G'day folks!

We're finally in New Zealand! We arrived in Christchurch at 11 at night, and had to meet the Kiwi Experience bus at 7.45 the next morning. Suffice to say, we were quite tired after!

Day 1 was Christchurch to Kaikoura. On the way to Kaikoura we stopped to see a seal colony. I booked a trip to go swimming with the seals at kaikoura, but that was cancelled due to weather (bummer, really wanted to do that). Nevermind, we'll be back in a week or so, so I'll do it then. We stayed at a different hostel to most folk, which was a blessing. It was such a nice wee quiet hostel with cracking views. As we were really tired, we just sat and watched DVD's and chatted to some of the other people in the hostel.

Day 2 was Kaikoura to Nelson. We had to go to Picton first so people could get the ferry to Wellington and other people could join us. On the way to Nelson we stopped at a Winery called Prenzel. We got a wee taste of some of the wines, some vinaigrettes, some olive oils and all the liquers. I tried just about everything I could! I tried a honey flavour (very sweet!) and some shots of toffee apple flavour and god knows what else! In Nelson we stayed in a really nice hotel called the Prince Albert (now the Fern Lodge). We got a we beer tasting session there too! I really liked Macs Reserve if you are in the area and want to buy me a pint! We got a really nice Roast Meal and pudding for about 3 quid too! This was another chilled out evening. I managed to catch the last hour or 2 of Australia thumping England at Adelaide. Shane Warne Rocks!

Day 3 was Nelson to Westport. On the way there we stopped for food at a nice cafe. We had a Chicken, Cranberry and Brie pie each. That was really nice!!! Before Westport, we stopped at Hawks Crag. You'll see it on the photo's. In the old gold mining days, they had to cut into the hills to make roads. It's really cool. Then some of us got out and did an activity. I went to do Jet Boating. It was great fun, maybe a bit tame though. The jet boat can do 360 degree spins and go really fast. The driver went close to rocks and managed to get us all soaked! at night we went to Westport beach. We saw a few dolphins there and then had a barbeque. A lot of the guys got pretty pissed too!

Day 4 was Westport to Lake Mahinapua. We stopped off at Greymouth for 1.5 hours as we had to go shopping for our fancy dress copstumes. The theme was "what would make Eamons mum happy". This was because she had us all in for tea, coffee and cakes in the morning! As some of you may guess, I went as Mr.T (it was the easy option), and Merle as a Christmas tree. The weather was awful when we got there, but we got a massive steak dinner with venison too for about 3-4 quid. after ages gettign ready (no brown face paint, so red and green were mixed!). we got to the party. Almost everyone was dressed up. We all had a great time and got pretty drunk. I was without a doubt everyone's favourite. I must have posed for about 15-20 pictures. Even one of the locals said he'd beat up our tour guide if I didn't win!

Day 5 was Lake Mahinapua to Franz Josef. Guess what? I did win! I won a ticket to do a canyon swing at Queenstown. Check it out at www.canyonswing.co.nz . There isn't much to say about the journey here, but it's such a nice place. Last night we wandered around trying to find warmer clothes for me (supposed to have 3 layers on when up the glacier, but I only have 1 jumper). We also went for a walk to find the Gold mining tunnuls, but the road was too slippy and muddy so it was a bit dangerous. We were really tired, so we caught up on sleep.

Day 5. Today!!!! THis morning we had a bit of a lie in as we did the Heli Hike (everyone else did a full day one starting really early). We were whisked up the glacier in a helicopter which was great fun. If we had chosen the full day option, we would not have got as far up the glacier, so we got to see cleaner ice and more pristine ice formations. We were kitted out with boots, thich socks, crampons, a jacket, and hat + gloves (which I never used). They say 3 layers, but I was roasting! I wanted to take my jacket off, but Merle said I shouldn't. One lady fell on top of someone, another stood in an ice cold pool up to her knees, and she was only wearing shorts! We spent about 2 - 2.5 hours on the glacier. Merle found it a bit taxing, but I ended up getting annoyed at the slow pace (stupid old American woman not paying attention on where to go and wearing boots way to big). I was told we would get ice picks but we never. Every other group had them! I should get a bit of a refund! We got another lift down in the Helicopter and went back for lunch. Then we sat in the spa for a bit. That basically leads you to now. I've spent 2.5 hours updating the site as some of you were griping about lack of activity. I've been too busy having fun!!!!!!