Hello again
Sorry it's been such a long time, it's literally been none stop since I left Kaikoura! Plus I really resent the rather expensive internet fees over here. $4 for an hour! You wouldn't get that in Thailand ha!
Anyway, after I wrote my last blog I headed down to the local pub with some other people from the Kiwi bus for a pub quiz! This started off as just something to waste time in the evening. However by the time the 2nd round came along I was completely obsessed with winning! We called our team 'The Whale Lovers' (the other options were alot worse I can assure you) and there were four of us (Me, Luke, Judi and Jack, all from the UK). Half way through and I had run out of money to buy more drink so I was standing around, waiting for the next round, then suddenly the host with the microphone starts talking to me saying in his thick new zealand accent 'Oi, wheres yer drink?' To which I replied 'I don't have any money'. So instead of just leaving it there, he actually got me to stand in the middle of the pub (which by the way was filled with 'local folk' and fishermen and looked like something you'd find in a back alley by Weymouth Harbour) and begged people to buy me a drink. Sadly I got jeers and comments like 'Get a job! hahaha. So in a great act of kindness he bought me a pint and the landlord gave me a shot of aftershock! awesome! Turns out, the host was/is the Major of Kaikoura! And it didn't stop there! After the quiz (we came second and all got a jug of beer each!) he then bought the whole team a shot of sprits for keeping up the atmosphere haha! So buy the end of the night I was slightly half cut but had such a good time.

The next day we were heading for a town called Nelson, but had to stop at a ferry port called Picton to pick people up from the North Island who were going south. W got off the bus at Picton and I asked the driver what time I needed to be back, to which he said 1.30pm. So me, Luke and a girl we met the previous evening called Mary from Spain, headed for Subway and then into the town to get to a phonebox to make some calls and we got back at 1.10. But to surprise and slight horror our bus wasn't there! At first I was just stunned, then I realised they had our bags on the bus and we were stranded in the middle of no where...I just couldn't stop laughing. I knew something like this would happen at some point! But it actually turned out to be a fun day. We called the bus people and they basically told us it was our fault and that we'd have to pay for our way back on a local bus in 5 hours time. So we kind of thought well f*** it, lets hitch hike! (I can see my Dad's face going green right now) So after about 5 minutes we got in this little car with a woman driving with her teenage son and a little chiwawa which sat on my lap and headed to a town called Blenheim which was actually in the complete wrong direction but it was a bigger town and had a road straight to Nelson. After about an hour she dropped us off (she was really nice and told us about the times she used to hitchhike) and we headed to a bus station and found a bus that left in a couple of hours (earlier than the other one in Picton anyway) but in the time inbetween we tried to hitch a ride but clearly we looked like serial killers cos nobody wanted to pick us up! :( But at least we can say we did abit of hitching right? We got on the bus and got back to Nelson at 7/8ish and it was dark and we had wasted our day there, but had alot of fun anyway. In the evening me and Luke were staying in our own private apartment with this other couple so we all got very drunk to celebrate our heroic day. We bought wine boxes and I taught them all the drinking game the Americans taught me in Thailand called Kings! I woke up on the sofa the next day (always a good sign) and packed our stuff and then got on the bus to Westpoint.

The drives inbetween places are some of the most scenic in the world! We pass mountain ranges, beautiful cliffs and deserted beaches. Everything here is beyond beautiful, it's perfect. We stop at viewpoints on the way and take some photos. We see alot of seal colonies too, which are always nice to look at, seeing them play in the waves. Before we got to Westport, we had an opportunity to do either Horse Riding or Jet Boating. I'm actually scared of horses but I decided to try and get over my fear and learn to ride one. We got there and I said I was a beginner and so, whether or not they thought this would be funny, they put me with the most grumpy and evil horse ever called Walter! When I got on him and we were let loose in the paddock, he started chasing the other horses and bullying them, dragging me with him! He would also like to walk along normally and then sharply change direction and start charging for the other horses! I was s***ting myself! Oh and he stopped every minute to eat, and he did it so often that he would run to catch up with the rest of the group. Which would of been fine if I knew how to ride a horse which was trotting or running! I was flying at least 20cm off the seat, clinging on for dear life! After an hour I started to learn how to control him, and even learnt how to trott and canter which was fantastic! Riding a horse at speed is a million times better and scarier than a rollercoaster! We rode along fields, on a beach and up rivers at sunset, it was brilliant. Something I definetely recommend and hopefully will do again! And I'm not so scared of horses anymore which is great!

