Kia Ora. After Franz Josef we headed to Lake Wanakafor 3 nights. The weather was so nice there and it was a really cool place. We started off by both doing a skydive over the lakes and southern Alps, which was amazing! The rest of the time we were there was spent chilling by the lake, going for walks and had a fun night out in the bar below the hostel. Mike won a Nevis Arc voucher for Queenstown by doing a horizontal bung with a guy called Ross in the bar. It involved Mike running the length of the bar attached to a bungy to get a drink then run back and hand it to Ross to down it, and they did it in the fastest time! Perhaps Mike's cheating helped...before the other people went he spilt drinks 'accidentally' on the floor, which made a few competitors slip...and later complain, but nevertheless the victory stood!

After that, we went down to the party and activity centre, Queenstown which was so much fun. We both did the Nevis Arc, which is a swing that drops 110 metres into a canyon and swings through the whole valley...so class! Then Mike did the Nevis Bungy which is 134 metres high in a valley...see photos for evidence of both activities! Once again, the nightlife was fun and the weather was pretty nice.

We then got the bottom bus, which first headed to Dunedin, which was dreary, but the Cadburys factory tour kept us amused and full for a day. We also did a wildlife tour there (though we've since lost the pics, and so will have to pinch them off our friend who went too), where we got close to fur seals, sea lions, a blue penguin chick and yellow eyed penguins. Then we went a bit further round to see the only mainland albatross colony in the world, which was cool, and they were so huge.We were properly exhausted after the previous week, so it was good to catch up on some sleep in Dunedin and the next stop of Invercargill (where there was literally nothing else to do!).

We went on a 2 hour cruise in Milford Sound on the West Coast, which was beautiful, although the weather was pretty foggy and overcast, so the views weren't at their best. The drive was spectacular though, through Jurassic Park scenery! On the way we stopped at a tunnel, and saw the only alpine parrot in the world, called the Kea. They are apparently really intelligent birds who love shiny objects like cars, so they were jumping all over and pecking loads of cars wingmirrors and doors.

After that, we stopped in Queenstown for 2 more chill out days, and then caught the 8 hour bus ride back to Christchurch, where we've been for 3 nights now. We went on a bus ride up the coast to do some whale watching, but once we got there it got cancelled because of bad weather! Typical, and even more annoying after seeing the sunshine today! Nevermind, we're flying to Melbourne tomorrow afternoon, and are heading to the Australian Open men's tennis semi-finals the next day! They are in a massive heatwave at the moment, which is meant to last for 4 or 5 more days, and because it hit 40 degrees on court today they had to close the roof over! Uh oh! We'll let you know when we get there.

Speak soon, love Rose and Mike.xx