Kia Ora (or Welcome in Maori), Well we have now completed our journey in Aotearoa (Land of the Long White Cloud or New Zealand as we know it) and what a place it is.......it is most definately one of the top things to do before you die.....we could not recommend it enough! You all know about the North island so now we will update you on the South Island...... From when you 1st land in the South Island you understand why people speak so much about the breathtaking scenery....your first sight is Marlborough Sounds and what a sight it is....these unbelievable sights carry you through your journey from Picton to Nelson and on to our 1st destination Abel Tasman National Park. We decided to go Tramping when we got to Abel Tasman (and we dont mean swinging our beads down the cross for a few bucks), tramping in NZ is what we call hiking! We took a boat out over choppy waters into the park and were left in the middle of nowhere to start our 2.5hr trek back to our pick up point....there are no roads in the park and the only route out is via water so when we say in the middle of nowhere we really were. We managed the trek in 1.45hrs which we were very proud of and you will see via our pics some of the great scenery and Maz refusing to get over a swing bridge....dont know how the bungy is going to happen!!!!! Drove to West Port that night and took the drive through the mountains to the west coast in the pitch dark and pouring rain......its OK we were on the highway....which consists of 1 lane each way and no barriers next to ultra high drops...mega!!!!! Headed down from West Port to Cape Foulwind to see the Seal Colony and the fantastic views.....fell in love with seals immediately! Also dropped off at Punakaiki and the Pancake Rocks, these have been created through a layering and weathering process on the limestone rocks and they do look like a stack of pancakes! On our way to Punakaiki we came across a weird caution sign (and we have seen many on our travels from bears to donkeys) but this one takes the biscuit (pardon the pun), yes you guessed it, it was caution - Penguins!!! Spent a night in Franz Josef before starting our glacier trek...honestly what an experience...you will see by the pics that the glacier was huge and it was pouring with rain that day. We were on the full day tour and had no idea what we had let ourselves into..until we seen the sign...the glacier is roped off to stop people straying into the path of ice fall, but we just walked right through it!!!! The glacier trek took all day and we had some mighty scary heights to climb with some serious cravass's below us, what we didnt know is that we would have to fit ourselves through some of these!!!!!! Made it through the tightest cravass the guide could find then found out there was a girl stuck in one of the easier one's, greg and a couple of the guys spent 40 mins using ropes to get her out!!!! Then our guide had a brainwave...we should go through that very same cravass....which we did.....but Maz lost her footing, slid down and got stuck!...extremely scary but the guide and a lovely guy called Damo (cheers Damo) had me out in a jiffy......then we still had the decent and Greg never took his eyes off me after that!! Still have the bruises to prove it to this day! Also managed to completely knacker our digital camera by putting it safely in our pocket along with a huge puddle of water....fantastic! Celebrated in the evening with Damo and Claire along with our Guide Ieuan and had a feww too many....well Maz had to numb the pain! A wee note to Claire and Damo if you read this... how are Damo's ribs? (he managed to break 1 or 2 on the ice climb as well!!)........hope you are enjoying your time in Fiji and Damo had better be at the helm of the boat giving Claire a rest from the driving!!!!!!! Ventured on down to Queenstown on our way to Milford Sound and spent a night there........got up bright and early to journey on down to Milford Sounds but had a slight hiccup in the morning......Greg is showing his age with memory loss or confusion as he put water in the oil tank of the Camper!!!!!! Tried to drive it to a garage and the smoke started billowing out the back.......got towed to the garage and spent the following 3 hrs getting the engine flushed, new oil filter etc etc....what a laugh the guyz at the garage had.......well Old Age doesnt come on its own!!!!! The road from Queenstown to Milford Sound via Te Anu was spectacular, the weather was perfect for it, sun was out and we took in the views as we went......then we hit the mountains and the weather closed in....there were many signs for avalanches and we realised too late that we really should have had snow