So i left you in a bit of a rush off to go kayaking in Franz joseph. That was a few days ago now, but the kayaking was brilliant, the lake was just vast and we were the only ones on it, and with some incredible mountains in the background it was pretty special. As with our trek in thailand, taz had a few errrm balance issues which led to him having a wee swim as he tipped out of his kayak. As the good friend i am, i laughed and ridiculed until i saw him lunging towards me and as the perilously cold waters beneath me lurched into my mind, i realised he was only after something to hold on to (my kayak, not me),and not trying to dip me in the water (as i'm sure i would have done had the roles been reversed). We stayed the night in Franz joseph and watched the all blacks 'unconvincingly' beat Canada by a large score to a not very large score, as you would expect. The next day should have brought about a full days hike up the glacier for both of us but i made the decision that i'd save my money for another activity. So Taz went it alone and had a wicked time with some pretty cool photos (to follow).I think that was the Tuesday, so we departed Franz Joseph on the Wednesday, heading for Queenstown, the party capital of NZ. A night of partying with everyone off the kiwi bus ensued and following a well deserved lie in,we went off to explore Queenstown. As per a lot of locations in NZ, it was situated next to a large and picturesque lake and when our exploring was complete after a not so long period of time we decided an activity was in order for the next day. Baring in mind we'd be heading off to Fiji in less than a week, skiing seemed an absolutely fantastic option. We sorted out our package deals, taz with a few lessons as it was his first time, and me, boldy ticking the 'intermediate' column on the form (despite having not skiied in, 5 or 6 years) and getting a full mountain lift pass. I was absolutely buzzing after we had booked it and the morning we headed up the mountain couldn't have come soon enough (friday morning). The conditions looked perfect and we thought we had fortunately got up there a day before a snowstorm which could have closed the mountain. When we got up top we were with a couple of girls we had met (incidentally from Coventry, they've promised to show me the sights when i get down to Warwick), one of whom was a beginner like Taz and the other who had skiied a bit. I persuaded taz into his skiis before his first lesson and a few complications with stopping soon stopped my attempt to teach him a bit. As for me, i headed up the simplest nursery slope with some trepidation, but floated down like i hadn't been away from the slopes, much to my delight and Taz's displeasure (he was after seeing me on my rear for a change). Taz's lessons started soon and i decided to head up a harder slope which again much to my surprise didn't pose me any problems. By now it had started to snow a little but we thought nothing of it as we headed in for some lunch. When we came out again, the snow had really started falling, reducing visibility drastically (that word doesn't look right, feel free to correct me, but it is 2 in the morning), the new snow and lack of visibility combined made shooting down the slopes extremely hazardous but i still decided to head up the largest lift to take in the toughest slopes and managed to get through the day minus any falls (except when one of the Cov girls jumped on top of me off of a ski lift). Taz finished his second lesson absolutely enthused with skiing and certain he'd like to do it again sometime. We then (due to the snow) had a rather hairy and long winded journey back to the resort but arrived safely. We were due on the kiwi bus again the next day (Friday) back upto christchurch in time for a flight upto auckland on monday and then onto fiji on wednesday. However the weather had different plans. The bus wasn't able to leave this morning, so having packed our bags and checked out, we had to wait hours and check back in. We got off lightly though, there were people on the bus due to get flights tomorrow, which they've had a great deal of trouble trying to rearrange. They don't even think we will be able to leave tomorrow but bearing in mind our flight is late on monday, we can leave saturday, sunday or even monday so there's no need to worry. We thought this might be a blessing in disguise as the NZ renowned 'Winterfest' was due to start. The fireworks and live bands were cancelled however! so the blessing wasn't as good as it seems. As it stands now we'll be up bright and early in the morning in the hope the bus will be running and if not we'll be in Queenstown another night! Pics up soon i hope, back in three weeks!