I cannot believe we have been in New Zealand just over a week already! We are based in Christchurch and there is so much to do not just in Christchurch but in the villages around it! There is everything from a Fudge making tour (I put that in just for you Dad) to Wildlife parks to skydiving and paragliding!

We have been to the International Antarctica Centre which was a lot of fun. We got to experience a -8 degrees storm which I found freezing and yet they said the record temperature was -89 degrees so I wont be going to Antarctica anytime soon! Tom tested out the ice slide as you will see in the pics and he was the biggest 'kid' to give it a go! There was also a little blue penguin enclosure and these penguins are the same kind as we saw on the beach in Phillip Island in Australia! We also got to experience a ride on the Haggland which is the all terrain vehicle they use in Antarctica! We were taken round a course of hills, crevaces and through water!

We have hired a car for five days so that we could check out the little villages around Christchurch! We went to Lydeltton, Kaikoura and Arthurs Pass - all of which had fantastic views of the mountains. Travelling to Arthurs Pass was especially funny seen as we forgot that we would probably need fuel to get there! Ha ha! Managed to get to Arthurs Pass Village with the Petrol light on and the cursor down to empty! Fortunately there was a petrol pump in the village where we quickly refueled which I was glad about because I didnt really fancy pushing the car all the way back!

For next week we are planning to go on the Gondola, jet boating and hopefully the Lord of the Rings Tour! Plus Im gonna get down to that Fudge making tour and try some free samples!

Over and out