Ok so after all my talk about wanting to stick with the same people and liking the girls i had a bit of a change of plan. when i got to picton went and checked in at atlantis backpackers and they were looking for cleaners for free accommodation, internet n laundry, minimum of 2 weeks. i had a think bout it for a couple of hours and decided to take it. clean for 3 hours in the morning from 9-12- not too bad. so first day in picton got the cleaning job and had a wonder round. tiny little place but really beautiful. theres the harbour area and a couple of little beaches and then its surrounded by hills- really pituresque place. its got the feel of a place where grandparents would bring there grandkids. got a nice park and paddling pooljust on the foreshore. hostel also has free tea. coffee, dvds (got bout 280), use of indoor pool and in morning theres toast and spreads as well! pretty good really! unfortunately my first night didnt turn out so great and only ended up getting about 4 hours sleep cos had an upset tummy and i had to get up ithe next morning to clean! ended up doing the laundry the next day with vinco (girl from tai wan). vinco's really sweet and will be good to work with. decided if i was going to be here for 2 weeks then i might as well stay for a month and get a job to earn some money. got a job at slip inn, cafe/restaurant. will be waitressing, serving behind the bar etc. Went for a walk round to bobs bay, its a little bay that takes about 40mins to get to. really nice and peaceful round there but the sand flies still get you, the little pests! :) I was on laundry again the next day but also had to clean the bathroom of a flat and to start with didnt ave a clue what i was doing as mum and dad will vouch for :) then was texting mum and dad in the afternoon, bout 2am uk time and they were both texting me on their own phones. i could just picture them both sat up in bed with their glasses on both playing with their phones- it was a real comedy sketch, still makes me giggle now!! Lol! Bless tweedle dum and tweedle dee! after that bit of entertainment i decided to go for a swim in the sea, unfortunately it wasnt quite what i expected. Saw Tyler (Canada) down at the beach, guy staying in the hostel, and we ventured out but then something bumped against my arm and it was a dead jeelyfish and then i looked around and we were just surrounded by dead jellyfish!! there were hundreds!! i got out to the little platform as quick as i could- not sure if everone knows but jellyfish are the only things that get me all nervous! stood on the platform and they were everywhere around!! tyler said i should pick one up so i touched one and then went to scoop one up but just as i did that tyler grabbed my leg and made me jump and i did a really girlie pathetic scream! made him laugh anyway :) managed to swim back to shore bumping into them all the way back! afetr that frightening experience i had to get ready for my first day at work. it went ok i just cleared tables and took food out. when i got back to the hostel 20 bikers had turned up, my dorm holds 28 so was just dominated by them. the bikers belong to a group from the north island called filthy few, really nice set of guys. two of the bigger maori guys persuaded me to try something called kina- it was disgusting- i was nearly sick! found out its guts from some kind of sea egg- never again, still makes me cringethinking about it-awful, euck!! me, vinco and christine (germany) ended up going irich bar and 3 of the bikers ended up there as well- kane, bungles and Jason, had a real good laugh but woke up the next morning with a nice headache. the bikers left the nexy day and they left me a load of breakfast stuff- 3 loafs bread, pack of crumpets, big box of weetabix, milk and cornm flakes- luckily no kina :)

so been here another couple of days now more cleaning and working in the cafe. now been doing the till, taking orders, working the bar and making desserts, so can do everthing except use the scary looking coffee machine and its always too busy for anyone to show me how to use it. Had a night out after work with Jackie, who works at Slip inn, shes really nice, really like her, and her bf JD and some of his mates, was a good night went to irish and then mikey's. also met 2 people who work in le cafe, harmonie and jean, theyre good fun.

