So we set off on Tues 12th for 18 days travelling the south island. Typically NZ has had their hottest summer in a decade and severe draughts but the day we leave it is bloody chucking it down. We decided to go anti clockwise and luckily our first stop was at Hamner Springs Hot Pools and Thermal Spas... divine! And the rain was perfect! The pools are really hot with the hottest being 40C it was sooo relaxing. We then moven on to Kaikoura for the night at a pretty shabby campsite but enjoyed our first taste of 'roughing it' in the back of a so called camper (actually a people carrier). But was loads of fun. The camper had tiny sofas in the back which converts into a bed at night... which was surprisingly comfy. Open the boot and you have a small sink, fridge and a stove! Awesome huh?

Next day before we left Kaikoura we went to see a seal colony which was so lovely watching the lazy sods lounging around on rocks. The views were superb on a lovely walk we did. Kaikoura is actually famous for its whale and dolphon trips but we copuldn't afford them!

We then made our way to Picton about a 4 hour drive on the way we had a scary 'nailbiting' experience... I was driving and we were low on petrol (you can drive for an hour and not find a bloody petrol station NZ is SO quiet). So we went through a little village and I said to Matt "How long until the next town as the petrol will be cheaper than here?" He apparently replied "50 km" I heard "15km" so happily kept on driving... as you can imagine a slight argument took place for the next 50km him saying "Your deaf!" ANd me saying "You bloody mumble all the time!" So it was very tense! I was having to freewheel down all the hills and trying not to excelerate up the hills eek! But luckily we made it to the town...just... phew!

Anyway Picton was rubbish, pretty yes, but so is everywhere. We played crazy golf and then headed on to Nelson to a large camp.

The next day was Valentines day. Nelson was lovely, it is considered a big town to kiwis but compared to Uk towns not so much! But the Cathedral was beautiful and the most amzing choir was pracitising in there... voices of angels! We then went to the cinema as it was Valentines we thought we should go on a 'date' so we watched Charlie Wilsons War... we would def recommend it! We had a lovely day gandering around and then bought some very cheap bubbly and had a lovely meal in the back of the camper... cheap and cheerful but so lovely!

Next day as a Valentines treat matt and I... did a 4 hour river-ride horse trek. It was so beautiful and very amusing as Matt has never so much as stroked a horse hehe. I told him before hand how to make it 'go fast' hehe and it kept bolting off (much to Matt's shock/horror).

Following day we visited a quaint little market and I somehow managed to persuade matt to goto an Opera in thew park that night. It was truly spectacular... Matt didn't quite share my enthusiasm for it...surprise surprise.

The rest of our time consisted of... staying in a nudist camp... yuk! (Matt's idea - I think he thought it would be packed with some young hotties... but it was quite the oppposite! ha!) We passed through Punakaiki which is famous for its 'Pancake Rocks' - thousands of thin pancake-like rocks piled up. We visited 'Shanty Town' which is basically an old gold mining village remake. We stopped off at 'Arrowtown' a beautiful oldy-worldy town with an old chinese settlement.

We spent 3-4 days in Queenstown and had a fantastic time. The views of the 'Remarkables' are truly remarkable! Whilst in Queenstown we... visited 'Underwater World' as reccommended by the Lonely Planet - what a joke! $5 dollars each to watch trout and ducks bottoms/feet in merky water beneath a small pier. Very funny though. We visited an Ice Bar which was fantastic! You are given big coats, 'Ugg' boots and gloves before you enter and can only stay in it for half an hour max. EVERYTHING is made from ice... chairs, statues, bar, walls, floor, ceiling, glasses! Gorgeous cocktails and great music. We did the gondala and luging there as well.

Our last few days consisted of... 'Puzzling World' with huge mazes (very tricky) and amazing 'puzzling' rooms. One room shows how they filmed the hobbits in Lord of the Rings to make them look so small- very clever! I must mention that Matt cooked the NICEST lamb ever that night!!! Massive succulent pieces for about three pounds! YUMMY! We passed Lake Tekapo with gorgeous bright blue water and saw mount cook in the background- beautiful! We also did a walk to Franz Josef Glacier which was stunning. We then headed back to Alex's in Christchurch for our last 2 days...