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So we got the ferry across to the South Island and our first stop was a place called Nelson which was quite a quiet town and there we met and started our journey with Jamie, Spike and Wills bus and some of ours...at the crossing a lot of people wanted to stay for a few days so we split up! We stayed in a place called Fern Lodge and met some of our new bus mates, including the infamous Emma Randles and co!
The next morning we headed east to Westport and stopped off at Lake Rotoiti which was surrounded by mountains and was really picturesque...we had to be wary of the bees and the ducks who do not like you stopping for a picnic lunch there!! On the way we choose to go jetboating down the Buller River which was really fun, we did 360 degrees spins and the scenery was really nice! On the way up he stopped and told us some history of the lake and stories such as there was a car in the lake and how it got there...a guy had fallen off a cliff in the car and it had been dragged upstream really far...and the good part was that he survived!!
We then went to the hostel and ended up in a massive room with our own bathroom and kitchen, now for hostel standards was amazing! It just meant that that night we had everyone in our room playing games all night which was really fun!
The next day we headed for Lake Mahinapua...our first stop was a walk all along the coast called the Truman Track which was really nice and reminded me of the final scene in the recent Harry Potter...amazing scenery! And we saw New Zealands largest seal colonies which was really nice to see! We then stopped in another place called the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks...these were a series of stratified limestone stacks which, over many thousands of years, have been eroded to resemble pancakes!! Another feature that we saw here were blowholes which when the tide came in came from metres down to almost our height! We stopped at the cafe here and was the first time I had tried chips and gravy and loved it! The weather wasn't too warm so was nice to have something warm!
We stopped off at a hypermarket as our destination that evening we had to dress up in fancy dress and best dressed won prizes! So everyone went off looking for their costume which was good as everyone made such a good effort!!
When we arrived in Lake Mahinapua which is known as the Poo Pub we were introduced to a man called Les who we were told was a legend but to me came across as quite a grumpy old man to be honest, but anyway he has been doing this party here for many years so I'm guessing may be slightly tired of it!!
So we got to the hostel and went and explored the Lake which wasn't so nice and the beach which was really nice so we hung out there for a while before starting to get ready for the evening! Reanne and I went as angels and Lucy went as a robber and the guys went as mimes! It was such a fun night with an amazing array of costumes that were all very well thought out! A good night all round...
The next day all feeling slightly worse for wear we headed to Franz Josef...on the way stopping at Pukekera stopping at a Bushmans Centre where we saw possums and other animals! We then stopped and did a walk seeind the Okarito Lagoon which is the largest wetland in New Zealand! We then head on up to Franz Josef and organised our glacier trekking for the next day!! We then checked into a really nice lodge which had a massive boiling jacuzzi outside which we chilled out in which was really nice and then got readyand made all of our food and snacks for the next day and relaxed with a drink in front of the log fire in the bar area! That night was fun..they organised games to play to win prizes and things!!
The next day we were up bright and early heading to the main street to get all of our gear from glacier trekking! We then got on a bus and arrived at the start of a long walk to the glacier...but when it came into view it was incredible...The Franz Josef Glacier was vast in size yet from far away seemed smaller! Our guide was called McLovin and was really nice all day, quite young but obviously loved what he does! We began the walk and was quite different walking with spikes on your feet making each step solid so you don't slip! We went very high and steep and went through some very tight ice cliffs which was slightly scary but the whole experienc was really really fun and a highlight of my time in New Zealand! The only downside was coming back it started raining, but we had a good 7 hours on the ice so were already quite cold so the rain didn't help!
We came back and dressed up nice and warm and headed back to the fire in the bar and repeated the night before!
We then started out quite early the next day and headed for Mount Cooks reflection lake called Lake Matheson which was amazing...incredible backdrop that was reflected into the lake which made such a good picture!! We did a walk all around the lake and then stop off for a really good breakfast..
We stop again on the way to see a waterfall with the bluest water I have ever seen from a waterfall!! We then head for Wanaka which was one of my favourite places in New Zealand..I know I say it a lot but it is just stunning! We arrived and went to the supermarket and brought some drinks and chilled out by the lake playing games, swimming and enjoying the sun! It was just so nice you almost felt like it was surreal and you weren't actually there! It was St Paddys Day so they put on a huge party at the bar in the evening and everything was green...including drinks!! We had a bbq as well before which was really nice!! Overall a really good night..not to be forgotten!!
On our way to Queenstown we stopped at a place called Puzzle World which was really cool...you have to find your way to all four corners of a maze and then inside there is a huge exhibition of puzzles you can do like the leaning room and things on walls,and optical illusions it was really fun! We then stopped off nd watched a few people do the Nevis high wire bungy which was about 50m but you get to go into the water!
We then arrived in Queenstown and stayed in the Nomads which was such a nice modern new hostel! We stayed in Queenstown for 8 nights as we loved it so much...highlights included...Fergburger, teapots, World Bar, free bbq, bar crawl, lucys passport, lugeing, chilling at the lake, skyride, emma randles, cocktail party, nevis bungy, noodles, hostel olympics, sleepwalking and daves pent!! It was just an amazing place that never sleeps! It would be too much to go into all the detail as we chilled out a lot here, met some awesome people and got to catch up with our original bus who were heading down!
After Queenstown we head to Christchurch for our final stop! We stayed in the Base which wasn't so nice but we only had two nights! The first day we walked all around and explored and had a few drinks in the eve! The next day we looked around markets, saw street acts, went to an art museum, looked around shops, and had a really nice chill in Starbucks! And then the evening we chilled out before our flight the next day to Fiji!!!
So overall New Zealand was an amazing place, the Kiwi Experience was definitely worth doing as we saw so much more than you could ever doing it by yourself, we made some great friends and had an incredible time!!
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