aye Bro?

---

So off we set on the next leg of our adventure, only this time we were going to Queenstown...Queenstown is the center for adventure in New Zealand, it is where Bungi was invented and people drink cocktails in homemade Togas, out of Teapots. The town/Kiwi City is packed both winter and summer as it has so many other activies todo which are not snow related, we were a little bit early for the snow, so looked into other activies to get the blood pumping...The last time i was in Queenstown it was raininy and so i couldn't really see what the fuss was about, but arriving this time i realised the town is in a lovely Valley surrounded by the " Remarkables " mountain range, and was on a beautiful lake which rises and falls every hour or so. We had 4 nights in Queenstown with Sarah getting involved with more activies as she was not the one on a budget, i called her a "Poshpacker". She went skydiving at 12.000 feet, telling me that it was the scariest thing she has ever done. She did a tandem jump and was told by her jump partner that her hair smelt wonderful ( thats my condishner!!! ) she was the last to jump and i took heaps of photos from the ground of everyone in the hopes that some of the would be her, i think i got a few of her!!?

We stayed up a big hill in a cool hostel called the Bungi, which served us free soup in the evevings, Sarah was quickly learning how backpacking works, with us trying to get anything which is cheep and free. So free soup at a hostel is a big selling point. The room was kinda small, and i called shotgun on the bottom bunk, to which Sarah spent the next 4 days complaining about, note to self not to take the bottom bunk again!!

We went up a Gondla to one of the surrounding peaks, which was kinda like going up in a ski lift, did some Luge driving which i won, yar me. The view was great, and the deck was full of Japanies tourist snapping away at the pretty sights.

On one of our night out we went to the ice bar...which is called -5 for obvious reasons. We had to got bundled up in huge coats and hats and gloves, got briefed on what todo if hypathurmia set in,and off we went to drink out of ice glasses, try to sit on ice seats and sofas and drink lots of vodca, lots of fun was had. We only have half an hour in the bar but 25mins in we were ready to leave and try to feel our toes again... we bumped into one of the big tour bus drivers who i had known from when he stayed with us at the Villa. He is a cool big Kiwi bloke, whoc told us where we should be going and the things that might intrest us. Sarah turned in early ( well early for Queenstown, 1am ) and i stayed out to make party with the big kiwis and German boys.

On one of the days Sarah went white water rafting, which i opted out of, i don't think much can compeat with my last rafting adventure which was in Loas, where we had no safty instructions, the guides spoke no english, and we illegally entered into Cambodia. Class.

From Queenstown we drove up the wild wild west coast and north. This is proper remote noman/womans country, lots of sheep and some of the most beauitful country in Nz. We drove though mountain ranges and valley full of cloudes, then drove into dence rainforests. To keep from killing each other we sang Sound of Music songs and tried to pronounce the Mouri named towns, i know they only have 14 letters in their alphabet but it was still pretty had. The Ph is pronounced Fu...try saying Pha-pappa...nice. We drove to the tiny town of Franz Joseph to do the ice climb the next day. Apone check in we asked what there was todo in town, we were told in all seriousness " drink"!!! So the next day early morning we headed off for our half a day walk on the ice, i was told off for wearing jeans and was made to wear waterproof trousers which turned out to restrict my leg movements ( not good when climbing on ice ), i then got told off for wearing my own socks, i felt things were not going well. The main part of the day was spent walking to the ice, over rock and more rock and even some ladders!!, the valley makes it look alot closer then it really is ( Sarah guessed 500 meters) it is actually 2.5 kms. But once there we put our crampions on and headed out onto the ice, my climbing effort was heald in much amusments as i couldn't actually life my legs due to the rubbish trousers. Sarah at one point stopped to fill her water bottel from one of the springs on the ice. In doing so she dropped her fancy camera in the water, now making all phots all blury, it kept making strange noises. Scary. It was ashame we were not on the ice for longer, but it was a great day and after the big walk back we spent the afternoon in the hot tub back at the hostel, surrounded by snow topped mountains and warm yummy soup made by the hostel for free again.

