Sunday 6th April 2008- Christchurch, New Zealand

Following on from a small reunion with some Oz friends in Brisbane and a short flight later we arrive at Christchurch, for Jo to be formally told off in customs for taking pictures of our "plane friends" in their cowboy hats getting frantically searched for an illegal substances!! It being after midnight a well deserved bed and sleep was in need and so to Base Hostel it was.

The following day bought us sun, blue sky and a day of siteseeing around Christchurch.......this included exploring the Botanical Gardens, the markets and the arts centre. The town had a very English feel to it and some gorgeous coffee shops to sit and people watch! The evening we then caught up with our friends that we travelled on the plane with for a few Irish beverages in Mickey Fins!

Monday 7th April 2008-Christchurch to Kaikoura

06:30 we were up and boarding the "Kiwi Experience" bus to start our tour of the South Island with driver Diesal! Probably not the best time for us to making enemies, but Hannah in a rush decided to let some air int o a 3rd floor dorm and in doing so knocked out an empty pot of pot noodles (not ours!) and in it a fork, only missing someones head by inches! The fun of finding out who Hannah nearly took out had only just begun!

Unfortuately at this point the rain was lashing down, so our worries of having a rainy time in New Zealand started to appear! Luckily for us this was soon diminished! However the coldness didn't, but we were determined to still wear the flip flops for as long as possible. Taking in the scenary as we went we finally arrived at our hostel for the night; "Top Spot", to be greeted by a friendly man we happily sat, relaxed and enjoyed hot cups of Peppermint Tea, followed by a huge meal of pasta pasta and more pasta!!! Quality time catching up with our journals was also had here, perfect!

Tuesday 8 April 2008-Kaikoura to Nelson

Up feeling very refreshed and revitilsed we were back on the bus and heading towards Picton to pick up the rest of our fellow bus members of which we were to make the main journey of the South Island with! Hannah and I were quite nervous at this point, it felt like Fraser Island all over again, hoping we would have cool friends for the rest of our time here! Luckily being sat at the back where all the cool kids sit, we then adopted 3 other girls; Kim, Hannah and Sophie, who then became our roommates for the rest of our South Island trip! Here is also where we met "The Lads" (5 guys all travelling separately, but that met in the North Island, soon to be providing endless amounts of entertainment!) Pat, Will, Adam, Joe and Gripper! Getting all the usual formalities out of the way, we then knew we most definately had a crew sorted!

We also had a driver swap and met "Buzz" (huge tatooed Mauri guy!). A great way to start our bus bonding; a trip to a wineary!!! So a few glasses of wine later (Hannah and I being experts thanks to South Africa) and some lovely bread and olive oil we were back on the bus and taking in the views of what seemed to be "Postcard Picture Perfect" all the way.

Later that day we arrived at Nelson and our hostel "Fern Lodge". Fern Lodge was a lovely converted pub with what were like hotel rooms above and a lovely court yard out the back! They even had a Roast Dinner on offer but Hannah and I opted for a uni special of Mackrel Pasta with Rice! Ensuite rooms with the most amazing Power Showers (you really get to appreciate good showers when travelling and this was 5*!!)

That evening was spent getting to know our new friends on the bus, aided with an open log fire, some red wine and Will strumming on the guitar!

Wednesday 09 April 2008-Nelson to Westport

Back on board the Kiwi bus the following day we stopped off at a nearby town, Richmond to pick up picnic supplies for lunch. We then spent the afternoon walking round and taking in the views of Lake Rotoiti. The view was absolutely incredible, however, lunch was somewhat spoilt by a flock of Killer Ducksl Not taking anything for an answer they nailed us for all our food! Funny at forst bu not when your starving!

Once lunch was had, we then travelled further down the West Coast to Murchison andn along the "Buller Gorge River". This was to be host for our late afternoon activity..........Jet Boating!

The whole activity lasted approx hour and half and it started with a trip on the trailer of a tractor with Driver Doc guiding us down to the river and this was then followed by a cruise down the river with him demonstrating a few of his manouvering skills, giving us a small insight into what we might expect on the way up plus I think he loved the thought of scaring us slightly too!

A few 360 spins later, some more screams and hair raising moments down the river, dodging the rock face by inches and fully appreciating the heated hand rails we were back on the tractor and in the warmth sipping cups of tea!!!

That evening we stayed at "Bazel's Hostel", again another huge house converted into a hostel, with an amazing country style kitchen and girls being girls we were lucky enough to blag the best room in the joint!!! A 2 floored with mezzanine level apartment, with ensuite bathroom, TV and kitchenette! That evening we felt like we were in pure luxury!

Thursday 10 April 2008-Westport to Lake Mahinapua

Leaving our lovely apartment/hostel having had breakfast in the room with morning TV on, we then got back on board the bus and headed to Cape Foulwind, Tauranga Bay and did a seal colony walk, taking in as much of the gorgeous sites oalong the cliff top! We then travelled slightly further down the coast to the "Pancake Rocks" and "Blow Holes", exploring huge coastal formations and again being overwhelmed with what we were seeing!

After lunch we carried on driving to Greymouth - this is where the fun began forthe eagerly awaited POO PARTY!! Basically at Lake Mahinapua you have a party with a theme! the host is an 83 yr old man called uncle Les who has never ever left New Zealand and come to that not even the south island! he has been hosting these parties everynight for the kiwi experience for the past 20-something years and it was quite possible the most surreal thing that we ever did! Anyway before that we were given an hour to find our costumes in Greymouth and meet back at the bus - our theme was binbags and we were SO excited!! running around this town like mad women trying to find tools and fancy dress outfits that would make the best outfit! it was like supermarket sweep but without dale winton! it was so funny, jo and i went straight to the shops to steal cardboard then off to the warehouse to accessorise! I had opted for 'Xena the Zulu Warrior!' while Jo went for the very unique but equally awesome idea of 'seaweed!!' after an hour of panic buying we were back on the bus heading to our final destination the bus was buzzing with people's ideas, people holding skeletons, fairy wings, bees, you name it it was on the bus!

we got to our hostel, which was true to the word of 'basic' a room and bunk beds! we shared with the girls that we had been spending much of our time with and it wasnt long before we had a glass of wine and started cutting and sticking like mad women!! we only had a couple of hours as we were due for dinner at 7pm! Uncle Les makes 50 odd steaks for everyone with vegetables, venison stew, salad and pasta! it was awesome havent been fed so well in a while so the meal was well received! After dinner the race was on to get kitted up and head to the bar! the bar was a sight itself, well i say bar it was like an old gentlemens club but handing off the celings were years upon years of peopls bras, hats, scarfs fancy dress outfits! it was such a sight! Everyone had made such an effort which im sure you will all see from the photos! it was a wicked night and Jo and I were dancing to 80's and 90's classics all night! we laughed all night and partied till they told us to go home! It was a great way to let off steam (not that we have been working hard!) with everyone that we had been travelling with! Overall a very successful night. everyone who does the kiwi experience always asks how was your poo party? and we are so pleased to say 'IT WAS AWESOME!!!'