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Christmas in Christchurch was lovely - we had a sunny day which was quite warm - and a bit of rain in the evening but by then we were all a bit drunk so we didn't care! Huge thanks for my pressies Em and Nat (it made a huge difference to waking up somewhere far from home on Christmas morning!) Boxing day was a bit boring - but hey you can't have it all i suppose! We hung out at the hostel and polished off all the food and drink and i made everyone watch Maybe Baby which was on in the evening (not too bad tho).
Early Wednesday morning I caught the Coast to Coast shuttle bus that goes across Arthurs Pass (high up in the mountains) from Christchurch in the East to Greymouth in the West. Once in Greymouth I caught the Intercity up to Barrytown where I was booked in for two nights. Barrytown is one of the smallest places I have ever been - It rivals Lundy put it that way!! There is one pub which has the backpackers adjoined to it. One of the strangest backpackers I've stayed in and it had awful facilities but it was an experience! I'd actually arranged to do a knifemaking course on the Thursday so I had a quiet night on Wednesday. Got picked up from the hostel at 9.30am and had one of the best days since I've been away. Its a shame I didn't take more photos but they're in the album for those of you that can see them. The guys running the workshop were Steven and Robyn - a fantastic pair who made it a truly memorable day. My knife is my pride and joy this week (although my friend Vale pointed out to me that I need to stop carrying it around as its technically a 'concealed weapon!!) We finished off the day by having drinks (Steven makes his own Moonshine!) and getting some group photos taken. We weren't a huge group - just 6 of us which was good in a way as we got a bit more time.
That night the new Stray bus pulled into Barrytown and I met a load of new people - we had lots of drinks (thats really all there was to do!) and ended up having a fancy dress party in the pub! An interesting concept that was a hell of a lot of fun but I can't see it going down well in Crabby's!! Have some funny photos from the night - my bus driver is called Taxi and is in the pajama's dancing on the bar! We all had a late start thank goodness the next day as we didn't have to leave till 12.30 so we all made the bus in time - even Taxi! Had a good drive down the coast to Franz Joseph, arriving at about 4.30pm. Franz Joseph is a small town in the mountains and about 15mins drive away from the Franz Joseph Glacier. We booked on to do Hikes the next day (Saturday).
6 of us chose to do the full day hike which started out at 8.15 - we got all kitted up and drove up to the Glacier in the bus with 28 others. It was a fantastic day - my photos almost don't look real! It was hard work - worse than Ayres Rock because you had to keep with the group (there were only 8 in mine which was great.) We got to crawl through ice caves and into pretty big Crevases - stopping for lunch on the Ice. We hiked for about 6 hours - sometimes we stopped whilst our guide Gabriel re-cut steps in the ice so there were plenty of photo opportunity's too. I am pretty sore today - my muscles don't know what hit them but it was worth it!
It's New Years Eve today - nearly 5pm now so I'm off to get a bottle or two of wine in and get ready. Have met some nice Irish boys and the Stray Bus came in again last night to I made sure I got to know a few of them over some killer pool last night! Can you believe it I was that last girl standing (at Killer pool that is - not because of the drink!) so i was pleased with myself and got bought a Jaegerbomb as congratulations! Do you guys have them in England yet - I'd never heard of it before Oz! Anyhows have a wkd night everyone - please take some pics to send me as I love to see all the costumes! (Oh Nat I couldn't open thos pics you sent me?!) Have a good one all - i'll be thinking of you! xxx
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