Of all the things in the fridge to steal, why the cucumber? It wasn't even a whole cucumber, they put the other half back. Oamaru is very...Victorian. The buildings, the back streets, everything in the center is Victorian-esk. Obviously the further out you go the more normal it is. The day we arrived our hostel was holding a 'pot luck' night. Basically anyone who wants to join in brings some food, and everyone shares. So if everyone brings desserts, thats what you have. That didn't happen. Instead, we brought a big tub of spag bol, and the list of other food was... Japanese curry (very, very nice! Not spicy, just aromatic), salad, a pasta broccoli thing, burgers, steak, cookies, apple pies, dips and biscuits and brandy snaps. Its a good idea. It makes everyone meet everyone ... read more

I would like to take this time to tell you how much i hate sand flies. They seem to like me, they seem to like me a lot. Especially my right foot, though the amount on unbiten space is quickly vanishing, so they are moving on to my other foot, arms, legs, etc. Insect repellent is useless. (Joe - i was told that citronella does nothing either, by a girl in our dorm who had already tried that) Anyway, rant about insects over. When is a sound not a sound? When it's a fiord! A sound is formed by water, making a 'V' shaped base and a fiord is formed by glaciers, forming a 'U' shaped base. Milford sound has, despite its name, a 'U' shaped base. There, now you can't say that my blogs aren't ... read more

No Joke. Forget everything I said about the south being sunny. The west coast isn't. It rains, a lot. They dont measure their annual rainfall in inches here but in meters and they expect an average of 7metres per year. And i thought england was bad. With all that rain we needed a wet weather activity; we went quadbiking, oh yeh! It was so much fun! I like puddles, which was evident at the end of the trip and and my trousers, despite all the waterproof gear we had on, still managed to get soaked. We went over a couple of rivers and through a big muddy field, where two bikes got stuck. We stopped there for a hot drink while 'the men' got the bikes unstuck'... it was funny to watch. Then on through the ... read more

Hello from Wellington! Collette and Bruces house is fantastic! They don't live in Wellington but in the hills outside the city, in a place called pukerua bay. (i think thats how you spell it). The views are gorgeous. As is their dog, Diesel. Anyway, our first day we went for a walk. We were 'reliably' informed that it would take us about 2hours. We don't think we walk slow and even with the detours and rest stops a 2 hour walk cannot turn into a 6hour walk. So there. It was nice though...Once we actually got down to the beach which in itself was a dangerous, life threatening experience. Not that I'm exaggerating...It was just a dry, narrow, slippy path with a very long steep drop. It was our first properly nice day, as in the ... read more

I've travelled half way around the world yet the good old english cold has still managed to find me. It's almost gone now, but it's still annoying... We arrived in Auckland only to discover that we had in fact landed back in manchester... ok, not really, but Auckland is incredibly similar; not only that but the currency is similar to home too! The dollar has the queen on it, why? i dunno but its a bit disconcerting when the whether is like a good british summer, as in cloudy but warm. Needless to say we didn't stay there very long, before moving on to Rotorua. Now thats more like it! much more like the new zealand I was imagining. Getting off the bus, we were greeted with the lovely welcoming smell of rotten eggs. Rotorua is ... read more