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hey! thought it was about time for a wee update!
after nelson, the kiwi bus carried on to the ghost town that is westport, pretty boring place but the hostel was really nice, the rooms were like mini houses! leaving westport, we stopped for a coastal walk at cape foulwind on the west coast. the whole thing was just like walking along the cliffs south of stonehaven, apart from the seal colony which was a pretty awesome thing to see. our next stop was in a town called greymouth but that was just to stock up on supplies for our themed party that night. bin bags, bin bags and more bin bags!
we arrived at lake mahinapua in time to catch the sunset and play a few ball games at the beach. then we all started on our costumes, had a steak dinner cooked by our driver guide and host for the night, les - the oldest licence holder in nz at 83 (or 86) years old! then it was party time! i dressed up as a (very original) bumble bee. others dressed as batman, cheerleaders, convicts, a french maid, a mummy, a pirate and the other scot made a bin bag kilt! it was an awesome night finished off with a venture to the lake to spot the glowworms!
on the way to franz josef, we stopped at the bushmans centre to see some possums and to learn a bit about deer farming - we watched a video showing how they used to catch the deer by following them on helicopters and jumping off and wrestling them to the ground. billy connolly stopped here on his tour of nz.
the full day franz josef glacier is one of the toughest and most rewarding things i've done! it involved ladders, rocks, getting stuck in crevaces, blue knees and icy cold hands but it was awesome!!
carrying on down the west coast, we stopped in the township of fox glacier for the lake matheson walk along the picture perfect reflection lake!
i love wanaka! its so pretty and nice. the cinema there is amazing, we saw "dan in real life" at the independent cinema. it only has one screen, the room is filled with sofas and a car, they have an intermission with freshly baked cookies! then we went out to the karaoke bar where i sang with a friend and we won a $50 bar tab!
leaving wanaka, we went to puzzling world to the illusion rooms, the cafe has puzzles on the table. reminded me of advanced mathics!! carrying on towards queenstown, we stopped at the kawarau bungy site to watch people jump off the first commercial bungy site and fall 43m. after coffees in a cute little cafe in town, we headed to the world famous fergburger for some dinner, we weren't disappointed!! i even bought the hoodie! then we got all dolled up and hit world bar for some infamous teapot cocktails, there's nothing quite like it!
the next day, all nicely hungover we got the bus out to the nevis bungy site - 134m jump from a cable car, highest in nz, 2nd or 3rd in the world. i was so scared! but as soon as i got onto the pod, i was so up for it, the music really helped! the floor was glass so you could see how far down it was, scary stuff! standing at the edge, the guy counts "3,2,1..." and then you dive off, omg! most amazing feeling ever! 8.5s of freefall! then you bounce back up, experience weightlessness, then fall down again! loved it!! way better than the skydive! more teapot cocktails and dancing!
from queenstown it was on to christchurch and the end of my kiwi experience tour. i met up with some people from before and we went to the "crusaders vs. highlanders" rugby game, that was awesome fun, even if it was freezing! that night, i met someone from dalgety bay (where i grew up) and someone from montrose (just south of stonehaven) then a big bunch of us went to the silent disco. crazy stuff, there's 2 djs and everyone wears headphones and chooses which djs to listen to when, that was awesome!
after a few days in christchurch, i went to the airport to meet clare, and andrews flight coming in from scotland. 3 scots together! we stayed in christchurch the first night and head to tekapo the next day in our rental car, love driving in nz!
tekapo is the most adorable little place, we had walks by the lake and even went ice skating on the outdoor rink. i cannot ice skate. it was a funny sight to see!
from tekapo, we drove down to dunedin (which means edinburgh in gaelic) a very scottish city. we went to the cadbury chocolate factory tour and got some free chocolate, the smell was amazing! oh how i love chocolate!! then it was on to the speights (local nz beer) brewery tour, where we sampled lots of free beer and ended up walking home singing "oh flower of scotland!" an interesting sight!
i didnt want to leave dunedin, but we had to, on our way to the catlins national park we stopped at nugget point for sunset and some amazing photo shots. we stayed in a cute little backpackers and it was my turn to cook. we're taking turns so its pretty cool.
we drove down to bluff at the very bottom of the south island and got the ferry over the foveayx strait to stewart island, the third main island, with a population of just 350. we hired scooters to explore the island, i managed to crash mine so went on a bus tour instead! i crashed in front of the pub, picked the busiest street on the island, woo!
we saw an amazing sunset from the oban harbour there.
back on the mainland, we stopped at lake manapouri and on to lake te anau where we stayed a few nights. from here, we went on the bus trip and scenic cruise to milford sound. it wasnt the best weather but it was still a pretty amazing sight!
from te anau we carried on up north to queenstown, driving past the remarkables mountain range. they're amazing! and here we are, ready for another fun-filled night out!
photos on the way xxxxxxxxx
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