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Friday 9th May...................Wellington -----> Picton -----> Nelson
Leaving the capital of New Zealand, we headed for the ferry at a ridiculous hour as the ferry didn't leave until 9:15am and I was feeling particularly rough! The ferry ride went pretty quickly, I slept and we ate and chatted to the lads, we have a group of six really, me, Jenny, Sarah, Ryan, Nik and Jason, although we chat to everyone! We get tio Picton and Buzz is in a much better mood, as he has his new bus back! The hostel we stop at is lovely, a cozy restaurant/pub style place with rooms at the back! The boys decide it is our turn to cook so we go in search of Spag Bol ingredients, and OMG it was expensive, $3.60 for one pepper and $1.60 for one tomato!! I slept when we got back, and kept having to make toilet runs, as I thought I was going to be sick, I felt so ill :( but dinner definately cheered me up! I decided it best to stay in and sleep, and the girls joined me as Nelson was a bit of a ghost town with nothing much to do!!
Saturday 10th May......................Nelson --------------------> Westport
Our first stop in the morning was Lake Nelson, and I am convinced this is where the picture in my kitchen is taken! It is gorgeous, a jetty that leads to the lake and the mountain drop behind!! Very pretty, and great for some pics! We chat and have some lunch and then Jen gets bitten by a duck, it was sooooooooooo funny I was crying with laughter!! We reached Westport in the afternoon, most stopping to do the Jet Boating! The hostel was a renovated house with open fires its was lovely! Eight of us watched a film all snuggled up before everyone else got back!! We had dinner and all cosied up for another film, Superbad which was actually funnier the second time I saw it! It was a real moment for me, we had 24 of us in one living room, lying around on bean bags, sofas and cushions and everyone was so relaxed with each other!! It honestly felt like a big family! I can't tell you how much I am glad I stayed with the bus, everyone is awesome!! I am seriously having the best time! That night we went out, well, we found one club, there were two people in it and it was a saturday night! It was like a town of a horror film, no movement, no people, no cars, so we ended up coming home and chatting to Jason who was an honrorary woman in the girls dorm for the night!! I am really close to Sarah and Jenny too, they are lovely girls, both law graduates, and just awesome girls!!
Sunday 11th May............Westport ----> Lake Mahinapua.............Poo Party!!
Today was all geared up for our big night!! We went for a walk in the morn, Ted jumping in the fields full of wild horses, he is mental!! And we saw seals, but I was so cold I just wanted to get back on the coach. We had another food stop, where we had a pcinic and then headed for Warehouse to buy supplies for the evening! The Poo Party, I should explain, is the nigth on the Kiwi Bus where everyone dresses up, lets their hair down and gets absolutely smashed!! Our theme was bin bags, so we had to make an outfit out of them!! Sarah, Jen and I spent lots of time deciding and decided to be cheerleaders in the end! We bought the bin bags and big pants and pens and were set. We arrived at the hostel, and met Les, the 83 year old who owns the hostel and has provided the kiwi bus with the best night for the last 15 years!! He is an absolute legend!! We hop off, most go to watch the sunset but we work on our cotumes!! We start with the pants, we design them in bright colours, saying, PINCH ME, SPANK HERE and TOUCH THIS! They looked great, then came the raa-raa skirts, black on top with a layer of pink, purple and yellow underneath!! Then we had our tops, tight boob tubes with the words GO KIWI on the back, final touches of sweat bands and head bands and we were set!! And we looked great! We arrived at the bar and everyone looked amazing!! Mike and Darryl went as the Ninja Turtles, Mary was a clown, Ryan went as Spartan, Nik as a fireman and Jason as a Greek God! There was a witch, french maid, Amy Whinehouse, Cross dressers, and lots more! Buzz went as a Nun, very amusing!! everyone really made an effort! We played drinking games that revealed lots of naughty things about each other, and a game Paranoia which was awesome!! Then came group photo time!! So good! We were all very merry and were kicked out to head to the beach! We surrounded the camp fire and continued to party!! Jenny and Darryl fell in a bush, I accused the wrong person of losing my phone, and Crayola (aka Anna) fell in a ditch!! When we finally hit bed, I found Mary in my bed as she was locked out so I had to share!! Only to find the next morning that the other Charlotte did indeed have the key, in her bra!! An amzing night with some amazing photos!!
