Well we have finally arrived in New Zealand!! We flew into Christchurch at about 11 at night so we went straight to the hostel, we went to get some chips for tea before going top bed. the next day we were up early and met up with 4 other people from our hostel to get on the kiwi experience bus. It was quite a long drive across the alps to our first stop Westport, the scenery along the way was absolutely beautiful with blue lakes and rivers and huge mountains, the roads were really quiet as well and it felt like there was nobody else around. We met up with the main kiwi coach nearer to westport and then stopped off at an activity centre on the buller river to do some jet boating. We were given waterproof coats and bottoms, a life jacket, protective glasses and a hat before getting onto the boat which was set on a track ready to be towed by a tractor. We drove along all sat in the boat for about 20 minutes before reaching the river which must have looked really strange to anyone driving by us! We started off with a fairly fast cruise down the river stopping at different points for some information on the area before turning around and going full speed all the way getting scarily close to rocks and pulling away at the last second and 360 degree spins which got us all absolutley drenched but was really fun. After the jet boat ride we went to our hostel, it was really cosy with a tv lounge with an open fire and really warm comfy rooms. The next day it was pouring it down with rain and freezing, we set off down the coast and our first stop was point foulwind, we had a short walk in the rain along a clifftop to seal rocks where there is a lookout point and loads of seals down below. Then we moved onto a place called pancake rocks, the weather was still horrible but it meant that the sea was really rough so the waves on the rocks were really powerful and there was lots of spray coming out of the blowholes which was good to see. We went back to the coach soaking wet and had what seemed like a really long drive (the airconditioning had to be on full so the windows didnt steam up which made everyone freezing) to a small town to buy fancy dress constumes for that nights party at the poo pub. The poo pub is a pub in the middle of nowhere owned by an 80 year old man who was grumpy but very funny. When we arrived he got onto the coach and gave a little talk warning everyone that he had security cameras up everwhere so no funny business, and how he had caught a boy and girl on his camera getting up to no good, he found out the boy had a girlfriend at home so put the footage up on the internet to teach him a lesson! After the little warning speech tris went to play football on the beach with the other boys whilst i got a shower and then we all had tea together before getting into our costumes for the night. The theme was anything beginning as P so i went as a princess and tris tried to dress up as a power ranger, his costume was a clown outfit that was skin tight with P and R taped to the legs a yellow t-shirt, a red spiderman mask and a plastic light saber sword, it took a lot of courage for him to walk into the pub looking like that!! It ended up being quite a good night, we both felt like we were back at uni again with all the drinking games, and everyone made lots of effort with the costumes which was fun. The next day we set off for Frans Josef, it was a gorgeous day with perfect blue skies which made the drive really pretty. We had a relaxed afternoon with a walk through the valley to a viewpoint of the glacier and then sat in a cafe overlooking the mountains. That evening we went for a sunset kayak on a lake below the glacier. We got a double kayak which was fun, especially for me, tris did most of the paddling hehe!! We got soaked on the way across the lake because the waves were so big and tristans spray deck was quite old and leaked water. When we got across to the other side we made our way into some really calm water which was like a mirror, we set off down a little river into a really ancient and untouched forest which was gorgeous. Apparently the trees in the forest are the trees that the tree ents in Lord of the rings were based on. After going down the river to the point where we couldnt get any further we made our way back and set off for tea at the hostel bar where we played bingo whilst eating.

Today we went on a heli hike up the glacier, it has been another perfect day with bright blue skies. We got geared up with boots, water proofs, hats etc before jumping into the helicopter. The helicopter ride was really really good we had a tour around the glacier with amazing views before landing about three quarters of the way up. We got our cramp ons fixed onto our boots and then set off up the glacier into the third ice fall. It was like another world up there with huge ice walls and caves, pools of blue water and little streams, there were only 6 people in our group as well which made it even better. On the way back to the helicopter tris decided to strip off for a swim in one of the pools, everyone thought he was crazy, he had to break through the ice on top of the pool to get into the water which was apparent;y freezing, he said he could feel his body siezing up it was so cold, but it did make for a good photo so it was worth it. Tris got his clothes back on and we hopped back in the helicopter for another amazing flight down the mountain. When got back we went for a short walk up the mountain to an old mine shaft and then spent the rest of the afternoon in the sun having a drink at the hostel bar. Tomorrow we head for Queenstown.