Hey hey hey and welcome back to the blog of clare and amand. We apologise for being so quiet and for not keeping in touch, but we have been so busy seeing the sights, having adventures and meeting new people that we just havent had the time to sit down and write to you all. The weather has been so lovely too, that whatever free time we have is spent in the sunshine.....yay!

Well, last time we wrote we had just arrived in New Zealand. We have done so much and seen so many amazing things, that we couldnt possibly tell you everything (unless you want to be sat at your pc for a day or 2).Or first stop was Auckland, which we felt was a bizarre city. Even at rush hour the streets seemed dead, there were hardly any people (except foreighn language students) and very different to the cities we were used to. Despite this, we had a great time comparing the experiences and seeing how other people across the world live. We didnt do that much in Auckland, as we were trying to recover from our 22 hour time jump (david tennant eat your heart out). Our first reall touristy thing was a visit to the sky tower. It is mean to be the tallest bulding in the southern hemisphere and a little taller then the eiffel tower. The views from the top were pretty amazing and you could see the city and harbour so clearly. They are going to be opening a 'city sky tower walk' (like sydney harbour bridge), so there were lot of men up the top preparin for that; but sadly, we were a few weeks early and so wasnt able to it - shame. Some of the floor was made out of glass and if you were brave enough to stand on it and look down you were able to just about make out the tiny ant like creatures known as humans.....eeek. Clare wasnt too sure about this and did all she could to avoid standing or even walking near the glass. But with reassurance and accepting that the glass is made to withstand the weight of several humans, she fought the fear and did it any way - we have evidence of her to prove it! (Little di we know at this point that she was to conquer her fear even more later in the trip - well done i say!)

From Auckland we also headed up to Paiha - a cute little seaside place and the gateway to the Bay of Islands. We got a boat from the harbour and headed out to see in search of one of the worlds most beautiful creatures - the dolphin. We must have been on the boat a good few hours when all of a sudden, the crew jumped into action and the boat sped off. There had been a sighting of a school of dolphins. As we pulled up beside them they jumped and played to the joy of the spectators, but being the tease they are, they turned around and swam off in a different direction. Luckily we were able to follow them and by this point we were lying on the front of the boat leaning as far over as gravity would allow and viewing the beautiful creatures swimming beside us. It was quite unbelievable and they were in touching distance of us. We were given the option to swim with them but given the fact that they swim at a speed of 45kpm (note that an olympic swimmer swims at 3kpm) we weren't too successful. On some days the dolphins would stay in one spot and play with the humans but sadly on that day they had other things on their mind...but just seeing them in their natural habitat was worthwhile. Also whilst in Auckland we met up with the daughter of Clare's Mum's friend who moved to NZ a couple of years ago. Her amd her husband were so welcoming and invited us into their home and cooked us a lovely meal as if we'd known them for years. They also took us to the most beautiful beach and pretty much unknown to tourists. Piha was a little surf spot with white crashing waves and as we watched the sun set we watched the waves change colour beside lion rock....

From Auckland we got on the magic tour bus amd headed towards Rotorua. On the way we stopped at Waitomo Caves where we took part in a spot of black water rafting. For those that don't know this is where you sit on a large rubber ring and surf the water in the caves below ground. Donned in wetsuits and fishmonger boots and armed with a headtorch we set off through the cow field towards the cold dark caves. On entering the caves we couldn't believe how much the temperature dropped and how cold the water was. As the water got deeper we sat on our rings and let the current do the work....Having to fight against water slides and shear drops was quite challenging and not at all peaceful however all the way we were guided through by the sparkeling lights of the glow worms (which in fact we learned was the glorified glow of shiny maggot poo, mmmm nice!). We had a good laugh on this trip and met some great people.

On arrival to Rotorua the town could be smelt long before it could be seen. Why I hear you ask? this is because, it is made up of hundreds of sulphur mud pools. These are quite impressive natural phenomenas which bubble and boil hot mud but the sulphur sure as hell does stink. We are told by locals that you soon get used to it (hmmm... we believe them!!!).We also visited the Tamaki Village which is a Maori cultural centre where we experienced their customs and rituals and sampled traditionally cooked Hangi food. Once again we were surrounded by half-dressed men (it's a hard life!) and met the campest maori you could possibly imagine (shut that door!). Also in Rotorua we decided to become hamsters for the day and took part in some zorbing. Not your average zorbing, hydro-zorbing. This is where you get in a giant hamster-like ball filled with water and roll down a steep hill. It is one of the funniest things we have ever done and highly recommend it!

