NOW IN THE ADVENTURE CAPITAL (QUEENSTOWN) OF THE ADVENTURE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD (NZ) What a country. It is my first visit but Michelle is an old hand at this (lived here for several months a few years back). Flew into Christchurch about 10 days ago and picked up a small & fairly scruffy capervan (cheap you see). Drove north up east coast of the South Island to Nelson to stay with Michelle's friends (Bridget & Ben and family). 4 or so great ays in and around the Nelson area visiting the town, walking the beautiful Abel Tasmin trail to the north and (almost) reaching the top of Arthur's Peak before the rain & snow defeated us! After this we said farewell to our kind hosts before driving south west towards the west coast. This is an epic drive which was quite a sight. Seal colonies, glaciers, rugged walking trails, amusing camp grounds with an incredibly wide range of travelling sorts all with stories to tell. Our day-long guided hike over the Fans Josef glacier was a highlight. Crampons strapped to boots we set off behind our guide who seem only too keen to take his axe to the poor glacier (I was expecting the ice to take its vengance on us at any time - but the fact that I am typing this suggests that it did not). The climb through the glacier involved squeezing through the bottom of 50 foot deep crevaces which were as little as 18 inches wide - hence rucksacks had to be removed if you wanted to escap. All exciting stuff but a little unnerving (if cold) to be stuck there for 30 minutes while our guide (and his axe) took off to hack us a way out of there (I repeat: 'poor glacier'). After these adventures we headed south then east high up into the Southern Alps. First stop was Wanaka which is positioned on the edge of a huge glacial lake at the foot of steep mountains. The text-book examples of perfect glaciated structures (U-shaped valleys, hanging valleys, moraines, Rock-Sheep etc.) would have moved my Univesity Lecturer, Mr Robinson [yes I even remember his name], to tears..............). During our time at Wanaka we climbed one of the higher peaks (Roy's Peak - see photo above). 1578m above sea level and Wanaka is at around 250m - so work out the maths - a fair climb. The second half of the climb was up through thick snow which made us feel like the great Sir Edmund (even if he did climb at bit higher). Great picnic at the top sitting o the snow looking at the lake below, the suoorounding mountain ranges and skiiers on neighbouring slopes through our boniculars). The descent from this mountain was priceless. A real-life example of 'taking 3 hous to climb up and 30 minutes to descend' - well almost. The thick snow on the top was sufficiently steep to remind me of my toboganing days as a small boy on Dartmoor. Therefore it will come as no surprise to you that I gave it a go. Amazing how fast you can descent a steep mountain this way - shame M was too sensible to try it - but she had the last laugh as she at least ended the trip a little drier than 'soaked'. We also spent 2 days skiing out of Wanaka at Cardrona and Treble Cone. Smallish stations but it was enough to satisfy our requirements. It was helped by the fact that country is enjoying one of its best ski seasons for years. Powertastic. We have now moved a short distance south to Queenstown. At the last count there were over 1000 adventure-type activities that you could do from this town. If only our wallets were larger........ So far we have taken an epic hike over the snow-covered Ben Lomond Trail. While most of this was on our feet, a fair bit did utilise our backsides on the steep, snowy descents - much to the concern of the onlooking sheep. Good long trek ended in the pub far from our base at QT so we threw ourselves at the mercy of passing mororists and tried to hitch-hike home. The third car obliged - what a kind people the NZers are. Today we took a jet-boat ride across the lake and up a couple of rivers including the Shotover River. If you can imagine what kids get up to on their skateboards and BMXs in local parks and transfer this onto water at 10 times the speed - then you at least have a rough idea of what these boats get up to. The trip made both of us feel like teenagers again - needless to say I will be buying one of these boats upon my return to the UK. The rest of today has been spent in an internet cafe sending e-mails to you all - our friends and families back in the UK and around the world (aren't we nice!?). We have also booked a 4 wheel drive-tour for tomorrw as the weather does not look good. Next week we will venture into Fiordland and then for more skiing at Mount Cook - before ferry to the North Island. We promise that we will update our photos soon on this website. We are struggling to find internet cafes that let us download photos - clearly we are beginning to look like a suspicious pair. We will perservere and you can view new pics here soon. Cheerio for now and all the best to you all. Jez & Michelle