Hello all! Welcome back to the home of my travel gossip. Here is what I have been up to the last couple of weeks…

Ok, so the last time I posted I was in Christchurch. Well to be honest my final days there weren’t much fun to be honest! This was due to the fact that I managed to get a stomach bug and so I didn’t feel too great, plus the last of the folks I had been traveling with the past two months left for Oz.

But not one to let things get me down, I decided to get my ass into gear and I sorted out my Christmas plans, YAY for me! Before I left Christchurch I did go to the Antarctic Centre. There Jen, Kate and I saw more penguins, learnt about Antarctica, and experienced what its like to stand in a room at -25oc temperature… not very nice to say the least!!!

The night before I left Christchurch I played football with a bunch of strangers in Cathedral Square. After that I spent two hours talking to a German named Mathius. He was a Christian missionary whom was traveling around NZ. We had a good chat about beliefs and faith, and I have to say I found it all quite interesting.

Anyway, the next day I headed back to Wanaka for Christmas. The journey was long and boring but it was worth it. I was booked into the ‘Purple Cow’ hostel and it turned out to be a very nice place just out of Wanaka’s main streets.

There I meet up with Mollie, whom I had met on the Kiwi Experience Bottom Bus. I had spoken to others about coming to Wanaka but on arrival, none had made it!

On the first day we took the time to simply walk around Wanaka and I found that there was a lot more to offer than I had previously thought! Not only was Wanaka a beautiful place, but it also offered many walks, activities and other things to do.

The next day in Wanaka was Christmas Eve and to be honest the whole day was pretty quiet. We played many games of cards and I learned some new games that I hadn’t played before. We also went to the cinema. Now the cinema in Wanaka is awesome! They only have one screen and it isn’t as big as the screens back home, but it did have something that no other cinema I have been to has ever offered… instead of the normal seats that you find in a cinema, this one has countless sofas that you can lounge in! Also if you’d really like, you can sit in an old 50’s beetle car and watch the film! To finish it off they have an interval half way through the film and provide home made cookies too!!! Beat that Cineworld!!!

On Christmas day I woke up late and chilled out for a bit. At midday Mollie, Jorin & Stanni (whom we had met the night before), and I went to the United Churches of Wanaka Christmas Dinner. There we were provided with a free Christmas Roast and a few songs and praises, and it was very enjoyable.

After that we went for a walk and I joined in a game of makeshift cricket in the public park! This was very cool indeed as I have never played cricket on Xmas day in my shorts and vest before hehe!

Later Jorin, Mollie, Stanni and I walked up Mt.Iron. This took us the rest of the afternoon and was a hard slog, but we made it and the views were brilliant!

In the nighttime we all got together with some other people in our hostel and we all got drunk and played lots of games, which is always fun at Christmas. I then phoned many people until I ran out of credit and it was really good to speak with all my friends back home whom I haven’t spoken to since I left Jersey. Lastly with beer in hand some of us went for a rather long early morning stroll until around 3:30am! Then I hit the sack.

On Boxing Day (my time) I went for a walk around town and looked in the shops. Later a few of us went to the cinema again (drawn by the fresh cookies) to see Eragon. I thought the film was ok and the dragon CGI was good. Later in the day the girls and I bought a load of food for dinner and we cooked a big Mexican meal, which was really good! After that we played games again.

The next day I woke early so that I could phone home on Boxing Day (their time) and speak to the folks and family that were at home, again it was cool to speak to everyone.

Around midday Mollie and I walked to Basecamp Wanaka, a rock climbing activity centre. There I learnt to scale rock faces and sheers walls. I also had a go at the novelty walls, which was good fun. After that we stumbled upon Wanaka Bowling Club. There I introduced myself and I taught Mollie the basics of bowls. I also had to teach myself how to bowl on a New Zealand green, no easy feat as the greens out here are so fast! In the evening we again played card games.

The next day we went for a long walk in the morning and saw more of the beautiful sights that Wanaka has to offer. In the afternoon we caught a bus to Queenstown, where we were going for New Year’s Eve. On the journey our bus had a double blowout on the rear axle and we very nearly didn’t make it to Queenstown!!! But it all ended happily and a new bus took us the rest of the way.

In Queenstown we met up with Stanni whom had arrived earlier that day and we chilled out in her hostel for the night. Yesterday we all milled about and decided to go tenpin bowling. We played a few games of which I lost one and won the next haha! Later in the evening we all met at Stanni’s hostel again and drank and played card games until the early hours.

Today I met up with a few the guys from Stanni’s hostel whom I had met on the first night and we went and bought tickets for the one day cricket test between the New Zealand Black Caps and Sri Lanka, I hope the weather holds out as I can’t think of a better way to spend New Years Day eve than watching a cricket test! Tonight we are all meeting at the hostel again and we will probably play games again, cool.

Well that is about it for now, we are once again up to date. To all of you whom I won’t get a chance to wish Happy New Year, I do so now! I hope you all have a prosperous year to come and that it is filled with all things happiness and good health.

Until we speak again I bid you all Happy New Year!

John, aka Jersey out…..