After a quiet night in we got on the bus and headed for Lake Mahinapua to a home stay by the coast. This is on the West coast of the South Island which is more rooted in the traditional industries such as mining and fishing. There is also alot of hunting around these areas, it really is isolated. But the place we were staying at was also a pub. And everytime a Kiwi bus stays they hold a fancy dress party and meal! The theme for our party was 'Something beginning with P'. So we stopped at a town called Greymouth on the way to buy stuff to make our costumes. At first I was just going to go as a punk, but as I walked into this $2 store I saw a wooden flute/pipe and some toy mice so decided to go as the Pied Piper! (or as my hat said 'the piss piper') The meal was probably the best I'd had in New Zealand so far, We had a giant rump steak with potatoes and then Venison (which I had never tried before) with a pasta and bean salad. The party was a good laugh, everyone made an effort. Luke went as a pig and Mary as a pregnant woman, other people were presents, patients, punks, ping pong players the lot!

The next day saw us heading off for Franz Josef. Franz Josef is basically a town situated at the bottom of a huge glacier where you can do hiking and the like! This was one of the top things I wanted to do in New Zealand so I was quite excited when we got there. The scenery around here was picture-postcard perfect. They really are spoiled over here. The only downside was that everything was really expensive, but I didn't intend on saying too long. So I booked a full day hike for the next day, and just chilled infront of the tv in the evening. The next day got up bright and early (or dark and very cold) and headed to the glacier center to pick up all the gear needed. They had told us you'd need 3 layers plus what they would give you. So by the time I had everything on I was at least twice the size I was the previous hour. Which turned out to be nothing but a pain in the arse because once we got hiking I was boiling! In the end I was just wearing a t-shirt and a thin raincoat, trousers and sunglasses! They gave us hiking boots with spikes which was fun, digging in everytime you took a step. The actual glacier was huge. I don't think you can really appreciate how big they are, or how much water is stored in them. It took 45 minutes just to walk up to the start of it, even though it didn't look that far away, but because it was so big the distances were misleading. The hiking was a real experience. We walked up to the first ice shaft and walked between the huge cravesses! We also got to crawl through tunnels which had been melted into shape and squeeze through tiny passages which were basically cracks in the thick blue ice. It felt quite surreal being up there. You had an amazing view over the valley and up the mountain. Generally I didn't think anything could be as amazing as that experience. Plus I was in a slightly slower group (or as I like to think of it, people who weren't bothered about pretending to be fit) so we got to stop and take lots of photo's, which I will put up one day). So Franz Josef was pretty good I'd say.
I will leave it there for today. I'm currently in Queenstown which is the adventure capital of New Zealand, so bunjy jumping and parachuting are all widely avaliable. I'm not going to say when or what I'm doing. Not for my parents piece of mind, but just incase I chicken out ha! I'm also very behind, and was in danger of missing my flight out of Auckland (that would suck) So i have just had to buy aload of ferry and bus tickets up to the North Island. So I shall be arriving in Wellington on the 17th which gives me plently o'time! Oh and my credit card isn't letting me take out cash! WTF! So I'm literally paying on card for everything, even if it's a dollar which is a pain in the arse. But apart from that I'm having a great time here, meet such awesome people and wish I had longer really!
Speak to you guys soon!