Well everyone, I've had a busy couple of weeks. I spent 5 days in Wellington, which was good and can definitely see why it's in the top 5 capitals to visit in the world. It seems so long ago already after what I've done in the last 10 days, I can barely remember what I did when I was there.

I caught the Interislander ferry over to Picton after that, to start my travels on the South Island. I stayed in Picton for a couple of night after that, caught the Christmas parade before catching the train down to Blenheim. Blenheim is a famous wine region in New Zealand, I don't think I need to add much as to why I chose to stop here, but if you like your wine it's definitely worth a stop over. They know how to make a good bottle of Sauvignon Blanc but Hawkes Bay still manage to do a bottle that's better.

Anyway before I needed to start heading to the local AA meetings, I caught a 5 hour scenic train along the coast down to the city that shook a while back, for those who didn't see it on the news, I'm talking about Christchurch and the recent earthquake. Luckily, there were no aftershocks whilst I was there. I did the 'Big 5' tourist attractions and met some rather interesting senior citizens that weekend, plus saw a choir on the Friday night with the youngest member being 73 and the oldest 89! It was just one of things that all I can say is, you just had to be there. There rendition of Dancing in the Dark and You Can't Always Get What You Want, were quite something. They finished with 'Forever Young' which was quite fitting for them. It's not what I would call everyone's cup of tea, some of them couldn't hold much of a note but I think they have to be admired for travelling from the USA to put on a show like that, when most people would be quite happy with a quiet retirement.

On Monday, I got on a 11 hour bus ride (yes that's 11 hours) from Christchurch to Queenstown via Mount Cook. It's the longest bus ride I've ever been on but we had a really funny driver called Tom, who kept us all amused and I'm glad it was a scenic route. It was definitely one of those journeys where I felt like one of the kids wanting to keep asking 'Are we there yet?'

And so I've now reached the adventure capital of New Zealand and to be honest, they've got it all here. If you want an adrenalin rush, you'll find it here. It's definitely a tourist hotspot and I managed to find the Irish Bar yesterday, which was named 'Pog Mahaon', now for those reading this who haven't been introduced to Irish, I was a bit taken aback that someone would call a bar this, but each to their own.

I'm here until Saturday and will then be heading back to Auckland for an overnight stop before I head to Fiji on Sunday to be reunited with Mum and Dad. It's been a crazy couple of weeks but have really enjoyed my last couple of weeks here in New Zealand. Apparently if I'd of stayed much longer, I could have easily been a local and I can't say I would have minded that, but who knows what the future holds....

I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas frenzy back home, probably won't be on here again before Christmas now, so I hope Santa brings some nice surprises and you all enjoy spending time with family and friends over the holidays.

Merry Christmas!