Later that evening we went on a glow worms walk, aided by 3 other travelers from the hostel who were ready to put their best foot forward. the walk was 30 mins or so, and at the begining of the trip we met a young indian family with 2 under 5 year olds, the older one wanted to go on the walk but was particuly scard, so i gave her my Katmandu torch with its 3 amazing settings, one of which flashes on and off ( one must be prepared at all time for attacks from dangerous forces, that or getting lost on glow worm walks small towns). We set out for the half an hour walk, looking for these alusive glow worms, i was now being heald onto by this young girl who spent the whole time talking to me about her life in Sydney and India and how she was hoping to be back at school for Tuesday as that was sports day. Cute cute cute, we did manage to see some of the glow worms, at the very end of the trail and aparently it is their poo which glows not them. Nice.

The next morning we set off North again, north to a horrible place called Graymouth. Along the way we past by this road side cafe, which i had gone in with the camping trip i had already done, this road side cafe was called "you kill em, we grill em!" Sarah defo wanted to go and see this place, we laughed at all the signs meant to provoke us veggies, had a full fat coke on the porch out back, as they didn't believe in diet anythings, admired a Posem skin wedding dress and watched a home made doco about the wild wild west, when men were men and catching of deer with net guns from helicopters...was just madness and Sarah loved all of it.

The only reason for our coming to such a place as Graymouth was that i was meeting Rachael and Rebecca from the Villa. Rachael had booked us into a hostel called the Duke, so we arrived to find it quite possible the most gaudy colourful, cold, off putting and unfriendly hostel on the trip so far. All of us complained to Rachael for her choosing such a place, and still hold her responcible for booking us in there.

So now we were there, and Sarah and i had seen a place called Shantytown ( a historical village !!! ), so with Rachael in tow we set off to find this Shantytown along with some adventures all the way. The first adventure was that the car wouldn't start, so Rachael and i pushed it down the rd with Sarah driving to get it going. Along the drive Rachael proceed to tell us all about her travels and sexual partners she had picked up along the way, and went into far too much detail, particularly as Sarah is an older married woman who had only just met Rachael a half hour previously, but she went on and told us far too much information.

Once at the Historical village, we realised that ti was closing down soon and we had already missed the last train, which wold take us around the grounds!! and it was $16 so we opted out of going in, but was reconmended by the workers there to go and see some old Chinies Mines which were only down the rd...and they were free, so we argeed to potted off and do some free stuff. The rd to the mines was empty, but in the South Island this didn't seem strange or unusual, so we continued on, when the rd became a gravel path i started to worry, and when the pot holes came along i got really nervous the car would take us there, Rachael was also driving at this point, and was doing her usual crazy country driving, making Sarah tell her to slow down and other useful driving tips...once there, we went on a 2 km walk around these old and "historic" mines, with me complaining and tragging my bad leg behind me, as the ice climb had reopened an old war wound. The walk was rubbish and the mines closed, no real fun was had by any of us and i worried about how we were going to get the car back on the rd.

Once back we had a reinactment of before we set off with Sarah driving and Rachael and i pushing the car around, at one point my foot slipped and i fell on my front, dirtying my new pink nz jumper i had washed the night before, and my face, i couldn't stop laughing and even Sarah had to get out to see what all the noice and no pushing was all about.

Back at the horrible Duke hostel, we met up with the lovely Rebecca aklso from the Villa crew, and had a nice evening of dinner, beer and cold beds, Sarah only shouted at me twice for cutting the veggies the wrong way, to which i was quick impressed. My friends did question me later on some of the things she said and how she acted, but hay thats Sarah.

---

Photos

Queenstown NZ
you have to pay big for this kind of view

The ice lady cometh
Get you coat on cause it cold inside

Girls night out
there was only 3 kiwis in this bar!!! Bloody poms

a typical south island road
put your lights on...

Franz Joseph
back on the ice