What a jam packed week! My last blog came from christchurch just over a 2 weeks ago! During that time i have traveled up to the top of the south island and round to thw west coast down to queenstown and then back up through christchurch and up to wellington which is where I am now. The Kiwi experience is not like the oz experience at all as the bus moves quite quickly round from each stop.

My 1st day on the bus started with an early moring start from christchurch. The 1st stop was a small town called Kaikoura. It is home to whale watching, dolphin swimming and fishing. I went for the cheapest option of fishing. We caught load of fish...not sure what they were called but there were red in colour. We also caught some crayfish which we got to keep including all the fish we got to keep too. The fisherman was a one legged, fingerless guy who apprently lost them to a shark. But no one dared ask. When we were out fishing we saw dolphins and seals. I had a video of the dolphis but I delted by accident off my camera. We also saw a... which was great to see in the wild and up close.

We were only in Kaikoura for one night moving onto nelson which was the start of the west coast. Neslso wasnt much of a place...only famous for the 1st game of rubgy is played every year in New Zealand.

We went onto westport, which isnt where most people stop. Its a real hillbilly place. From there i did some jet boating. Which was great fun! Speeding down the river mm from rocks was great fun. We also got to learn about some of the history of the river and how high it got over the years.

The next stop was Lake Mahinapua where the famous Poo Pub Party is. It is where every one dresses up. Our theme was the first letter of your name. I had a few ideas; sailer, superman, solider...but couldnt really find any thing, but then i saw this spunge bob t-shirt in the childerens secton of the store....it was tight but it was simple. I didnt win the best costume but it was a bit of fun!

Franz Josef was our 1st 2 night stop which was very nice to be some where for 2 nights. I wasnt lieing when i said that the bus moves round very fast! This is where the famous franz josef glacier is and where the fox glacier is on the opposite side. I did the one day hike into the glacier. We were given crampons which were so supportive an actually held you on the ice. We walked throgh holes in the ice and through small gaps. It was great fun, but very hard work at the same time. Inlcuded in the price was a ticket to a some hot pools where it was great to sit and relax.

From franz josef we went to wanaka, nice town but not much to do. Th next stop from Wanaka was Queenstown...this is where everyone want to be and I can see what they are one about! It was a great place and some where i would like to go back to and spend more time. Before we got to Queenstown we stopped at the bungy at kawarau gorge..where you bungy off the bridge and and you like you can touch the water. I wanted to do a bungy but i thought if im going to do one I might as well do the biggest one! Me and a few others booked our bungy for the nevis on the tuesday for the friday...which wasnt the best move as we had all week to think about as get more scared. This bungy was 134m high and it had a 8 second free fall! So it was somthing to be a bit scared about! Any was it was booked and we just had to wait! The days in queenstown was filled up by a bit of frizby golf, eating furgburgers and going to Arrowtown which is a old settlement where they 1st discovered gold. It was really cool to see a bit of culture and to see a bit more of NZ. I also met some ppl i was on the whitsundays with, which was so weird...you tend to bump into people that you have met before as everyone is kinda doing the same trip...also met one guy i was oneth 1st bus in oz with, small world! Eventually friday came. We booked it in the morning so to get it out the way. Time seemed to go so slowly. The ride to the site was a quite one. The site is in the middle of no where and the tack up there was a 4 wheel drive course. We got all kited up with harnes and then we took a little cart out to the pod which is surspended in the middle of the gourge. Just going out in the little cart was scary. The pod had a glass bottom in the middle so you could see right down! This is when me being so light was a bad thing! I was last as they do the hevest 1st! So i had to wait for 10 other people to go before me. And then the girl before me freaked out and didnt wanna do it which wasnt a great thing for my concentration! It was my go next. They sat me in the chair and bolted me up. They walked me over to the edge with my feet tidyed together and then told me to look at the mountain in frount...they started to count down...at this moment i was so scared...adrenilin oumping round my body...then i heard 3...2...1 go! I just jumped forward like I was diving into a pool. The fall was unreal! You dont even feel the bungy kick in it was amazing! After a few bounse you pull a red cord and it tilts you upright so you are sitting. Just wow! Greatest thing ive done all trip. It really take energy out of you! We got back and then went up to the to of queenstown on the gonderler and saw the amazing view over the lake and queenstown. (pictures of that should be up soon!) We did somw luging at the top of the hill which was great fun...just like being a little kid again! After a jam packed week in queenstown we left and went back to christchurch which was an epic 7 hour coach trip! which was mostly spent sleeping!

I wanted to leave the next day being sunday but we were on the waiting list, so we had to get up at the time the bus was leaving to see if we could get on the bus. There was around 10 people on the waiting list so didnt look very hopful for me to get on! Jay who I have been traveling with surgested that we could get a car and drive to piction where the ferry is to get to wellington. He surgessted ut to 2 others who were on the waiting list and they agreed as we had already been to Kaikoura and really didnt wanna go there a second time. It was set that we would get a car and split the costs. We found a company that would do it for $45 for a one way trip and for us to drop it off in picton. We got a old honda automactic. It was very basic but it got us from a to b. It was great having your own freedom. We stopped at some random places which you wouldnt go to on the bus. If...I mean when I come back to NZ I would like to travel it bus camper as you have your own freedom stop where you want and do what you want. We got to picton at around 5. The next ferry wasnt till 10:30 pm so we had to wait around for a few hours. We saw a film called 'boy' look it up its very good. We got to Wellington at 2 am but was worth it as we had gained an extra day in wellington without going to Kaikoura and saving money on accomodation.

Yesterday me and Jay went to the museum called tepapa, it was alot like the sicence museum n london, lots of hands on things to touch and play with. It had a skellington of a blue whale and a gaint octopus! Today I went up to the top of wellington on the cable car and then got lost for a couple of hours in the city. Wellington is made up of different sectors. I walk thorugh the cube section which is the arty part with lots of retro shops, chris and adam you would really enjoy these kinda shops!

Tomorrow I mopve onto Taupo.

Hope everone is well, I have a cold atm...but I taking my vitimins so should be ok.