Hello from Christchurch and my last day in New Zealand.

My last blog came from Taupo in the North Island and since then my time in New Zealand has been chaotic with me travelling to a new place nearly everyday.

After Taupo and my morning spent skydiving we got straight back on the bus and headed down to River Valley which was a quiet lodge set in the middle of nowhere. it was meant to be the centre for us to do white-water rafting but with such terrible weather we spent the evening sitting around a fire and sleeping. By this point our Kiwi Experience bus was getting rahter empty and we were worried we weren't going to meet anymore people. River Valley might have been a nice break after partying for 3 days in Taupo but I was hoping that it would get a bit more lively.

We left River Valley the following day much earlier than we were supposed to so we could get down to the capital city Wellington for the rest of the afternoon. the group of friends I had made by this point decided to stick together so we only had that one day to see the city and went on a mad dash around it. After spending a few hours in the museum we went for a walk to see the sights but someone left me with the map and we inevitably got lost and wasted a good hour trying to get back to the city centre to find our hostel! Unfortunatly we had to give up with sight-seeing and decided to use our time more effectively by sitting in the bar for the rest of the night!

After Wellington it was time to leave the north island and take the ferry over to the south. When we got off the ferry it was good to see a new bus with a whole load of new people that we would be with for the entire west coast. Once on our new bus we went straight down to Westport. After meeting the new group no-one wanted to do anything but party so we went to some of the local pubs. It was a crazy little town though and we had the funniest night playing pool and drinking with the locals.

The partying continued right down the west coast when we moved from Westport to Lake Mahinapua. This was a stop on the Kiwi bus where it was only us in the hostel and we had a fancy dress party in the pub! After that came Franz Josef and our first chance to stop in a few days as we were spending 2 nights there. Our second day in Franz Josef was one of the best days I've had the entire time I've been in New Zealand. We all booked to so a hike over the franz Josef glacier and it was incredible. I really didn't know what to expect but we spent our day walking through crevasses and going into caves of bright blue ice. It was absolutly stunning but after 8 hours I couldn't have been more tired.

Whilst sleeping off our day in Franz Josef, we moved down to Wanaka which was quite uneventful before going to much-awaited Queenstown!!! On my travels I had heard a lot about Queenstown and it lived up to every expectation!! It was most definatly the party capital of NZ and after 5 days there I definatly need a holiday!! While there some of my firends went on bungy jumps and skiing but I think I spent enough being out every evening! While I was there the one thing we had planned to do was go on a day trip to Milford Sound. On Wednesday we got up early to do this but when we got outside it started snowing and after an hour on the bus the trip got cancelled and we had to turn around and go back. Luckily we got to do the trip yesterday and saw some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. I had the best time in Queenstown and was sad to leave for Christchurch where it has been raining ever since.

We only got to Christchurch this evening so unfortunatly have not had a chance to see the city. All that is left to do now is pack my bag and get ready for my flight in the morning to Fiji. I have had the best time in New Zealand and could happily have stayed here longer but i can't wait to get back in the sun. Luckily I am flying out tomorrow with a girl I have spent my entire NZ trip with and we plan to go to some of the islands together which I am really excited about!!

Still having the best time in the world...

Lots of love x