Went and got my wage slip (yeay) and then went and rejoined the kiwi bus!! stopped off at a winery for a couple of tasters and then headed on to Nelson! the bus journey was amazing!! green hills all around, gorgeous streams and blue sky. Absolutely gorgeous place! got chatting to Ian (Eng) and Stefano (Eng/ dads Italian) on the bus and then arrived at Fern lodge in Nelson. Nice hostel, in my room was; Steph (S.African) who I met from the bus, Thomas (Danish) and Nickolj (Danish) who were also going to be joining the bus tomorrow. Me and Steph went down to Jens Hansen- the jewellery shop where 'the' ring for lord of the rings was made! Then had a walk up to the centre of New Zealand and of course its at the top of a hill so there was gorgeous views of Nelson. When we got back to the hostel me, Steph, Steph and Ian had a roast and banana and choc pudding for $12.50. the roast was nice but small, the pudding was delicious! was still pretty tired from the trek and bbq so went up to bed early. Nelson itself seems a pretty nice place, quite a few shops and a good atmosphere. Its known as the sunniest place in NZ and it didnt disappoint, gorgeous day!

gorgeous scenery again as we travelled. we stopped at nelson lakes which was really beautiful,then stopped for a 20min senic walk which was good but the Indiana Jones walk in the north island was better. The driver Steve has been making me and Steph laugh with his singing and dancing while he's driving. The 2 Danish boys are really nice and are in NZ more for the tramping (walking) than the drinking which is good and a little rare on the kiwi bus :) Me and Steph are getting on well- shes travelled loads and is telling me about all the places which is wanting me to go more but all in time, lol! Got into Westport and stopped at Trip inn, proper bed, really soft mattress, really good sleep! but as soon as we got to the hostel we just dumped our stuff and went back out for the bus to take us to buller adventures for a jet boat ride! just cruised up the buller river, it was really shallow at some points in the river but apparently the boat can run on just 6inches of water which is pretty impressive! Theres a place in the rock called Hawks Crag where the rock actually had to be carved out to make the road. A couple of times the river has actuallu flooded up to this point, 12m, and closed the road and one of these occasions the river actually picked up 4 pubs and carried them away, must have been thirsty :) when we got up to Hwks Crag on the boat we turned round and thats when the fun started. This jet boat has 800 horse power with 2 chevy engines in it. We started to do 360 spins and sharp turns and was driving really close to the rocks which wsa really cool! so yeah the jet boat was good fun but i was a little disappointed, thought it might turn a little faster in the spins but think thats just me wanting some real adrenaline, lol! when we got back we were starving and me and steph made a gorgeous steak salad, yum yum! me steph, stuart (eng) and Martin (eng) went t the only pub in westport that looked like it had a bit of life to it. when we walked in we got asked if we were old enough to drink we siad yes then the barmaid said you on the kiwi bus we said yes and that was it we got served, verbal proof is good enough for the sleepy town of westport :) just had one drink and a few games of pool and then went back to the hostel for a great nights sleep :)

Left westport and stopped at cape foul wind, it was an hour walk which ended near a seal colony and there were a few little cubs hopping around- they were all really cute and a great way to start the day. Walked the truman track, bout 15mins down. It's where the first europeans (dutchman Abel Tasmain) spotted New Zealand for the first time. Its just on the outskirts of a rainforest, really beautiful sight for him to spot first! We stopped at pancake rocks for lunch and then stopped in greymouth to buy costumes for the fancy dress party that night at the poo pub. Kane, our driver, keeps talking about Les the guy that runs the pub- he's 82 and sounds like a real character and e's pretty straight up so should be an interesting night. On our way to the poo pub we went over some bridges that are single lane bridges and both cars and trains share the lane, crazy stuff, lol! got to poo pub and went down to beach and threw rugby ball around then went back and started working on the costumes for the night. Had group dinner which ws delicious- steak, pasta, tatys, bread, corn on the cob, mmmmm! then me and a few others volunteered to wash up and get the $10 back for the meal and a bottle of wine to share betweeen 2- thought it was a pretty good deal- only took us about 20mins. the theme for the party was bin liners so basically you had to wear bin liners and could turn them into whatever you could. i decided to go as space, just stuck stars and glow up planets on the bin back and then wore it. thought it wass a pretty original idea but didnt look that great in the end. Steph made a suit, Stuart was a knight, Thomas- hula dancer, Nickolj suit as well, with excellent trousers and then martin was a zebra! lol, really funny, the majority of the people off both buses put quite a bit of effort into the costumes and there was some really good ones!2 of the girls made a horse and that one, looked really good but i also liked 2 of the candian girls (Sydney and lindsay) who went as trolls, the hair was quality! had a really good night! the pub had photos from all the kiwi buses that had been through so we had a group photo near the end of the night as well!

