Once again I have fallen behind on my journal updates so please bear with me as i try to remember the events of the past couple of weeks. We have now left the south island for the more populated north island. In between, lots of crazy things have been kicking off.

My last journal article finished in Franz josef about a billion years ago. It was here where there was a humungous great big Glacier coming out of the mountain. Pretty spectacular if I do say so myself. We decided to go Ice climbing up it. So.... ice axes, crampons, ropes and sandwiches galore, we headed for the glacier in the early hours of the morning. It took about 2 hours of walking up the glacier to get to the spot. I had to pinch myself a couple of times to reming myslef that i was actually on this glacier in the middle of a rainforest. Its quite unbelievable and its the only place in the world that it happens. We did about 3 hours of ice clibing up some pretty huge walls. By the end of the day we were even doing over hangs, cliffhanger style. It was a great experince, especially as none of us have evr done it before. Challenging and very tiring but hugely rewarding. At the end of the day we were sitting in a beer garden, basking in the sunshine, wondering how it was possible that just an hour ago we were ice climbing on a huge glacier. Only in New Zealand hey.

Other things we did in Franz Josef...... Well we went on a walk up a hill to an old mining shaft. We walked through it into the pitch black hole with the smallest torch ever seen. There was a flow of water through the middle so we we were walking in a kind of "we have crapped ourelves" kind of fashion. Pretty cool tunnel actually. There were loads of glow worms on the celing that illuminated when the lights were off. We also had a take away curry here that we felt was derserved after the ice climbing. Franz Josepf is probably 2nd most stunning place i have seen in New Zealand. Only second to The Milford Sounds, which is breathtaking in places. More on this when i get to the Queenstown section.

We ended up spending four nights in Franz Josef because our driver messed up and forgot to book us on the bus. Pratt. I was a little worried because i had been put on standby for the bus on the 5th day. Needed to get out of there. Luckily there was one space left for me and i was on. Our new bus driver was named CHEESE. He is a legend. Best driver by a mile. His whispered "Sweet as" phrase down the microphone is legendary. Cheese and our bus load headed to Lake wanaka for a one night stop over. On the way, Cheese decided to stop at a bridge so we could jump into the river below. Even Cheese went in. The hostel we stopped at in Wanaka was more hotel quality, which was a nice suprise. We had a TV in the four bedroomed room. A pretty chilled out place. After a couple of hours swimming in the lake, we went back, cooked some Spag Bol and chilled out in our room, watching a bit of Walk the Line. Its got me right into a bit of Johnny Cash. The next day we would be heading to Queenstown. Bungy bungy bungy

Sooooo, it was time to head to Queenstown. This is the adrenaline pumping, drinking capital of new zealand. You can do anything here, except not spend money. Its legendary. Home of the original bungy site and also home of NEVIS, the highest Bungy in New Zealand. It was going to be an action packed four days. But first, the driver stopped off at puzzle world. A place of weird and wonderful illusions, puzzles and mazes. For 10 bucks, not a bad hour and a half here. Unfortunately, we failed at the maze. Couldnt find the fourth and final tower. Oh dear.

On the way into Queesntown, we stopped at the original bungy bridge site, where people from the bus could do Bungy jumps if they wanted. I had already signed up for the Nevis jump the next day, so i was just a spectator here. Tom and Lee were mulling over it for a long time though. After an hour or so they decided to do a tandem jump together. It was their first ever Bungy jumps. Leeroy was looking very pale going into it. The photos are hilarious. Anyway, they did it and fair play to them. Great way to get yourself up for a night out because tonight was going to be a biggy.

You can feel the buzz around Queeny as soon as you arrive. Its an adrenaline fuelled place. We were staying at the discovery lodge, where all the backpacker buses seem to go. The room wasnt the best. Pretty cramped with peoples stuff scattered around. didnt matter today though. We pretty much headed straight for the bar at around 5pm to get a three hour head start on the rest of the bus. It turned out to be a great first night. Altitude and World bar were given the treatment. We met some brilliant people including Kate and Lauryn. Oki was also there giving it loads. In world bar we were drinking cocktails out of teapots, which is the norm here. We arrived back to our hostel around 5am and i could hardly remember a thing about it. Must have been a good night then.

