongst 2 or 3 other boats, there they were. . . . There must have been about 30 of them. I have in the past had the pleasure of seeing dolphins before and even been fortunate to have swam with some, but I have never in my life seen so many together like that! Ian said, he had seen over 70 before. . . !

So, to the fishing. . . .  We fished a few places until we found a good spot. Ian knew what he was doing and had all the kit, Sat Nav, the works. . . . ! We caught a few in each spot, but then loads in the final place. . . Mainly Perch and Blue Cod. I seemed to like catching the Perch, bright orange things and I usually pulled in 2 at a time! They were supposedly really good for eating, so all the big stuff we caught we kept and Ian gutted and filleted for me. We had caught enough, so all the rest went back in. . . I was gonna have some nice tea later!

We were about to head in, but before we did, we mozied on over to another spot to check Ian?s Crayfish pots. . . However, they were pretty bare! Crayfish are a bit of a specialty around this area! When we got back to land, Ian asked how much of the fish a wanted, so I took enough for my tea and enough to offer some people back at the hostel if they wanted. Then I was off back to town for a spot of lunch before heading off on my next trip kayaking!

I had some lunch at a local café / restaurant uniquely named ?The Craypot Café?. But without thinking too much I ordered some fish. . . . It was however extremely nice! Hmmmm yum yum!

1pm came round and before I fell asleep on the stoney beach I got up and went to the meeting point for the kayaking. . . . The lady said it was just going to be me. . . . Well there?s a thing I thought, it turned out however though that there was one other guy. A French dude doing a day kayaking school thingy!

We got kitted out and did the usual before getting out into the water. I was sort of hoping it wasn?t going to be too tough, as my arms and shoulders were pumped from pulling all them fish in. . . . It turned out to be pretty cool!

We mozied on out into the ocean and towards the previously mention seal colony. We got there and went around the rocks and in and around the place. It was really nice, I shared a kayak with the guide, while Pat was on his own doing his training as we went along! I had a good chat with the guide about all sorts of things including recommendations on where to go, etc. The weather was absolutely fantastic all day and really helped with the beautiful views of the mountains in the background!

We got back to land and I got dropped off in town and there was only one place I was heading. . . . For my well earned pint of Guinness. With my ready to finish book in hand, before I knew it, I was drinking the black nectar in the pub garden, catching the last sun rays and finishing my book! The Guinness was good and the book was not bad too. . . . Bring on the next one (Deception point ? Xanthe. . . . Can I swop this one for that one please?!?!)

So after that and a quick stop off at the shop for some essentials for my fish meal, I was back at the hostel and chillin with a few beers, chatting to some of the people I had met the previous day! Later on, it was time to cook. . . . Yes, I upset some of the people there. . . . I whisked up and egg, mixed some bread crumbs and flour and slowly heated the pan for my fish. . . I draped 3 good sized fish fillets through the whisked egg and then dabbed them in the breadcrumb mix. . . . I pan fried them in some butter and served them on a bed of rice with a bit of homemade cheese sauce. . . . . Yum yum. . . . I am salivating just thinking about it now and I ate it about 2 hours ago! The rest I shall leave for the Japanese lady for tomorrow. She seemed very pleased with her gift!

So that?s me for know. Tomorrow I am off back to Christchurch for the evening and back staying with Jade. She has some friends coming back to the city, so I think there is a bit of a night out planned. . . Oh yeah, nearly forgot. . .  On the way back to Christchurch, I have planned to break up the journey by doing a bit of Quad biking. . . . I can?t wait. . . !

Then on Sunday, both me and Jade are taking off for a few nights, south of Christchurch. . . . Not sure where to yet, but I have a few ideas! Will let you know how we got on. . . . I am hoping for a bit more rafting to be honest, something a bit more scary would be good!