Headed to Franz Jsef the next day, pretty tired and couldnt get to sleep on the bus but there were some really hung over people so I wsant going to complain :) the kitchen at the hostel is pretty crap and hardly any cooking things or cutlery so have to wait for other people to finish eating which is a pain. First night we all just chilled out and chatted, well Nickolj slept, that boy sleeps quite a lot!!

Got up early next day to do the full day hike- Steph was the last one to get all her stuff sorted and get n the bus but that didnt surprise us too much either :) when we got there me and the 4 guys got in the first group and steph stayed behind in one of the slower groups. we had to wakl through part of the rainforesst to get there and that turned out to be the hardest part- thought it was going to be really tough going but wasnt too bad. Was a really great day, Nickolj was so funny, him and Thomas got pick axes and Nickolj was throwing stones into this deep thin cravase then I turned round for a couple of seconds and the next thing there was this huge crash. Everyone turned round and Nickolj was stood there with a grin on his face, he'd just been hacking away at some of the ice and a huge came away and fell down, apparently the groups behind heard it as well, lol, so funny! was easier than i thought to get used to walking with the crampons on , theyre brilliant, just would be very painful if you caught yuor own leg while you were walking!! When we got back we just had a real good laugh chatting and playing cards in the room, really enjoying travelling with this group.

Headed to Wanaka, awsome little place with mountains surrounding it that just dont look quite real! on the way there we stopped at lake matheison and that gives a great mirror image of mount cook. me, stuart and martin went for a walk round and then cooked dinner for the 6 of us. had a roast chicken and veg and it was pretty good :) then went out for a couple of drinks and then watched a film in stuart and martins room- they some how managed to get themselves a twin room with tv while me and steph , last ones off the bus because looking for stephs camera, ended up getting split up with all new people, bad thing wsa we realised steph had left her camera in franz!

Next stop was queenstown! Adventure capital of NZ! :) ! We stopped at puzzple wrld first which was pretty good but a little frustrating- loads of little tricky puzzles to try and figure out! The next stop was the kawara bridge bungy! 43m, the first commercial bungy to be set up anywhere. I decided to do this one backwards and get dunked into the river as well! Pretty awsome feeling jumping backwards, really like your falling and yuo've got no idea where the ground is!! and then the water finally hit! really enjoyed the bridge, great fun!! We then got dropped off in queenstown, me, martin and stuart went for a wonder round and its smaller than i thought it would be but seems like a pretty cool little town. I then left the others and went to do the ledge bungy- 47m jump but based 400m above queenstown! got the gondola up the hill and boy it was high actallu twinged my nerves a little :) this bungy was a bit different because you weren't tied by the ankles but round the waist so on this one you did a little run up. i decided to add a little extra and ran off and did a front flip, lol! it was amazing! and really love the photo where im mid flip and you can just see the whole of queenstown below me and the lake and mountains-think its awsome!! really great! Was now evening so me and steph grabbed a quick slice of pizza and then went and got ready for a night out! Me, Steph, Martin and Stuart all started in base bar where there was karaoke going on- dont worry it didnt deafen anyone with my singing :) then wondered around in the cold to find a place called winnies, the cold was worth it cos it was a nice little pub where we chilled out on some settee's. then went to world bar- the only place so far in new zealand that i think you could actually class as a night club! Met up with the 2 drivers in there- kane and toddy- and a few others from the bus- Jack (Eng), Mikel (Dane), Jan (Dane), Adam (Eng) and Miriam (Eng). Had a good night, and did a bit of dancing as well :)