Sue and Paul phoned on the day they were leaving so that was really good to hear their voices again. Mike (the guy i met in rotorua) phoned as well and were going to meet up in christchurch and then go on a road trip for a couple of weeks which sould be really cool, really get to see the off the beaten track new zealand then :)

the filthy few came back- really like boxer kane and jason, really nice. me christine, sylvie (germany) and vinco went to the pub and jason and mick, one of their supporters came with us. had a few and then went back to hostel i sat out and talked to jason for a bit while he was on bike watching duty cos we dint have secure parking for them. tghe bikers were catching the early ferry so got up at 4 and very kindly woke me up as well!said bye to othe guys and know where to find them if i fancy droppng in on them when im back up in the north island.

im finding it quite funny having shared bathrooms cos walked in there once and there was 2 guys in cubicles next to each other chatting away while they were having number 2's and then one time i was in there and a guy was just wakling out of the toilet with a magazine, i knew guys did that sort of thing but its quite funny to witness! :) really enjoy working at the hostel cos got a good group of cleaners and rachel's (manager) good fun and can have a good chat with her while yuor working.

got some new cleaners in matt (irish) have a good laugh together, ck (scot) and sophie (scot). sylvia was leaving so we went out to a tai restaurant before she went there was me, rach, nina (rach's gf, german), vinco, christine, ck and sophie and sylvia obviously :) then me christine, and vinco took sylvia to airport and we said our goodbyes.

Me and carl (eng, staying at atlantis, also born on crimbo day) did the snouts head walk today, took us about 4 hours with a half hour stop at one of the view points, nice walk but quite hilly so i was shattered :) on the way back the ferry was going out and there was a dolphin jumping and playing at the front of it- first dolphin sighting in nz :) me n matt went out after that and saw jd and his mates again so we had a good night with them, also saw herminie and jean, think theyre always out! :)

me matt, carl, julien (french) and julien (french) went to have a game of crazy golf. julien and jullien were just staying at atlnatis for a couple of nights whiule there van was getting repaired. was a good game but i came last and carl only beat me by one, couldnt believe it!

so one night i was working at slip inn and went out to clear a table and looked at one of the blokes and thought i recognise you from somewhere but didnt say anything and then as i was walking back in i realised it was craig one of the judges from strictly come dancing, he'd be over here filming the nz version of it! so that was my celebrity name drop for the trip :) it was jackie's last day at work today so we went out for a couple of drinks and met up with jd, cole and jessie. just a pretty quiet nigt for us girlsthe lads were already pretty drunk by the time we got there, lol!

i got a full days kayaking booked , so got the boat over to portage bay and then kayaked around the kenepuru sounds. was quite windy which kept it interesting but also meant we were limited as to where we could go because we had a couple that werent as strong with the paddling. we made the most of it though- there was some quite choppy parts and there was an area where small waves were forming so me and amy, my partner, did some surfing which was good fun. it was really beautiful to be out there cos was just us. no boats anywhere else around , really beautiful scenery and just the odd house dotted around which only had boat access.

i met a guy called alan and we ended up doing a 25min scenic trip over kenepuryu sounds and queen charlotte sounds. was amazing up there and being ble to see the 2 sounds running next to each other was great, also saw quite a bit of the queen charlotte trek that im going to be walking and loks pretty tough in places. and then the best part of the ride was when the pilot actually let me fly the plane! wow!! it was brilliant , bit windy and could feel that bashing us around a little so had to keep adjusting to keep us on a straight line but it was brilliant- i actually flew a plane!! it was one of those little ones that take off and land in the sea, really amazing!

im going to be coming back to work at atlantis for the month of may and will be getting a free dive course while im there as part of the deal so that sould be good, slip inn thinks they'll have work for me as well!Matts said hes going to do the queen charlotte trek with me as well so that'll be good to have some company.

time's nearly coming to an end ain picton and iv'e really enjoyed it though i'm ready to get back out on the road and get travelling again. its been long nights at slip inn lately, 4- close and thatrs after 3 hours of cleaning in the morning as well! henry the kitchen assistant is a good laugh and he keeps me going, he's 16 and is thinking of doing an apprentership there but will prob do mechanics apprentership because it pays mre :) he's a cheeky litle guy and very tickerlish as well, lol! really enjoy working with shaz, shes a real good worker, like a little energiser bunny and we can have a good chat as well. helen and brent are really nice the 2 managers iv worked with. bob one of the chefs is good fun with a kind of put on moody streak as well, him and henry make a good team and theyre my favourite kitchen staff to work with- may be cos iv'e worked with them the most and no them better. jennas really sweet and then danielle, manager is really down to earth , only worked with her a couple of times in my last couple of days but think i'd really et on with her.