The next morning I had the worst feeling i have ever experienced when i woke up. A mixture of tiredness, hungoverness and FEAR. Today i was going to do NEVIS. It stands at a massive 134m above the ground between two mountains, which is over three times higher than the one the other lads did the day before. The photos i have seen of it are terrifying. So at 12.00pm, i headed by myself to the Bungy shop feeling ill from the night before and a little sick with fear. It wasnt until 12.30pm that the bus finally arrived to take us all to the Bungy site, which is a 40 minute drive away. The tension just builds and builds, especially as you ascend the mountainin the bus. You arrive at the top, get your harness fitted and then you go and have a look over the edge. Its at this point where i thought why the hell i was there. The station where you jump from is suspended by wires in between the moutains. You have to get into this basket type carriage, that takes you across to the station. This in itself is a scary experience as its the first time you can really see how high the jump is. I tried not to look. The station in itself is only about 15-20 foot in length and has about 15-20 people on it, most of them looking quite terrified. You jump in order of weight, heaviest first. I was about midway along. At this point i am s***ting myself. Each time a person is called a slip of paper is removed from the wall to reveal who is next. Before i knew it, my name was next. When your name is called you go through this gate and sit on the chair of doom, while you wait for the previous person to get pulled up. God, i feel nervous just writing about it. Once this is done you get your bungy rope attached to you and then its time. The walk of death (while your feet are tied) to the edge. When you get there you dont look down. People who look dont jump. Its bloody high. At this point i can hardly remember a thing. I dont think i even waited for the countdown. I just jumped. 8 seconds of free fall before being pulled back up and then fall back down again. The initial fall is the most intense thing i have ever experienced. Its unbelievable. Way more intense than sky diving. When you get pulled back up to the top, there is a moment where you feel completely weightless, suspended between two mountains. Its the weirdest thing i have felt, but sweet as. The second time you bounce back up, you have to reach for the chord by your leg and pull it out to the left. This makes you swing around so your facing upwards. Having seen someone previously who couldnt do it and was pulled up face down, I thought, after a few tugs, that this was going to happen to me. Lucklily, it did not, and i was soon bouncing around the right way up, waiting to be pulled back up to the station. I didnt like this bit as im not the best with heights. The jump itself though was incredible. I certainly had earned myself a Fergburger that night. Well pround of myself. By the way, the Ferg burger place in Queenstown is the place where legends are made. The best burgers you'll ever have anywhere in the world. Just thought i'd let you know. Sweet As 

Another day in Queenstown and another adventure. Today was time for a bit Mad dog river boarding. Bascially, you get a Boogie Board and go down the river rapids. Pretty scary stuff at times. We were warned that there is a possibility that sometimes you may go under for about ten seconds and the key thing is not to panic. Yeah right. Its is also the most tiring activity you will do. You get these weird looking flippers and have to use them to direct yourself to the safe part of the river. By the end of it nearly everyone was cramping up in the legs. To know which is the safe part you have to look for signals from the instructors. Not that easy when your being tossed about in white water. Also, there is the issue of people colliding into you and dragging you under at vital moments, ie at the top of rapids. At times i must admit that i wished i wasnt there but looking back it was a lot of fun. At the end of the river boarding we also got the chance to get pulled along by a jet ski. This was awesome. I was on the board with Lee, who managed to fall off. Unfortunately i was having so much fun that it took me a while to realise he had gone. We then had to go and find him somewhere down the river before he went into some rapids or something. We also went did some rope swinging, went down a slide and did some rock jumping. All in all was a great day out.  Absolutely nakerd by the end of it. This, however, did not stop us heading out again that night. Probably a bad idea since we had to be up at 6am for the Milford Sound cruise. I ended up going to bed at 4.30am that night. Leeroy went to bed 10 minutes before the alarm went off.