Next day it was time to attempt the big one!! The Nevis- 134m bungy!!Thomas and Nickolj had done it earlier on in the morning and had come back buzzng! Me, Staurt and Martin set off to do it and there was others from our bus doing it at the same time as well- Annie (US), Mikel, Jan and Adam. The drive up to the nevis is steep and your just in a mini bus that feels like it could just roll off the side at any minute! The belly does a little flip when you actually get there and see the height and they tell you that you'll fall to 10m above the river!! you get a little cable car thing across to the pod, starting with the heaviest first and you also jump in weight order so i was 3rd from last and stood watching everyone else for ages! Martin and Stuart were really buzzing after their jump so was really looking forward to mine. You sit in a chair while they strap you all in and then yuo get out and shuffle your way to the edge knowing that in just a few seconds you'll be falling 134m! i got to the edge posed for a quick photo and then the guy was already counting down and i jumped! really amazing feeling, just seeing the ground coming towards you and then you can feel the tesion in the bungy and after what seems like quite a while you start to come back up. the first bounce seems to take forever and you start to think that on the next bounce you have to pull a cord to release your feet and turn you the right way up. i didnt quite pull hard enough on my first attempt so give it a good yank and my feet came loose and i swung around the right way! then a magnet thiing gets lowered down the cord and clungs onto an attachement just above your head- which made me jump! lol! and then it starts to pull you up and then you finally get dragged back into the pod! great fun!! when you get back onto soldid ground you get a free drink and hot dog which is always a bonus :) Thomas, Nickolj and Steph were leaving the next day so we were all planning to go out but unfortunatley Nickolj was poorly so couldnt make it, so he slept while the rest of us went out. Me, Stuart and Martin did a quiz first at the bar and i was a really contributing member of the team answering all of 0 questions! whoops!- i was just giving the boys chance to show off the knowledge, i obviously knew all the answers really :) We met up with Adam and Miriam in the bar and they joined us as well/ Also saw J- one of the cleaners from Picton, and told him that it was my last night in a couple of days so he would have to come for a drink then. We went to winnies again, played some pool and then went to buffalo bar for more pool :) We went to the world bar again but didnt stop very late.

The next morning i got up at 7 to head to milford sound and said bye to the boys and steph before i went. I was really tired and slept on and off for a couple of hours until we got to Te Anua and then after that i staed awake to admire the views. We had a few photo stops and the place was amazing with mountains all around, think it would be even more amazing when its raining becuase then apparently thousands of waterfalls appear from everywhere. When we got to the sound itself we went out on a 2 hour boat cruise, out to the tasmain sea. we then stopped at an underwater observatory and got to see some fish and coral. overall it was a really great day with just amazing scenery, which of course the camera just doesnt do justice! So we were on our way back to queenstown and just 20mins away when ourbus started slowing down adn then our driver pulled up on the sde of the road and told us we'd run out of petrol! had been a really long day but everyone took it well and a nice bus was out to us in about half hour and when i got back to the hostel went pretty much straight to sleep.