chains! However we managed through and got to Milford safely and celerated with fish and chips along with a few vino's at the one and only pub. The following day for the boat trip around Milford Sound the weather was not so great, much rain (and there is 200 days of it a year in Milford Sound) but the views were still out of this world as you will see from the pics...we also went to the deep underwater observatory which dangles from a system of linked pontoons attached to Milfords rock face 10.5m under water.........the only way you would get Maz underwater....where we got to see corals, anemones, sea perch etc. From Milford we took the treacherous road back to Queenstown for Greg's 30th Birthday and our Bungeeeeeeeeeees! 1st challenge was the Canyon Swing and what a challenge...109m High....60m Freefall.........200m Arc!!!! Totally crazy....have a look at the pics and you will see! As it was the last day of being 29 Greg went 1st and decided to go backwards, Maz went later and decided to go forwards as she tried to take the guyz on the platform with her when trying to go backwards!!! We dont know what was worst seeing the ground racing towards you at a phenomenal speed or watching the world go away from you at the same rate...doesnt really matter as both sent your tummy into turmoil on the freefall! The follwing day was the Big 30 for Greg..........Maz had managed to get loadz of birthday greetings behind his back and a huge thanks to everyone who sent them from greg...cheerz! Maz had a birthday brownie (rather than cake) with 30 candles on it....it was a really big brownie...hehe! Went to do the Kawarau Bridge Bungy - home of the original 43m bungy into the Kawarau River........once again a tremendous buzz......Greg got totally drenched as it was his birthday and Maz managed to stay dry (as you all know she is terrified of water). Not satisfied with that we decided we would give The Ledge a go as well as you got it for cheaper if you done it on the same day....and we though it wouldnt be that bad after the last 2.....how wrong were we!!!! The Ledge is perched at the top of the gondola, 400m above the ground and has a runway for you to jump off of in a harness!!!!! This was totally crazy as it messed with your mind being 400m up although the bungy was only a 47m drop (only!!!). we thought about how we were going to run off, a flip, twist etc etc.....but all both of us could manage was to fall over the edge as our legs went to jelly at the edge..........never laughed so much!!!! Went for dinner in a Thai (unusual for us!!) and then headed to a bar to meet Stacey and Tim who we met at the Canyon Swing for a few drinks and then met up with Ross and Chris who we done the Glacier climb with...had a few too many as usual........thanks for a great night... Due to time constraints we had to head to Dunedin the day after the partying and had a serious hangover for the journey but we made it......Dunedin is just like a piece of Scotland tucked away in NZ, all the street names are the same as Edinburgh. We then ventured to Otago Peninsula to see the seals and the rare yellow eyed penguins,so rare we only seen one, but the NZ fur seals more than made up for it. We got really close and as you will see from the pics they are soooooo cute.....you just wanted to wrap them in your jacket and take them home (although they would bite your hand off if you did try). Also in Dunedin is the steepest street in the world and when you see it in the pics you will see why.....as stupid as we are we decided to walk UP the street, not the easiest!!!! Dont worry everyone we are nearly finished... Last stop before we headed to Christchurch for our flight to Oz was Kaikoura where we went Whale Watching.....what an experience.....took a while to find the sperm whale and we only seen 1 but it was a once in a lifetime experience and they are such amazing animals...couldnt believe the size of them. On the way back a pod of dusky dolphins followed the boat and there were extremely rare southern white whales (a mum and 2 babies) just off the beach when we got back...great end to a wonderous place! We are now leaving New Zealand with a heavy heart, the scenery is spectacular, the wildlife amazing, the adrenaline activities are by the truck load and most of all the people are friendly and always have time to talk to you, whether they know you or not......something lacking back home. Off to Oz on saturday for the start of a whole different journey and we cannot wait! As alwayz all our love to everyone back home and we are missin you all loadz.....thanks for keeping in contact via e-mail and our message board! Hei Konei Ra (see you later), Maz and Flem xxxx