New Zealand (South Island)

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Once we had found Mike, we were keen to impress him with all our knowledge of New Zealand, however to our astonishment he seemed to know more than us. Nick and Paul didn't arrive in Wellington till around 8pm so Mike had spent all day absorbing knowledge in the Te Papa Museum.

After a brief stopover in Wellington we got on the Ferry and headed to the south island. The ferry arrived in Picton and then we jumped back on the bus and made our way to Nelson. Nelson again was quite a chilled out stop and we past our time with a spot of beer tasting. From Nelson we made our way down the west coast to a place called Westport. Along the way we stopped at Buller Adventure Tours for a high speed ride along a river in a jet boat, these machines are pretty extreme and can accelerate to insane speeds in as little as 10cm of water! That night we got ourselves involved in a mass 'killer pool' competition with the rest of the bus. It was $2 entrance fee with the winner collecting all. As soon as the game bullied off it was never in doubt that the money would be ours for the taking. Infact we managed to claim 1st, 2nd and 4th place. Nick came out on top and the $30 pot was split accordingly between us. Leaving the victory behind us, the next morning we headed down the spectacular west coast road that stretches along the rugged Tasman shoreline. Dispite the bad weather highlights included the Cape Foulwind seal colony, Pancake rocks and the blowholes at Punakaiki. The past few nights of rest had really been in preparation for our stay at Lake Mahinapua. We were staying the night at the famous 'Poo Pub' owned by Les, who is still going strong at 84yrs of age and is an absolute legend. Les and Flea (our driver) prepared us a massive BBQ style meal to get the group night out rolling. After which we retired to our rooms in order to transform ourselves for the 80's bright and tight themed night. This night was pretty insane and full of laughs and good times. The fun continued long into the night and some people were even still going strong by the time we got back on the bus the next morning!

Leaving Les behind the bus took course to Franz Josef. Our first stop on-route was at the Bushmans Centre where Paul got chased by a giant pig during the guided tour. We then headed through to Franz Josef Glacier township, nestled in the Westland National Park. On arrival the weather was suprisingly nice, so Mike took the opportunity to do the worlds 2nd most impressive skydive. This was an opportunity not to be missed as Franz Josef has a yearly rainfall of 9m and upto 50m of snowfall and we had arrived on a clear day. The skydive was from 12,000ft and the plane journey up there was unforgettable. Going up in a tiny 4-seater plane we rose up over the rainforest and then over the Fox Glacier towards Mount Cook (NZ's highest mountain). We went up through the clouds before turning back towards the sea and clearer skies. Moments later Mike was out of the plane and falling at speeds of 250kmph+. The freefall was 45 seconds followed by 6 minutes under the parachute and definitely a once in a lifetime experience. The following morning we got equipt with ice-hiking gear and made our way up the Franz Josef Glacier on foot, with a large percentage of the kiwi experience group. This was pretty surreal to be honest and there was a great juxtapose between the 100m deep glacier, rainforest and sea all sitting side by side in perfect harmony. After a great few days we decided to treat some of the girls (Nicole, Katharina and Ellen) to a chinese stir-fry cooked by us; to be honest I think the were pretty impressed with our culinary skills and it meant we didn't have to wash the dishes!

With yet another early start we made our way this time to Wanaka, with various stops along the way. Near the town of the Fox Glacier we stopped to catch a view of the reflection of Mt Cook in Lake Matheson. We then cruised down the last stretch of the west coast road, here the scenery dramatically changed as we stopped at Thunder Creek Falls, Blue Pools and ever changing forests. Our final stop-off of the day was at an 18 hole crazy golf course, this course was so crazy that it even had bunkers and water hazards! We eventually made it to Wanaka and to our delight the girls offered to return the favour and cook us dinner. They did not disappoint, as we were presented with an incredible smorgasbord in a Mexican style. Nicely filled we went to bed happy men and rose the following morning with Queenstown as our next destination. We started the day off by going to 'Puzzle World', this sounded like it would be terrible but was actually well worth the visit. One room created an illusion with angles, making it appear that water moved upwards by its own accord and even made it hard to walk in a straight line. There was also a giant 3-D maze which we proudly completed. From here we made our way to the worlds first ever bungie sight and then continued onto Queenstown, NZ's adventure capital.