We all woke up the next day feeling like absolute crap. We hopped on the bus as it was still dark, ready for the 4 hour journey to the Milford Sounds. The road to Milford Sounds is considered to be one of the worlds finest alpine drives and the milford sounds is regarded as the most beautiful place in New Zealand. There is no questionning these statements. The weather wasnt great but we all agreed that the drizzle and rain added an errieness to the setting. The mountains that surround you are made of solid rock. This means that rain water is not absorbed, producing spectacular water falls, like veins on the mountain. The chasm is also an unbelievable sight. A gushing water fall on the river. Its power is beyond belief.  The boat then drops you off at the boat for the main event.....a cruise around the Milford Sounds. This two hour cruise is what you travel the four hours for. Its an amazing place filled with waterfalls and surrounded by mountains. Its hard to describe this place in words.... you have to go there. We also visited the underwater observatory before heading back for another four hour drive. So thats Queenstown for you. Four days of action packed activities. We had an awesome time there.

 The next day we headed to the Geraldine river for some rafting with Rangitata rafts. The next day we would be rafting down Rangitata Gorge, situated at the base of the 'Two Thumb' mountain range. This stretch of river offers some of New Zealand's most exciting white water which maintains its grade 5 rating at all water levels (the most exciting commercially rafted). We would be staying at a lodge that evening and rafting the next day. That night was all about relaxing after the partying and activities done in Queeny. We cooked some vegetarian pasta bolognaise and chilled out watching True Lies and Starsky and Hutch, before resideing to the three storey bunk bed. Just what I needed.

The next day we had breakfast and lunch cooked for us before heading to the rapids. As i have been rafting before, i was told to sit at the front. This is the place you will most likely fall in. And yes, i did fall in. This seems to happen evey time i do this activity. Not sure why. Luckily, another boat picked me up before i drifted down the river too far. The day out was so much fun. White water rafting is definately one of my favourite activities as everyone has to work together to make sure you get through ok, without capsizing the boat into grade five rapids. When we arrived back to the lodge, we were greeted with a barbeque tasty barbeque. Just what you need after a session of rafting. Afterwards, they drove us to Christchurch. Brilliant.

Christchurch is where we started our New Zealand trip so it was just a one nighter here. We stayed at the Jail house again because it is by far one of the best hostels we have stayed in. A planned night in front of the TV turned out to be a night on the town. Regretted again when the alarm went off at 6.15am. The 7.30am bus was taking us to Kaikoura, another place we have also visited. The one saving grace was that Cheese was once again our driver. Koda koda koda. We decided to stay at a different hostel to everyone else as we couldnt be arsed with the crowds. Instead we stayed at the Lazy Shag, a really chilled out hostel and the best TV room so far. They even had Lord of the Rings, which we had been craving to watch since arriving here. We watched the two towers. Brilliant. 

After a rejuvinated sleep, we were now heading to the North island and to the capital city, Wellington. We took the three hour boat ride across before being taken to our hostel, base backpackers. Its a six storey building full to the brim with scummy backpackers such as ourselves. Comfy beds though We had two nights out here because it was Oki's and Jen's birthday. In between we headed to the Te Papa, New Zealand’s national museum, which offers visitors a unique and authentic experience of this country’s treasures and stories. Definately worth a visit. The third night i went on a date with Lauryn to the cinema, who is a fantatstic young lady I met in Queenstown. We watched Notes on a Scandal before heading out for a drink. Unfortunately I have had to leave her In wellington as she is staying there to work. Meanwhile, I am off to Taupo, my current destination. Here we were supposed to do the Tangariro crossing, regarded as one of the best day walks in the world. This is where mount doom is from Lord of the rings. However, the weather has stopped us from doing it. Well gutted about that. On the bright side its given me a chance to update this journal. Since being in Taupo i have began to master the art of spaghetti bolgnaise. Well tasty. We did go on a walk yesterday to some thermal pools. Pretty cool. This thermal pool comes out at the side of the river. Its like sitting in a hot bath. When you venture into the river it becomes freezing cold. A weird and wonderful experience. And thats my journal up to date. Its not long now till we head off to South America for the final leg of the journey. Im more excited about this than any other place we have been. Its gonna be sweet as, sweet as, sweet as