New Zealand Part 1

---

DAY 56 - PLANE - SYDNEY - PLANE - CHRISTCHURCH
I got very little sleep on the plane from Singapore but made the most of my free calls from Australia in the 3 hours I was in Sydney airport. I was in a good mood from hearing about Manchester United winning the league! The flight to Christchruch was fine although when I arrived I had to go through the infamous immigration procedure and my shoes had to be cleaned to avoid bringing unwanted soil into the eco-system. As I left rhe airport I joined with three Swedish girls (Johanna, Sarah and Maria) to getting a cheaper shuttle bus to the city centre and in the end we ate together and stayed at the same hostel before having a nap then going out that night for a while.

DAY 57 - CHRISTCHURCH - DUNEDIN
Johanna woke me up telling me we had 20 minutes to check out! We just about managed it before getting breakfast then doing a walking tour round the city which was better than it sounds. The Cathedral is relatively small but pretty nice and the city looks very much like an English city such as Oxford - even with punting on the rivers. I had to leave on a coach to go to Dunedin where I was to stay with my distant cousins, David and Sheila Ward. They were very welcoming and provided great hospitality for the two nights I was there. Also, it was the most comfy bed since I left England!

DAY 58 - DUNEDIN
In the morning I attended a Philosophy lecture at the University about the implications of widecreen technology given by one of David's close friends before having lunch with a few Professors. David took me to the World's Steepest Street before we headed to the beautiful Otago Peninsular. We went to the Albatross Centre and amanged to see three chicks on the cliff as well as being given a flypass by a fully grown adult (3m wingspan). We looked around for a bit afrerwards and almost stumbled into a seal. In the vevening we visited their daughter Liz and her exceptionally well-baehaved dog, Luca.

DAY 59 - DUNEDIN - TE ANAU
Not much to say apart from waking up, getting on the bus, transferring onto another bus, arriving at the YHA at Te Anau and going to bed. O, and talking to various people on the way.

DAY 60 - TE ANAU - MILFORD SOUND - QUEENSTOWN
My tour to Milford Sound was a bit different for me since I was with several older tourists for the first time as well as a guy my age called David who amazingly has crazier curly hair than me. Nevertheless it was a great day out. Personally, the bus journey to the water through the National Park was on a par with the boat trip itself. The views at times were breathingtaking. I had an interesting conversation on the way back with the bus driver who at one time was a top Panflute player who was on Malaysian tv to four milliom people and was so popular he jammed up the phoneboards! When I got to Queenstowns in the evening I got the last bed in the last hostel open!

DAY 61 - QUEENSTOWN
Queenstown is the adrenalin captial of the world. I'm leaving my bungy jump until South Africa but wanted to do something exciting so went for the Canyon Swing. This has a 60m freefall followed by a 200m swing. The first time I did it jumping off backwards then did it hanging upside down starting straight down towards the ground before being dropped! It was a great thrill. In the evening I had a Fergburger - some would say they're the best burgers in the world and I couldn't disagree. I then headed to the World Bar where they use teapots to serve cocktails! It was like an English club in a way simply because so many people here are English and on their gap year like me.

DAY 62 - QUEENSTOWN
I didn't get up to half as much on this day. Eventually I meandered my way down to the lakeside where I was treated to some spectacular vistas. Phil and Rosie arrived late in the afternoon and it was great to see them. Thw Swedish girls from Christchruch arrived in their campervan that evening so I visited them before they went to bed. I caught up with Phil and Rosie on the dancefloor but decided to call it a relatively early night (1am).

DAY 63 - QUEENSTOWN - FRANZ JOSEF
Another day on the bus. 10 hours this time. The bus drivers for Intercity (the company I'm using) act more like tour guides and like to give a commentary and have a few photostops. This is refreshing at first cos I can't imagine this happening at home. Yet after the 2nd driver of the day babbled on aimlessly for a couple of hours it became rather tiresome when I'd rather be sleeping! That said, there was some gorgeous scenery on the way. The hostel I stayed at was pretty nice - free soup every night at 6!

DAY 64 - FRANZ JOSEF
I had my full day glacier hike and loved it. We were on the ice from 10 til 5 and went to some very cool little caves and slim cracks in the ice It was pretty tiring but well worth all the effort. I was certainly glad of the soup.

DAY 65 - FRANZ JOSEF - NELSON
One downside of travelling around New Zealand in only three weeks in the amount of time I spend on buses! We stopped off at some pretty cool places such as a Bushmans cafe which offers "shovel-flipped roadside burgers" and also saw some spots on the coast which look suspiciously like Cornwall. I tried for an early night after watching Casino Royale.

DAY 66 - NELSON - WELLINGTON
This was a very long but very good day. I got up at 6am to watch the Champions League Final. I found a sports bar with my Japanese room mate and it was packed. I enjoyed my full English breakfast and further enjoyed Manchester United winning! A very happy moment!
I rushed to get the bus to Picton where I got the ferry to Wellington. Amazingly Phil and Rosie were on the same ferry so we had a proper catch up this time. In the evening we all went out, played some pool and dnaced the night out away before being half-jokingly offered a fight by some random guys. We politely declined and made our way home after having kebabs.

DAY 67 - WELLINGTON
I had a nice lie in for once before doing my chores. In the afternoon I went to Te Papa - the National Museum. It was relatively interesting. I was quite tired after the past few days so tried for an early although this seems pretty impossible in an 8 bed dorm sometimes.

DAY 68 - WELLINGTON - TAUPO
A shorter bus journey this time! I chatted to some Canadian girls on the way before checking into a very plush new hostel in Taupo. It's a gorgeous area next to the biggest lake in the country. In the evening it was the semi final of the Super 14 (Southern Hemisphere Rubgy Competition) and two NZ teams were playing so I joined the locals in the bar to watch it which was my cultural experience for the day! Also saw the Swedish girls when they aarived and plotted our skydive for the next day!

DAY 69 - TAUPO
One of the Swedish girls was ill so we postponed the skydive for a day and I had my first chance in a while to have a chill out day. I uploaded a whole load of photos going back to Thailand (check out my previous blog) and watched four different films! Sometimes it's just as nice to relax and not worry about seeing or doing things.

DAY 70 - TAUPO
Today I fulfilled one of my life ambitions and did a sky dive! Since I've wanted to do this for so long I decided to go for the full package - dvd, photos, even bought the t-shirt! All of us opted for the 15000 feet jump in the end and I was so excited while going up in the plane. I was told that you basically forget the first few seconds of the jump because you have sensory overload and this was pretty true for me. It's such an undescribable feeling! Certainly worth the money! It will only take me 4 days at Kensey Foods to earn it back! Afterwards I had lunch with the Swedish girls before they moved on and now I'm sat right here at the computer for your benefit (or boredom)!

New Zealand is a pretty amazing country although it's much colder and more expensive than anywhere else I've been! I can't believe I've got less than a month until I get home. I've probably thought of home more since I've been here simply because it's more similar reminds me of England in some places. I can't eait to go to South Africa and do safari, do my bungee jump and maybe even swim with sharks.

Take care everyone.

---