Hi guys! guess who? so since we last left you there has been a certain amount of drama- all good and character buliding but still! after christchurch we moved on to kaikoura (again) in the rain- not fun. we didnt stay at the lazy shag (which im sure charlene was very upset about) but stayed at top spot- which to be honest doesnt really live up to its name! we basically faffed all we could- went out for beans and hash browns, got food in for dinner (soup!) and chilled out, listened to the music these boys were blaring from the kitchen and then had an early night until BOOM, half bloody 12 we have ppl banging on our wall, yeling about the place, making loadsa bloody noise. after an hour of this i (jess) got my strop on and stormed next door, where i stumbled on 2 blokes in their underwear fighting over a duvet, tryin to keep a straight and grumpy face i asked them to keep it down and they did!, wow i must be one stroppy b*****!

in the morning i made a bit of a snide comment in front of one of the boys in the bathroom and spent the day eviling them, which i now feel bad about coz we got to know them in wellington and they are actually really nice! anywho, off we set for picton where we were going to catch the ferry to wellington. We settled down with a couple of nice sofas in which chris named the o.a.p lounge and basically ate to our hearts content for 3 hours and spent the last 20 mins of the journey trying to figure out who had died in neighbours. when we got off at the other side we were shoved onto another kiwi bus but this one was clearly taken from the hippy trail in the 60s.

after a short tour we were dropped off at base in welington where for the first time in ages we had to be split from our kiwi family and it was the original 3 again, which was nice- i think we missed our alone time! after making friends with th noisy boys from kaikoura me and laura went to see 300 at the cinema with them. it was rather posh and had the names of famous ppl on all the chairs coz they held the Lord of the Rings premier there. after we just went down to the BASEment for drinks.

The next day we came over all active and decided to go for a walk up mount victoria which apparently some scenes from lord of the rings was filmed and had really col views (the walk was a bit strenuous- but never fear a trip to the chocolate shop later sorted that out). After the walk we went to Te Papa museum which was free and really well put together. Lots of interesting stuff but lets face it- all museums become boring after a while, so we went off for a walk about town, cme across dorothy's choc shop where we had REALLY nice, fatty food and tried to decide whether we could pick up the gay waiter for chris.

That night we bumped into James (Queenstown roomate) and him and steve (gay devonian) came wiv us to nandos for cheap chicken which later gave james food poisonong and he ended up in hospital at 3 am the poor boy. After Nandos we were all up for a night out but our plans were foiled by Anzac day (NZ rememberance day) and everything shut at midnight, so after a failed attempt to find another bar and settling with ice cream, we headed off to bed (char and laura did check on James like good girls!). BUT laura later came over all ill herslef (not food poisoning just bad cold) the poor chuck, she cried and everything but dont worry mummy ward she is well looked after.

the next day we headed off to river valley lodge, this lodge in a valley, which you guessed it, was by a river. But it was serioulsy beautiful, in the middle of nowhere- amazing scenery!! we sat by the river, cooked dinner and chilled out that night in preparation for the next days activities which was white water rafting! GREAT fun! after spendy hours pullin on the oh SO flattering wet suits we climed aboard a rickety bus which had all the mental raft instrucers blasting rock music out and basically freaking us out a bit. After a short saftey presentation we were thrust out on open water and for the next few hours were bombarded with shouts of "forward paddle, back paddle, stop, jump left, NO LEFT, jump right, get back on the job". All fun. I of course fell in and was laughed at immensly till the time came when we all had to swim across parts that we could raft and everyone got to feel the pain of the cold water! we did a bit of rock climbing and jumping of rocks into water too. Safe to say we all loved it.

Now comes the REAL drama. Me and charlotte fancied a horse ride so off we wnet, just us two and miriam our german guide. 10 mins in and miriam falls off her horse. onto a rod sticking out of the ground and breaks her arm! OH MY GOD action stations. Charlotte had to go off after her horse who had sodded off with the first aid kit, i had to stay with miriam tryin to keep an eye on my horse and oorying that charlotte had fallen off too coz she was gone a while. When she FINALLY returned she legged it back to the stables and i stayed with miriam tryin to get her to think of other stuff (as if she could!) she wasgood though, stayed calm (than the lord) and gave good instructions. When the people from the stables made it over they strapped up her arm and put her in the car. Me and Charlotte were going to ride back but when charlotte tried to getb on miriams horse it walked out from under her, SO we walked the horses back. When we returned Miriam was in AGONY and because we were in the middle of nowhere we had to call a helicopter. me and charlotte assumed all stable duties, removed the horses tack, brushed them down, put their coats on and led them to the field- thank god Charlotte knew how to do that stuff coz i didnt. In the mean time the bloody helicopter couldnt find the stables despite it being the only building for miles and we were all waving and jumping like maniacs!! In the end it was all ok. She was airlifted to plamerston north, where i hear she has suffered a very bad break (in 2 places) but will be fine after surgery. GAWD! anywho time has run out! better go! love to all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx