Hey guys, looks like another essay for you! I've been so busy recently that I've barely been keeping up with MY journal, let alone this one! In any case, this is what i've been upto since Nelson.

Thursday 24th April - We had to stay in Nelson as the Kiwi Experience bus was full so we pretty much lazed around doing nothing. Although, we did walk up to the 'Centre of New Zealand' to watch the sunset over Abel Tasman National Park so that was pretty cool.

Friday 25th April - We've been really lucky with recently, particularly in Queenstown where i'm currently staying and this particular day was stunning - not a cloud in the sky! We stopped off at the Nelson Lakes National Park to look at Lake Rotoiti (see facebook) so myself and a lad from our bus called Tarquin went on a walk up the mountain, got lost and had to sprint back down in 20mins!! The area was absolutely beautiful though so it wasn't all bad. We arrived in Westport in the evening and relaxed in our hostel where we ate pretty much everyone's leftovers - my dignity does however, remain intact (they were good leftovers)

On Saturday 26th, we headed to Lake Mahinapua via Greymouth to the legendary 'Poo Pub' for our Binbag themed party (once again, see pictures). It was such an amazing night! It started with a huge steak, venison stew and vegetable dinner (food like this is worth mentioning as i don't get to eat it often) and progressed onto a very messy night involving too much alcohol, plenty of drunk bumblebees and skeletons and skinny dipping in the lake. Met soooooo many people here as well which was probably the best part as our bus before Nelson was s***e!

Sunday 27th - Headed to the town of Franz Josef and to be perfectly honest, didn't do anything.

Monday 28th - Our entire group did the Franz Josef Glacier Hike and it was absolutely amazing! The walk starts in a valley carved by the glacier and we headed up into the rainforest surroundings before emerging onto the glacier itself. We climbed up almost vertical ice faces, crawled through little tunnels, admired the prisitine blue ice and did a Franz Shuffle (weird mountaineering walk for climbing down steep steps). The pictures on facevook show pretty much what we got upto.

Tuesday 29th - an extremely long drive to Wanaka, only broken up by a stop at Lake Matheson (couldn't see it as it was pouring down) where we had breakfast. Admittedly the drive was absolutely stunning, as seems to be the case with every drive we've been on but this was particularly long so it got a little tedious after a while. Went to an old-style cinema with all the group when we got to Wanaka - they had sofas and hot cookies during the interval:D always a good way to spend an evening!

Woke up at 6am on Wednesday 30th so i could watch the Man Utd game against Barca. Ended up watching it on the internet with Duffy (irish lad on our bus) - put me in a good mood for the rest of the day:D. Travelled to Queenstown via the Kawarau gorge where we saw some of our group do their bungy jump and Louise and I bought our greenstone pendants (took long enough-we've been talking about it since Auckland) Went out that night in Queenstown - very very messy! Went to the Altitude Bar at the hostel and then onto World Bar, got very drunk and danced a hell of alot!.

Our room all woke up with a hangover so we went and had a Fergburger for breakfast (check these out on the internet). We did our bungy jump on Thursday 1st May and it was incredible! You get taken out to the pod (which hangs 134m above the canyon floor) and look through the glass floor as everyone leaps off the edge. Its a hell of alot scarier than the skydive as its actually you who has to make the decision to jump. To be honest though, once you get that edge and look down, theres nothing you want to do more in the world than jump off - the adrenalin rush is just unparalleled! Went out again that night but we all headed back slightly earlier as we had a long drive down to Milford Sound the next day.

Friday 2nd - Fiordland National Park is the largest national park in New Zealand and Milford Sound is the main tourism point. Its effectively a valley, carved by an ancient glacier which has been filled up sea water (so technically its a fjord). It really is extremely beautiful, the free buffet we had on the boat was equally beautiful:D (it didn't very good but it was food and a lot of it) Loads of our group were there so we all had fun taking pictures and admiring the scenery before we headed back to Queenstown for yet another heavy night out! Ended up getting in at 6am!!!

Saturday 3rd - Said goodbye to our roommates: Ben, Karim and Rob as they headed to Christchurch today. That really sucked as we got on really well with them! Spent most of the day relaxing, writing post cards and eating cheap noodles - good times. I did go out at night but came back early as I had planned to climb a mountain the next day and didn't want to be hungover for it.

Sunday 4th - Climbed Ben Lomond, which overlooks Queenstown and stands at 1750m high (taller than Ben Nevis). Absolutely stunning views all the way around - you can see all of Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu, the Remarkables etc etc. See the pictures on Facebook and you'll appreciate it more. Managed to do it really quickly according to the guy i hired my boots off so I was fairly chuffed with myself. Got back around 5:30 and had a quick nap before heading out with Alex, Louise and Alison. None of our group were really out tonight as they've left for Christchurch so it was a fairly quiet night which inevitably ended in buying a Fergburger and going on the internet till 3am.

Today, Monday 5th, is our last day in Queenstown before we move onto Christchurch. I'm really going to miss it here as i think this has to be my favourite place so far although im sure the people we've met have had a huge part to play in that!. In any case, that's about all we've been upto since I last wrote on here so I guess I'll speak to you all again soon and I hope you're all well and enjoying the start of the English summer (bear in mind its snowing here:P) xx