Queenstown is unoffically the end of the Kiwi Experience as it is a place where everyone chooses to spend a varying amount of time. We decided to stay 4 nights, this was mainly due to the time schedule we were on. Having not stayed in one place for quite a while, we had built up a stinking bundle of clothing, so a full lugage wash was required. To Nick's dismay he shrunk almost all his tees! Not a happy Nick! A very happy Mike who gained a couple of tees! As this was the unofficial end to the trip a big final night had been organised, Nick put his loss behind him and we headed to the bar. This night was a absolute beast and Mike managed to claim 7 free drinks! I think Gerwyn could have done with them though, as the following morning him and Mike were going to attempt to do the 3rd highest bungie jump in the world and Gerwyn was already the most terrified person ever. Morning came and it was time for the jump. Mike stood bravely as the cable car took him over the canyon and then without fear he lept off the platform like an olympic diver with style and commitment. Gerwyn was quite the opposite as the 134m drop appeared just as daunting task as he had expected. However we were all highly impressed and in a way proud to see he kept his nerve and had the balls to jump. Nick and Paul had a much less terrifying day as they chilled out by the lake in the park with the 2 German girls. That night we had a few games of pool and went to bed early in preparation for the 6am start. Today was the trip to the world renowned Milford Sound. This is a giant fiord created by glacier activity cutting a path into the mountains. The result is sheer rock faces that rise 1,200m or more either side of the river. Lush rainforests cling precariously to these cliffs, while seals, penguins and dolphins frequent the waters! The trip was well worth the long day on the bus, even with the bad weather we had. On our arrival back to Queenstown we were pleased to see that some of the people we travelled with in the North Island had caught back up with us. This was cause for a big night to celebrate one final night with them. In the morning Mike and Paul headed to the river rapids for a spot of 'Mad Dog river boarding'. This was pretty extreme and phisically demanding.

On the 16th december we left Queenstown and made our way to Christchurch. By this time the only remaining people who were part of our initial Kiwi experience group, were Nicole, Katharina and Flea (our driver). Our plane to OZ departed from Christchurch on the 20th, however we just spent one night in Christchurch as we wanted to make a quick visit to Kaikoura to do a spot of whale watching (as you do!). On our one night in Christchurch we entered the 'World rock paper scissors championships' in base hostel. Nick won! The first prize was a free travel pass around the whole of South Island. To Nick's great disappointment he had to turn the prize down as we were leaving for OZ in just 3 days; and instead swapped it for 2 free beers! In the morning we caught a shuttle bus to Kaikoura for 2 nights accomodation. Most of are time here was spent watching films old school style using video tapes! However our main reason for being here was to watch not the TV screen but to head out on a boat a watch the whales. Although the day we arrranged to do the boat trip was slightly overcast, we decided to still go ahead with it. To our delight we managed to spot a humpback whale, loads of dusky dolphins and some weird sunfish. It was a great trip out and even better we got a load of money back because we didn't manage to spot a sperm whale! It was now the 19th so we headed back to Christchurch in order to catch our flight to OZ. As it was our final night in NZ we decided to treat ourselves to an 'eat as much as you can' chinese buffet. The 5 min walk back to the hostel took approx 25 mins, proof that we had made the most of the buffet!

Our time in NZ has been absolutely awesome, both north and south islands were beautiful and incredible in there own ways. As we have noticed since travelling but especially in NZ, it is often the people you meet who can most affect your impression of a place. We were defintitely fortunate that everyone on our bus added a quality that made our stay here very special! Thanks guys.

Well done to anyone who has read this epic account, don't worry we won't be writing one this long again.

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