2 older gents Peter and Carl, who were staying in one of the flats are back today, they stayed for a few nights and then went to north island before coming back. They came and said hi to me in the restauranr and gave me a hug, real sweet guys. always good to have familiar faces around and to say hi to :)

Chris cooked me and Rach lunch today- he's leaving in a couple of days, been here 6 mths in toal! Couple of new cleaners today Lorraine (Irish) and Derek (US) cos Vinco and Christine are leaving. It will be wierd without them and Chris. Learnt 2 words of chinese from Vinco- 'Nihow'- hello and 'Shayshay'- thankyou, pretty sure thats not how you spell them but its how yuo pronounce them. Cleaned the kitchen with chris today and then we took the recycling up to the refuse point and then i drove the van from there to a lookout! lol, first time id driven in about a year and a half and it was an automatic as well which is really wierd. keeping wanting to press my clutch in when im coming to a stop and when im starting up again, the brakes on it were really sharp as well, not sure how safe chris felt, lol! Just in caseanyones unsure they drive on the left side here as well so was ok with that :)

Ended up in the irish bar today after work seeing as it was paddys day. only had a few before closing time but was a nice night. Rach, Nina, Matt, Derek, Jackie, JD and Cole, as well as some of the other locals I've chatted to a few times, were all there so knew quite a few people, which was good.

Had a pretty crap day today, just really tired and cant wait to stop working and start travelling again. its been 5 weeks of cleaning in the morning and waitressing in the evenings, found it quite tiring.

Last night tonight before i do the queen charlotte trek and Peter came and gave me a going away present cos i wont be seeing him again. he's a really nice guy and its been great having him and carl here, they brighten up my day in the morning and then its great having them to wave to when they wonder past slip inn on an evening, when i come back to picton i'll miss not having those two in the flat. last night working with hery bob and helen and gave them all hugs at the end of the night, hopefully they'all be here when i come back up in may- its not that far away!

Me and Matt got up at 6.30 today to start the queen charlotte trek, Rach gave us her tent to borrow though she did warn us that they've not had it out for a few years- should be interesting :) she also told us that cos its easter weekend its actually the busiest weekend on the trek, didnt like the sound of that cos didnt want lots of people around all the time. set off on the boat and had 2 cupas on the way theway to ships cove-the start point. the sounds are so gorgeous so just sat back and enjoyed the views, text mum and dad as well on the way out and then lost signal so sorry about that :) On 16th Jan 1770, the Endeavour, under the command of Lt James Cook, dropped anchor in the bay and named it ships cove. this was the 1st of several visits by ships under the command of Cook on his 3 voyages. the visitors spent 168 days there over 7 years and cook spent more time there than anywhere else in nz. it was at ships cove that the 1st sustained contact between Maori and European took place.- did i sound smart with all that, it was of course just copied off a info board :) but would like to point out at this point that Mr James Cook as in fact a Yorshire man!! :) We did an extra 30 min walk to a waterfall where4 cook's men used to get washed and then we set off on the trek and there was sme serious up hill climbing at the start!! finally got up to a lookout point and like everything else i've done so far it was well worth the effort! also met my first cheeky little bird, looks a bit like a kiwi bird but theyre not and to start with i thought they were cute but later you find out that they are well aware of us walkers and they know we carry food so they just come to us for feeding and then if you dont ofer it to them if they see an open bag they dont mind having a little nosy inside to see what they can find! :) cheeky little things! When we got bout half way through the first days walk we started passing a few houses, some really nice ones and then some pretty run down looking ones but they had amazing views so sure they're not really bothered what their house looks like from the outside! Finished the walk in furneaux today and got the boat across to pungs cove, missed out 12km of the track but none of the scenery cos we drove around it. Did a total of 15km on our first day- about 9 miles so we decided we had earnt a jucazzi in the hotels pool, then headed back to our tent. good first day, beautiful walk. the hole in my trainers is now bigger and my sock was filthy but theyre still in one piece and we'll see how they hold up tomorrow :)