Had a bit of a lie in today- until 10 and it was so goood :) just pretty much chilled out this morning andthen in the afternoon went mad dog river boarding!! Wicked!! had a really great afternoon- went with stuart and martin and could see martin was nervous about it because he's got a bad ankle. Learnt the hand signals and then had a practice in an eddy, was wierd getting used to flippers- didn't feel quite right. As soon as we started going down the river completely forgot how wierd it felt. First 800m had the biggest rapids and the only bad bit was at this point there was a big group of us altogether and everyone ended on top of each other and not being able to kick properly because they were just kicking someone else. at one point i was on the outside and was just getting knocked closer and closer to the rocks by everyone else so the guide came round and dragged me away and after that i avoided any big group :) there was then a rapid called maneater and it was really cool becauseyou couldnt see it coming and then all of a sudden the water dropped and you had this huge wave of water in front of you- so cool! then went through what is known as the rollercoaster which is loads of rapids all after each other- great fun . then just pretty much chilled out and floated down the river but kept moving around so didnt get cold. Then got pulled on the back of a jet ski which was awsome. me and stuart went together and the driver tries to ditch you at the end but we managed to cling on! :) we then did a couple of rock jumps, with the highest being 12m, wasnt too bad and getting a real liking for jumping off of things, lol! Went down a water slide and then had a go on a rope swing as well, just jump off a platform, swing out adn then jump off at the highest point into the river. all great fun, enjoyed the nice warm showers after too! Amazing afternoon!! then went and got ready for my last night out in queenstown. Saw J outside the hostel and he came for a few with us in the bar. Me, Stuart, Martin, Adam, Miriam, Valter (dutch)and zach (us) then moved onto the red rock where i got a free tui t.shirt- fr having 6 jugs, but dont worry that was between all of us not just me :) had a real good laugh- went round to buffalo bar after that and then went to ferbeger - great burgers! cant go to queenstown without trying one!

Next day got up at 7 to get the green bus again, left Martin and Stuart in queenstown but Jan, Mickel, Adam and Miriam were on y bus. Passed some really gorgeous lakes today and had all mountains in background, scenery is just amazing everywhere, such an amazing country! Me, Jan, Mickel and Adam were going white water rafting so we got dropped off in geraldine and then got took to rangitata rafts lodge and spent the night there. Amazing little place really enjoyed spending time there. there were bunk beds with 3 bunks and even though the middles ones werent taken me and Jan decided to sleep right on the top :) met another girol called amy off the kiwi bus and we all played cards and found out that Jan's pretty good at card counting- he kicked our butts!

Go up at 7, had breakfast and then went rafting!our raft guide was jason. amy was really nervous and on this river you have the option to walk around the grade 5's and she was thinking about doing that. we got on the river and had a chat and learnt everything we needed as we floated down the first part. the rapids were good fun and we all had a good laugh and we talked amy into doing the grade 5's which she was pleased she did after. the river was freezing cos it was a cold day and raining a bit but that didnt stop the majority of us jumping in the river for a swim when we got the chance. we then did a couple of rock jumps, a 4m to test us and then a 10m one which was pretty good. absolutely freezing after all that so jumped in the warm showers as fast as possible :) then went to get food- which we were told was going to be a bbq but ended up being just rolls- we were all gutted!Mikel complained to jason about it and we got $10 knocked off our photos which wasnt bad but still a bbq would have been better :) Arrived in christchurch which does remind me of old england, really nice little place but also strangely reminded me a littleof hong kong. think its just the traffic lights and the fact that the first shop i saw was louis vitton! i got some bourbons and the boys got some beers and wegot ready to go out n then sat and drank and played some card drinking games, finally got out about 11ish. we ended up in a place called yellow cross. met up with one of my friends from exsportise- dean, really great to see him again. dean toold us there was a band on upstairs so we ended up spending the night in there. really good night and the last time i'll see mickel, jan and adam, they're really good laugh and have enjoyed my time with them!

The next morning was so funny! jan woke me up at 7.20 asking where Mickel was- he was stillin his bed fast asleep (they were supposed to be catching there bus at 7.20). Jan woke mickel and adam up and then ran downstairs to ask the driver to wait 5 mins for them, then they were all rushing around frantically packing, i got 3 hurried hugs and then they were gone :) I of course went back to sleep and spent the rest of the morning just chilling out. Stuart and Martin were arriving in the afternoon and i'd seen a jazz service advertised for the cathedral that night so when they arrived i persuaded them to go. to start with the bioys were like- what the heck you dragged us to- but then they got into it and they secretly enjoyed it :) The jazz band were from the local college and were really good but the vocalist was amazing- really great voice, i enjoyed it, the service bit wasnt too bad either- didnt go on for too long! then we treated ourselves to an indian, which is right next door to the backpackers and was really good! The next morning i went to say bye to the 2 boys and told martin i'd meet up with them for his birthday in august, will be great to see them again! Went outside and met Mike he had his rents car that we would be travelling in for the next 2 weeks. He also had kelly- rents golden lab, they we were going to take out for the day. she was only a year old and really cute! We took kelly for a walk and then went to new brighton and me and mike had a walk along the pier and then went for something to eat. when we got back to the car, mike realised he didnt have the keys- he'd locked them inside!Lol, luckily he'd left the window open a little for kelly and he got a stick and managed to hook the keys on it and then pull them through the window :) then went and had a game of mini golf- mike kicked my butt and then went for a long walk in burwood plantation and managed to get ourselves a little lost but eventually found our way out- we knew the basic direction :) We then finally headed back to mike's rents and i met his mum lorraine and stepdad Trev.

