One of our proudest purchases of the whole trip so far was made in Manapouri; a fishing rod. Admittedly we only caught rocks and seaweed for a while before finally I managed to catch a tasty trout. Despite its rather undignified death by Sam (the details will not be discussed here), we all agreed it was one of the best things we had eaten all holiday.

After fishing we said goodbye to Manapouri and drove north to Te Anau where we stopped off to fill up on petrol and look at the beautiful lake. After our brief stop there, we carried on northwards towards Milford Sound (an amazing fjord which is something of a pilgrimage to all who visit New Zealand). Sam went kayaking out into the sound, the rest of us walked around the shoreline, not fancying the cruises out into the fjord. The sound itself was stunningly beautiful with the mountains rising straight out of the water. Unfortunately the experience was somewhat blighted by the hoards of sandflies that live in the fjordlands. The Maori believe that the sandflies live in the most beautiful areas of New Zealand to act as a deterrent for visitors in order to keep the areas looking untouched.

We left Milford sound in a bit of a hurry as to get back through the tunnel that shuts at 7pm. On the other side of the tunnel we encountered a 'flock' of Kea, New Zealand (and the worlds) only alpine parrot. They are incredibly curious and didn't seemed phased by us at all, and in fact scared us away!

The next day, Sam started the Routeburn Track; one of New Zealand's Great walks, whilst the rest of us headed back to Te Anau and then on to Queenstown.

We passed through Queenstown rather briefly as we would be returning there all together once we had Sam again. Our point of call was Twelve Mile Delta, on the shores of Lake Wakitipu, where some of the Lord of The Rings was filmed. We spent a few hours searching out the locataions, and were finally rewarded with one (pics to follow). After that we pushed on along the lake up to Glenorchy and beyond ready to pick Sam up the next morning.

Sam finished the Routeburn track just as we pulled into the car park, and after agreeing to give some other walkers a lift to Glenorchy we set off. We made another brief stop at 12MD to have a quick wash in a pool we had found the previous day, but didn't stay long as the call of Queenstown was loud in everyone's mind.

Queenstown was everything we had heard about and more! After finding a holiday park situated 2 minutes walk from the centre we set off exploring. The shops do a hard sell and before we knew it we had all paid for a bungy jump and Sam, Pip and I had also forked out for a day of river boarding.. Obviously all this excitement had worked up and apetite and we quickly headed down to fabled shop 'Fergburger'.

As soon as we stepped inside the shop we could tell it was something completely different. Open 22 hours a day, it is packed the whole time. The smell left us all salivating so we stared queueing. All of us opted for the classic Fergburger and after being served we hurridly walked to the nearest patch of green we could find. The first bite blew our minds. The taste was something impossible to describe. Never had we ever tasted something so flavoursome, so good, so filling in our lives. We all immeadietly became devout followers of the Ferg lifestyle. Several of us had one every day we were there!

The next day, Myself, Pip and Sam headed off to do River Boarding, Lead by Bjorn, a Swede come danger man, we all chucked our selfs into a river, whatever control they claimed we would get from our flippers or board was a lie. A great day was had by all. Sam was especially taken by Bjorn and we all suspect he is harbouring fantasies about his soft brown beard or his silky smooth voice.

Sunday was the big day. Tom, Pip, Sam and I set off for the AJ Hackett building, ready to be driven to the Nevis Bungy, sitting high above a canyon. The bungy is 134m high, with 8 seconds of freefall, Australasia's highest! Despite the nagging voice in the back of our minds asking "Why?" we all jumped. We couldn't do it justice on here but we all agreed it was one of the best things we had ever done and definitly one of the scariest.

Luke had opted for the smaller but no less scary bungy off of the Skyline Gondola station situated 400m above Queenstown. And so the following day, Luke, Sam and I took the gondola up the mountain to watch Luke jump. Although cloud covered most of the city there was still a fantastic view from the mountain. The jump went just as smoothly as everyone elses. After the shaking had worn off, the three of us walked up to the luge station a bit further up the mountain where we had 5 intense, adrenaline fuelled races down the deserted luge track.

Aside from the adrenaline filled days, Queenstown also has the best night out the South Island has to offer. We had three nights out, with varying rates of enjoyment.

Finally after six of the best days of the trip we left Queenstown, only after a Fergburger of course and headed towards Wanaka.

Luke and Mike x