Well last night wasn't the comfyest night sleep, we didnt have any role up mats or anything so was basically sleeping on the ground, which was just hard mud! we had a group of young people near us that were there for the easter weekend and bearing in mind i survived off tuna sandwiches and fruit they were asking who wanted blt's and then who wanted ice cream and easter eggs- it was a little bit of torture and made me and matt very jealous! walked to the hotel to use the toilets and then set off, when we got to the entrance i said to matt you sure this is the right way cos it only had signs for homestays, his reply was 'aye', but then we kind of got to a dead end with just another track leading in the direction we had copme from. decided to take that which took us to a homestay so we asked directions and sure enough it was the wrong way. we should have gone uphill from the campsite but luckily we could head up the homestays drive for 20mins and then rejoin the track at the top. lesson learnt- never trust boys and directions :) absolutely amazing views today but really hard work, lots of steep hills and it was hard walking down them as well- tough on the knees, not much flat till near the end. went at a bit faster pace today which was better think its harder to walk slower sometimes. the photos really just dont do the views justice, it was just amazing! also tried to take photos of how steep some of the hills were but they didnt show the true gradient either-they were really steep! finally reached portage and went straight to the cafe for a cupa, which turned into 2 big pots-had been gagging for one all day!i watched the ricket while i had my tea n matt fell asleep, lol. we went and put our tent up in cowshed bay- 10min walk, n then came back round for a giant game of chess, which i lost!matt decided to combine the last 2 days into 1 which was fine by me cos all though i enjoyed the company would also like a bit of time to myself after being in a 28bed dorm and will be back on the kiwi bus in a couple of days. putting the tent up by myself will be a good challenge though. 2nd day was 23.7km, 3rd will be 8km and then 4th 13km so the last 2 days are pretty easy.

Decided to splash out this morning and went and had a continental breakfast at the hotel and couple of cupas and then went and had a cofee while i watched the cricket. not that i ever drink coffee-had a flat white- but i think it was burnt so didnt really enjoy it. and dont worry dad that was a complete one off, theyre all about their coffees over here. finally set off about 2pm and it had turned into a gorgeous day, it was cloudy in morning. the 2nd was supposed to be the best according to someone we met on the 1st day but today bet it- it was just amazing. couldnt believe the views, it was jst like what you see on the tv but real!and a few times the views were 360. when i got close to the top of one of the hills i heard something pretty big rustling in the bushes so i stopped and tried to see what it was then i heard something on my other side so i turned round and could just see 4 legs and what looked like a dogs body but my imagination got the better of me and i didnt stay for very long cos i decided it was a pack of wild dogs that probably wanted to eat me! lol! I'm sure that of course wasn't the case but from first mpression it did look like the body of a black and brown dog. anyway i stopped at the top of one of the hills-or mountains as i'd like to call them cos they were a tough climb up- and did a bit of sunbathing looing out over the awsome view. then carried on and noticed my battery on my camera only had one bar left- i can't help but take lots of photos of the scenery , boring as they probably are to look at for everyone else it was all just so amazing! i was hoping there would be someway i could harge my camera on the campsite but the others had just ben fields with a portaloo and sink, didnt even have drinking water, so wasnt holding my breath!but mistletoe bay campsite is amazing! its a gorgeous little bay thats just got the campsite and some huts but then its got a couple of showers with hot water, drinking water, sinks with mirrors, a little cooking area and flat proper camping areas with good grass. and the best thing -it had a plug socket so i could charge my camera-yeay! :) had my 1st shower for 3 days- know it sounds scruffy but had no choice on that one. mistletoe bay would eb a great place to get away for the weekend, matt really missed out on this one, lol. and i put the tent up fine on my own, did it pretty quick as well, was impressed :)

Got up at 8.15 and took the tent down pretty quick as well. did the last 13km of the walk in 3hours- nice to finish. there were lots of shaded areas today which was good because it was a hot day and i was tired. when i reached anakiwa, cougar line had a cafe drawn on the map so i decided to have a walk around to it for a nice cupa to celebrate, was about 15mins each way with a small hill in the middle and when i got to the cafe there was a sign saying that it had now permanently closed!! had to fight to stop my legs just collapsing at that point! i walked back to the end of the track and where the boat picks up and a mobile cafe had just opened up there- which made much more sense but just decided to sleep on the grass instead- had a few hours before the boat came. When got back had a couple of hours before we were going to Rach and Nina's for a bbq so just got some washing done and got ready. Me, matt, lorraine, rach, nina and mabel the dog at bbq :) really good, had food and played with dog, matt and lorraine got there hair cut by nina and then we played cranium which is a good fun game, think that could be one for Ascrofts, Wilsons and Halls to try out!