After our detour to Wellington for the rugby, we set about taking up in the South island where we had left off: Queenstown. We arrived back late in the evening after our 400 mile journey from Picton and the north of the island, near the ferry crossing to Wellington.

Through no skill on our part, we had luckily timed our visit to Queenstown to coincide with the start of the ski season; so we had booked the following day on the slopes of Coronet Peak, overlooking the city. Although the day started badly, with us taking the wrong camera (so we won't been able to post the skiing pictures on the web until we find the right cable), we managed to pick up all our rental equipment without a problem and jump on the ski shuttle. Rosa even managed to find some trousers that fitted her vertically-challenged legs, which makes a change.

Being only the third day of the new season, there was plenty of snow around, along with plenty of ice underneath. This didn't seem to hamper Rosa's skills, however, as she was soon cruising around making it seem like she'd never been off the ice since her first and only lesson ten years ago, apparently. 'Are you sure you've only been skiing the once?' the instructor kept asking her.

With Rosa now the newly crowned 'Top Gun' of the class, I was feeling the pressure to keep up, so I decided to spend most of the lunch break on the practice slope, while she toasted her success in the restaurant. Our second lesson then started in the afternoon and although I quickly realised that she was still light years ahead, I was pleased to find that I could now do that cool stopping technique that the professionals always use. Mission accomplished.

We then finished the day with the instructor lavishing more praise on Rosa's technique, before we both started to get a bit cocky and decided to take on the next slope, 'The Big Easy'. Big mistake! Although, predictably, Rosa tackled it fairly well, my shaky technique was embarrassingly found on the harsh, icy beast. After easing down to the bottom, Rosa then had to wait five minutes or so before I appeared, looking very sheepish and knackered, but unharmed, after about five minor falls. I'll have to wait for the next time to repair my injured pride.

Queenstown is also the adventure capital of New Zealand and, pretty much, the world. With skydives, bungy jumps, canyon swinging, white water rafting and many others on offer, it's the busiest place in the country and also the best for backpackers like us. It's a cracking city with loads of stuff going on and it also has the added bonus of being overlooked by The Remarkables mountain range and being situated right on a huge lake. Easily the best place we've been to in NZ, and that takes some doing.

Kev