next morning i met Nola, Mikes nan, we had a cupa and then we headed off to peel forest to stay with weka (one of mike's mates from polytech). weka's really cool, he's a raft guide at rangitata rafts so i'd met him a couple of days before. weka's gt a really sweet spot in the forest with a great view, all his flat mates are really nice as well and we just spent the night chatting and watching tv. weka cooked us a really nice meal and then we had our first night sleeping in the back of the 4x4...

pretty cold night and the air bed had gone down by the time mornin came but appart from that it wasn't too bad :) had breakfast and then set off south, stopped off at moraki boulders, pretty cool what mother nature can create! then landed in dunedin at mike's sisters, Justine, her husband is jake and josh is there 8month old - really cute, gorgeous eyes. really nice and friendly. jake's a dentist so mike went off and got his teeth done and i just chilled out in the house and thats where we stayed when mike got back.

decided to visit cadbury land today! went for a tour round the factory which was pretty interesting but the wrokers made me laugh cos they looked so bored! lol! we got a bag full of free choc and they had a choc waterfall. it wasnt really a waterfall tho, it was a a big tank of choc, apparently a tonne, being tipped out into another big tank. was pretty cool to see a tionne of choc tho! Then drove out to aramoana- where one of nz's biggest masacres took place, spent some time on the beech there and did rolls down the sand dunes :) , then headed round to the otago peninsula to see the albatross'. they're like seagulls but have huge wing spans n aren't evil :) then headed back to justine's and had my last bit of meat meat pizza, the next morning i was vegetarian!

Headed down throught the catlans today- really gorgeous area. first stopped at kaka point and drove the car onto the beach and had lunch there. then went to nugget point and walked out to the lighthouse there. there was a seal colony on the way out there and there were quite a few hanging round. then went to mcleans waterfall which i think was definatley a highlight of the day- really gorgeous, could have chilled out there for the rest of the day! the walk up to it should have taken about 20mins but about halfway up we decided to make it more interesting and went for a scramble up the river, really cool- love doing things like that! purpoise bay was our next stop and thats where we were going to camp for the night. there were supposed to yellow eyed penguins in the bay there so as soon as we got there we went straight to the look out point and luckily there were 2 penguins there just waddling around on the rocks, they were so cute, loved just watching them. we went and found a good spot to camp and then had my first offical veggie meal- rice and veg, retty nice actually and didnt mind not having meat at all.

We had a few drinks last night so woke up the next day with a bit of a headache but we set off pretty early and pulled onto another beech to have a cupa, really nice beech and the sea looked so tempting we decided to go for a swim, didnt stay in very long though because it was freezing, great cure for a hang over though :) after we got dry and warm we headed to the cathedral caves- caves were really highand sat in the back of them for a bit before heading back up through the forest to the car and setting off to invecargill. Just stopped there for lunch, the place seemed pretty dead but we only really drove through it so not really sure. we then had a long drive up to wanaka over the crown range road, through the mountains. it was dark when we got into wanaka but you could still see what an amazing place it was, so glad to be back there. we went and camped in waterfall creek right next to the lake- just amazing!