In Lake Taupo, our next destination, we took it as a time to chill; or so we thought. After a lie in we decided to hire bikes and ended up doing a 3 hour cycle around Lake Taupo. It was really refreshing and visually pleasing on the eye but with sore bums and with trying to avoid the local chav gangs we were glad to be back at the hostel where we sat for hours in the hot spa watching the beautiful sunset. We got some strange looks from the locals and other cyclists coz little did we know that that weekend was a famous cycle race by people come from all over NZ to take part in a race around the lake which is the size of the Isle of Wight (or Singapore)! They must have looked at us puffing and panting up the hill and prayed that they would not get stuck behind us in the race - no chance!

Our next stop was Wellington (or Windy Welly!) we really liked it here, it had a really trnedy feel to it. Our accommodation was lovely and we did a stunning city to sea walk which took us through the botanical gardens, japanese garden of peace, past the only human generated sun dial, cable car, and back to the city. This was our last stop in the north island.

Now to the south. After a 3 hour ferry journey we arrived in Picton to make our way to Nelson. Straight away we were hit by green rolling hills and lush views. The driver guarenteed us that Nelson was a hippy place with plenty of dread action but we (well Amanda actually) were gravely dissapointed that there was none to be seen. We took a tour to Abel Tasman national park where we saw seals, waterfalls, creeks and glorious beaches. The walk was pretty tough at times but well worth it. Boy did we sleep well that night. So from there we went to Greymouth a tiny ghost town used purely for fishing and freight distribution. There's not much to tell about here except Clare took part in a brewery tour and bbq but seeing as Amanda hates beer and doesn't eat meat she opted for a rejuvenating run instead. We met some locals who were rather lubricated and were waiting to set sail for a working fishing trip the next day. I think we could have joined them and possibly even wed them as I'm not sure they have much contact with the female species (lurvely!).

Okay, our next destination could never be described well enough over a blog. The only way to appreciate and understand its actual beauty is to visit. This place being Franz Josef and Franz Josef glacier. Our first night there was spent steering a two-man kayak around the lake and rivers of the rainforest which the glacier fed into. Considering neither of us had ever kayaked before we picked it up pretty well, kept up with the team and were able to appreciate peacefulness and tranquility or our surroundings. On this trip, we met a rather cute kayak instructor who helped us when we got stuck in the bank (we obviously did this on purpose purely so he would have to save us - tee hee hee!). We also met a girl from Chalton (a village near Harlington) who knew a girl Amands went to school with - madness eh!! The sunset and views were once again amazing and we didn't think it could get much better, until the next day! The next day found us stepping foot on the glacier. Clare decided to go on a half day hike from the bottom donning the boot spikes and hiking up ice walls and side-stepping through ice corridors trying to keep up with the guide. The guide took a guitar up with him and played us a merry tune when we reached the end of the hike which added to the experience just up to the point where blue ice starts to appear. Amanda chose to do a heli-hike after wrapping up warm and checking-in with the helicopter crew she began to fly up in the air and over the white of the glacier. The pilot gave commentary over the land below and zoomed in to the crevices and cracks which formed over the glacier. As we began to reach the peak we landed in the safest place possible where we were met by our hiking guides. The sun was so intense and suprisingly it didn;t feel cold but with ice sculptures, ice tunnels, and thick snow you knew that the temperaturtes could reach well below freezing. I don't think words could do justice to the experience. The air was so clean and the snow so pure with streaks of blue water and ice . Being the sun-loving junkie that she is, Amanda never thought she could appreciate and love such surroundings so much. Climbing through ice tunnels and shuffling through small holes in the snow, things were great and with no set route and the guide having to hack foot-holes in the mountain to make a path things could be scary (especially when he made a mini avalanche to make room for us to pass) but it has to be said that it was one of the most amazing experience of all. After this a hot shower was needed for both of us!!

We've arrive in Queenstown which, apart from drinking cocktails from teapots (how English!) we haven't done much else except chill and top up our tans. So we will tell you more when there is more to tell...bye for now and enjoy the winter xxx