Next stop was Franz Joesph- home of the Glacier! You can climb it ! Its awesome! Decided the 3/4 day hike would be enough so after a night in the bar at the Rainforest Retreat- Monsoon Bar rightly named cos at this place i dont think the sun does shine. Anyway not to worry- got kitted up like an explorer and hiked on up the glacier. Suprinsing how much fun you can have on a glacier. The rain had slowly washed away all the steps we were sposed to walk up, so our guide Matt had to keep stopping to axe them out! Evidently there is alot of standing around and getting cold, it didnt matter we manged to entertain ourselves with a lot of singing and dancing and thinking of things related to ice- ice ice baby and ice bun my favourites! Are me and kate the only ones to have done the Macarana and Locomotion on a Glacier?

That evening was spent again in the warm bar,... and then next day- back on the bus!!!This time we arrived in Macarora...again..a bit like Barrytown there is not alot there. I think maybe 11 people live there and from what I can gather the only form of entertainment is Kareoke! So after not a lot of persuasion the boys where up doing some interesting versions songs im too young to remember... then it was our turn. Id like to think we were good. I dont think we were but if anything i think the dancing clenched it for us!

After all this moving around and jumping on and off buses we figured it was time for a rest. And what could be better than a short stop in Wanaka. I can only say that Wanaka is my favourite place in New Zealand so far but it is pretty nice. We had a gorgous hostel overlooking the lake and despite the fact we had to leave Nemo- we were all very happy to chill out and relax. The first day we hired a mini bus (and yes i was driving) and headed up to Raspberry Creek. Its awesome. The drive was dirt track most of the way but it was totally worth it. Our 2.5 hour hike up the mountain to see the Glacier was one of the best days yet. It was pretty knackering but the snow had started to melt and we even saw some of it come away. Sun, green grass ,mountains and glacier...not often you can see all those in one go! Anyway..we hiked back down and jumped into the bus.. unfortunatly missing out on the 5k fun run that was going on in Wanaka that day- if we were there we would have done it! Honest! After that I decided a swim in the lake was called for and althought it was freezing managed a quick swim and then a quick 20minutes sunbathing before it went dark! New Zealand is not great if you want a tan, but apparently this has been the worst summer on record. Will not complain- have heard about home! Sorry!

Next day was a complete day of nothingness. Cant remember what i did aside from a trip to the local healthfood shop to stock up on drugs which will prevent colds and illness which airconditioning in a big orange bus passes around! I now have a lot of herbal medcine and vit.C. Fingers crossed.

The last day in Wanaka was sad, didnt want to leave... but did fit in a quick sail on the lake in a 25ft yaght. Recreuited the guy in our room/Palace as we had moved from the dorm beds to check into a self contained apartment round the back for hardly any extra money... but Scott had just got in from sailing to NZ from Eucador so turns out he was a pretty good recuit to have on a boat! kate me Mags and a couple from the Magic Bus--booo..joined us and we had a pretty good play around in the sun! :)...

Jumped on the Bus and we were out of Wanaka... (:D ) and into Queenstown. The driver was new so there was no interesting comments/history/jokes/games on the way down. We did stop at a fruit farm and the bungy jump which i watched- from afar. Must have become sensible in my old age but I have no desire to jump or throw myself of anything...3 years ago maybe- think id rather have a cupa tea! Anyway watched the crazy people and then headed to Queenstown for a big night on the town which turned out to be a relativily short night with considerable consequenses. Note to self.. will no longer drink out of teapots in the world bar! But to be fair it pays to be reminded once in a while! Tomorrow off to Milford sound, gutted to be leaving the guys but the bank account wont alow for the trip down south plus I have my sensible head on again!

Lots of Love

Suzie

xxx

O almost forgot about Puzzeling world, eating Possum, and the billion other walks and photo opportunities that have been New Zealand so far! All good!