sat and played sudoku this morning while enjoying the view and havin a cupa. me and mike really getting into the sudoku now and are practically fighting for the book. after that we went to a place called have a shot where theres lots of different games. We played mini golf (best course i've played in nz so far) and i actually won for a change- think it'll probably the only time i do ever win at mini golf, lol! (and no thats not why it was the best course in nz! :) ) we athen played a game called carpool. its a game of pool with a bit of a difference, its on a 3x4.5m pitch and its played with croquet size balls an mallets. its really hard and can get quite frustrating. theres no 2 shot rules because its hard to hit your balles let alone pot them! mike won that and according to the bet we made that meant i had to make lunch. mum did tell me to warn mike about my cookin and i did but he decided to take the risk. i was going to make beans and egg on toast, but the beans were sticking to the pan and burning a little and the toast burnt. safe to say mike decided to cook the eggs to save us both from poisining! of course i did it all on purpoose so he'd never ask me to cook again! lol! that night we just watched tv and had a few bourbons.

We set off towards the west coast today. we stopped in haast and again drove onto a beach and had a cupa, love doing that, just love being beside the sea! then we continued up the west coast and when we got to fox glazier we stopped at the lookoput point and then went and had dinner in the town. i ordered a cheese and tom toastie, the first time the waitress came out with just mikes and said mine would be a few minutes, because she'd drop it on the floor. few minutes later she came out put mine down and it had chicken in, normally would have been fine but of course now i was a veggie, so 3rd time lucky i got my toastie :) we then continued driving up to one of mike's mates gofars (he lives on and managers a dairy farm just past moana, near greymouth). gofar had a roast cooking for us when we got there and it smelt so goodbut i just had my roast veggies, which gofar had cooked seperate so they werent cooked in animal fat, which i thought was sweet :) really liked gofar, he's fun guy. after we all got in his hot pool had a few drinks, really nice n relaxing.

got up at 5.30 so we could go and watch/ help/ annoy gofar while he was milking the cow. it was really cool to see how its all done. he actually let us have a go at hand milking, just a little squirt, theyre really tough and you've got to be quite rough with them. had a go at putting the sucky machine thing on one of the cows as well and then helpe move the cows in and out and sanitise them after. could tell the cows really knew gofar and trusted/ liked him. got quite a bit of cow poo over my jeans as well while i was there, lol! all part of the fun! had a nice warm shower after and got into some clean clothes. really makes me feel good about going veggi, and could see the cows were quite hapy being dairy cows, they have a good life and actuallu queue up themselves in the morning to get milked. we set off a few hours later after saying bye to gofar, we drove for a bit and then stopped at barrytown for a stroll on the beach and mike found a piece a green stone which he gave to mereally like the piece as well. next we headed to charleston and stopped there for a nap before heading on to murrayhow (just on the edge of the abel tasmain park). we pulled at a point overlooking the sea, had dinner and then slept there.

Unfortunately it was pretty cloudy and misty this morning so couldn't actually see anything but i'm sure there were gorgeous views there. we then headed west to the farewell spit, walked close to the base of the spit and then headed to fossil beach. there were supposed to be loads of diff species of birds around but it was drizzling and not very good weather so they were all in hiding. the fossils turned out to be shells in the rock, not really what i'd class as fossils, we then saw signs warning to stay away from the base of the cliff because tere was quick sand around. so of course mike headed straight to the base to see if he could find it, luckily he didnt :) we then started walking back to the acr and it started pouring it dow, got absolutely soaked! we then drove onto neslonand checked into a hostel. we treated ourselves to dinner at a pub and then stayed for a quiz, it wa a really goood quiz and really enjoyed it but unfortunately we came last! boo! lol!

Headed to kaikoura today and we saw loads of seals on the drive, they were everywhere! we then went into town to play some pool which regretablly mike won- i was guted! we finally also bought another sudoku book! after that we went to book the whale watching for the next morning at 9, I was really excited about it and really looking forward to it! we drove out of kaikoura to find somewhere to camp and pulled into a picnic/ lookout place and while mike was geting the diner stuff out i realised that there was a seal lying in the grass just a couple of meters away, was so cool!

got up early the next morning to gho to the whae watching place, when we got there they weren't certain we were giopng to be able to go out because of the winds, we went and got a cupa in the acfe and then about 10mins later it came on the screen that the trip was cancelled! i was so disappointed! went to the desk and they were doubtful any other trips would go out that day because the winds would probably just get stronger. mike and a very disappointed me left and headed to hanmer springs. i'll get another chance to come back to kaikopura in a couple of weeks so will hopefully get to do it then but i'll be on my own then and would have liked to have been able to share the experience with someone i knew. when we got into hanmer springs we went and played mini golf and mike got his crown back , which he was happy about but now that meant there was pressure on me to get my pool crown back :) we booked into a hostel and sat and had a hot choc while watching george of the jungle. after that we went in search of a pool table! we couldnt find one anywhere so we went into the info centre and asked where we could find oneand she pointed us to a hotel down the road. nt only did i end up beating mike 6-4 at pool and regain my crown we had a really really nice dinner- well mine was just roast veggies but they were good! We then went and checked out the hot pools- which are why the township exists in the first place. It was a really nice set up and there were plenty of pools to choose from, think Mike was right in saying that these were better than the polynesian pools in rtorua. Mike randomly saw someone he used to do surf life saving with so chatted to him for a bit and then just went straight back to the hostel and we just chilled out for a bit. The next morning I woke up to find mike leaving the room and he just told me to go back to sleep amd he'd bring me a cupa in a bit. He woke me up later with a cupa as promised :) we went to a really nice little place for breakfast in hanmer and then headed back to christchurch. when we got back we stayed out for lunch and i had a really gorgeous veggie burrito and then we went and saw a movie after having a play in the arcades on the shooting games and poker machine. Then headedback to mike's rents and met trev's mum barbara.

The next morning we cleaned out the truck, said bye to trev who was off to a seminar and then had breackie with lorraine. mike and lorriane then drove me into town and dropped me off at base where we said our goodbyes and then they went straightto the airport to get mike's flight. really had a great couple of weeks travelling with mike and saw some brilliant and beautiful sights! met up with dean later that night for dinner at a mexican and then went for a game of pool, beat him 2-1 :) and then went back to his mates sam and sarahs to watch a film.

did nothing much today but me and matt, a guy in my room, went down to the bar at night to watch the happy hour host. he did a bit of juggling and magic with comedy mixed in. then he hosted the 'world championship of rock, paper, scissors'. it was actually pretty good but then after that went to bed.

Just chilled in the hostel today! :)

Actually got out today and watched the happy hour host doing a proper show in the square- was much better- he did some fire eating, juggling, walking on glass and sword swallowing with an automatic bread knife! i then went for a wonder round the market and then wondered down to a jade shop where the woman there drilled a hole in the piece of jade that mike gave me and put a cord through it to make it into a necklace, she only charged $2! went and explored the botanical gardens after that, really nice, pieceful place. then went back to the hostel, met a girl called hayley and arranged to meet at the bar later. met a guy called ross in the bar and he works in the film biz and i got all excited bout stunt work :) there was a live band on in thebar so we just relaxed there for the night and ended up playing cards with some others that were next to us.

Did nothing again through the day and then it was the 4 swedish guys in my room last night, so we all, as well as matt and a dutch guy in our room went down to the bar. was a good night and they're all really nice, pretty much all of us ended up playing in the rock paper scissor championship. i managed to get the furthest , getting through to the semi final :) afetr the bar shut we went to try and find somewhere else to drink but because it was anzac day everywhere was closed, except the casino! unfortunatley though the dutch guy was only 19 and you had to be 20 to get on so was a bit disappointed cos not been to a casino in nz yet!

Was my last night in christchurch tonight and also rugby night! was very excited, first rugby match in new zealand! met up with deano and 3 americans; sam, eric and mike. was a really good match- crusaders (christchurch) v the blus (Auckland), crusaders won 26-22! really enjoyed it and got a few mexican waves going as well :) when we got back we carried on drinking at the bar and there ended up being quite a big group of us so was a good night.