Well the second part of the north island starts i river valley on the west coast of the north island. We stopped here for white water rafting as it has the best grade 5 rapids in the country. I didn't take part in the rafting as i didn't have any contact lenses and didn't want to risk breaking my glasses. I had a nice relaxing afternoon with some of the group just chatting and getting to know people and planning future activities. After river valley we headed to wellington the capital city situated at the bottom of the north island and is known as windy wellington. I found out that is very true as it was really windy along the water front. I stayed in the heart of the city and the whole city is easy to walk around. The first day i went to the national museum Te Papa, it was massive about 7 floor filled with everything from natural world to maori culture it even had an art gallery. I spent a good couple of hours there with a guy from the bus then we went for lunch and just chilled out in the afternoon. The next day i went to the botanical gardens which are situated at the top of a hill so you can either walk to the top or take the cable car, which i did. There were great views of the city and surrounds, there was even a cable car museum at the top and it was free. After taking in the views I headed back down and went for a walk around the city I found the shopping but just did some window shopping. I had lunch on the water front watching people jogging and kayaking on the water. I went to cinema in the afternoon to see bee movie which as really funny great movie.

Leaving wellington behind we headed to the ferry to get to the south island the crossing took 3 hours and I slept most of the way as the weather was crap and there was nothing to see. We got to Picton on the south island and had to wait for the bus before travelling to nelson the sunniest place in new Zealand, well not for us the weather came with us. We stopped at a winery on the way to nelson to sample some of the local wine, it was really good but to expensive to buy. We got to nelson and just chilled out. Most people in the group went to Abel Tasman the national park, I decided to take in the town and went exploring around the town and went to the local market. I had to stop myself buying lots of stuff as i just couldn't carry it.

Westport was the next stop on the travels and the start of the west coast part. The bad weather had again found us and I was glad to be on the coach for once. It was a long day travelling to westport and I had also got my winter cold. Never mind i just stocked up on drugs and got on with it. The evening in westport there was supposed to be a fireworks display but it was cancelled due to the weather so most of the group watched lord of the rings to see what scenery we had seen along the way. i went to bed early as we had an early start.

We left westport by 7.30am and headed to cape foulwind where there is a seal colony and we walked along the coast to see the seals it was mating season, lucky for us not when we were there. We got to see about 15 seals, which was good. Then back on the bus for the next stop at pancake rocks. Named pancakes rocks as the look like a stack of pancakes due to years of erosion, we had lunch here. We spent the night at lake mahinapua in a place in the middle of nowhere. The place we stayed was run by a bloke aged 82 called Les. The night was fancy dress and the theme was random!!!

Lots of people dressed up, we stopped at a $2 shop and had to find things to dress as. I went as a Christmas stocking, there were people dressed as cowboys and girls, a bumble bee, elf, punk, blokes dressed as girls, ipods and a bloke dressed up as a tampon. (check out the photos). We had a buffet dinner then on to the bar where we all got very drunk and had a great night.

Franz Josef the glazier was the next stop down the west coast and when we got there the sun was shining and the views were amazing. The afternoon was spent relaxing before the glazier hiking the next day. Most of the group did the full day hiking on the glazier I on the other hand decided to do the heli hike, more expensive but well worth the money. I had a helicopter ride to the top of the glazier and got amazing views then we landed on the glazier and did about 2 hours walking around on the glazier. The guide made a couple of tunnels to climb though which was a little wet and cold. The weather changed quickly and we had to get off the glazier as the helicopters wouldn't come and get us in bad weather. So we had a helicopter ride down the glazier as well. It was the best experience in new Zealand yet.