Monday 12th May.................Lake Mahinapua -----------> Franz Joseph
The morning after was not pretty, everyone was looking a little rough although spirits were high! I did indeed sound like a man! We re-capped on the evenings events!! I had no recollection of being bundled, this I feelis how I woke up with a bruise on my eye, Jenny was covered in scratches from her bush fall, and she had a bite mark where Mike thought he was biting Darryl! I found my phone, as did everyone find their cameras!! Lots of giggles were has reminscing on the way to Franz Joseph!! We arrived and had dinner, I had managed to fill up my tupper ware from the BBQ of the night before, so Sarah, Jenny and I had a free meal! We went in the hot tub for a bit, but it was actually not that hot! We all watched a film in the evening, Number 23 which was pretty good! I went to bed early as we had a big day the next day!!
Tuesday 13th May...........Full Day Franz Joseph Glacier Hike
Up early and headed to the Franz Joseph Centre!! We were kitted up, leggings, three t-shirts, hoodie, rain coat, over trousers, boots, thick socks and hats!! We were set!! To explain, the Glacier walk invoved a full day trek up the glacier, a 12km walk that would be very challenging and potentially dangerous!! Can't wait!! Mary and I were buzzing from the moment we left the car park and started the 2.3km wlk to the base of the glacier!! It was killer, my quads were burning! Some of the steps were huge, and I'm short, but at 5ft Sarah was at even more of a disadvantage, thank goodness for the chains to pull along! We put on our cramp ons and hit the ice, stamping in our feet to grip to the ice!! I was doing well until I tried taking a photo and walking! I tripped and smashed my knee cap......OMG it hurt so much, kind of like hitting your funny bone but soooooooooooooo not funny in any way!! I shook it off and then had to climb through and ice tunnel, so cool, and great for photos!! I did however screw up my angles and ended up landing my bum in a puddle! Great, so I was soaked!! Much to Jenny's amusement! We stopped for lunch, and it was surreal eating my cheese and cucumber rolls on a glacier!! The views were amazing!! Truly!! We continued on and reached the ice formations!! The intense part of the hike!! The crevasses (sorry about my spelling) were not wide and we had to practice the Egyptian walk!! Then came my near death moment!! I was again trying to take a really cool pic of Sarah and Jenny, whilst walking backwards only to find that the path dropped, in slow motion all I remember seeing was sky!! I plummeted backwards, landing hard on my back, then my legs came over my head!! I took a moment to realise what the hell just happended and then burst into uncontrollable fits of laughter! Jenny said she really thought I had killed myself!! Then everyone got involved and were wetting themselves!! Considering the glacier was only s wide as my body and I was on the floor upside down, arse in air, I had to be helped up by Mary and Jenny, which took a while as I was giggling so much! I didn't hurt myself at all but we put it down to my appetite and my full back pack of food cushioning my fall!! So funny, we climbed up the glacier, thankfully safely, and had to swing from one side to the other!! Then started out Spice Girls rendition of Stop! It was amazing and I have it all on camera!! As our group were predominatly girls we sang the whole way, much to the two lads dismay!! And at one point I think we had a 25 song Disney Medley!! We stopped for another food break and then started our decent!! Some went for a swim, but beng still under the weather I thought it best not to! We reached the bottom of the glacier, with a few more trips but nothing inflicting pain, and then Sarah, Mike and I marched off for the last 2.3km which seemed so much longer on the way home, desperate for a wee!! It was dark as we left, a full 8 hour hike!! It was hard work but soooooooooooo satisfying and great for our group bonding, I had a great day!! When we got home I showered and crashed sleeping like a baby!!
Wednesday 14th May...............Franz Joseph -------------> Wanaka
We left early, feeling still so knackered!! We stopped at Lake Matheson to catch the morning mirror reflection of Mt. Cook on the lake, which was pretty beautiful!! Then we headed to our hotel!! Yes Hotel, and it was lovely, we planned on exploring, but all fell asleep for 3 hours!! We woke up and chipped in for dinner by Matt who is a chef and were delighted by our $4 Beef Stirfry!! In the evening, we looked into renting a campervan at the end of our Kiwi Bus Experience, and had a massage night and film night!! So needed as we knew it would be a big party in Queenstown! I would have liked to have explored Wanaka and the lake was gorgeous, but sleep won!!
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