Tuesday 29th May

Last day in New Zealand!
I just can't believe how quickly my trip has gone. It only seems like yesterday that I was sat in Sydney airport waiting to board my plane to Auckland and here I am waiting to get a bus to the airport ready to leave.
I spent the last 48 hours in Christchurch, which is incredibly English and reminds me of Oxford. Although the plan of the city is based on the block system, the general atmosphere and architecture makes you feel like you're in the UK. It is very strange! Whilst in Lake Tekapo I met up with Lynne, who I have been travelling with on and off for the past three weeks. So it was a great suprise and relief to have some company for the last leg of my journey. Therefore, the two of us, wandered through the streets of Christchurch at a very relaxed pace yesterday and finished with a cocktail on the banks of the River Avon. We did, on route, visit a fudge factory and join a tour, which involved plenty of tasting opportunities! There is a gondola here out of town and a short walk along the coastal path, but feeling tired I decided to realx for a few days, as I need some energy for the US. Conveniently the local swimming baths is just around the corner from the hostel, so I have been for a swim each day including this morning!
So it is a shame to be leaving a country that I feel I've only seen a snipit of. I have thoroughrally enjoyed admiring the outstanding scenery and participating in a few of the outdoor adventure tasks NZ has to offer. I have many photos of the scenery that I have yet to put on flickr, I'll choose the best ones and display a selection when I'm back home.
The relaxed working hours and emphasis on social life and wellbeing is very apparant and appealing, I can see why Lara chose to stay. I would definately recommend the Magic Bus as a form of transport, booking my seat was the best decision I made during my stay. On the bus I have met many people of all ages and backgrounds, most of which I hope to keep in touch with. But, more importantly, I have people to share my travelling memories with!
My next post will probably be back in the UK as I don't know whether I'll have time in LA, I shall see what I can do. The flight is a very long 12 hours from Auckland ontop of a hour flight to Christchurch, I'm glad I've got a good book!!

Saturday 26th May

As planned I headed to Mt Cook today. We had beautiful weather, with a crystal blue clear sky which highlighted the thunderous and magnificant Mt Cook on the horizon. Bus driver 'Bill' recommended a walk up the Hooker Valley towards the mountain, so I took his advice and followed the signs upwards. The walk proved easy actually, with no challenging hills, but the scenery wasy incredible. It only took two hours to reach the glacier at the foot of Mt Cook, but the views were outstanding. Along the path were two large swing bridges over the river that powered down from the glacier, forming two large glacier lakes enroute. Within the lakes were large iceburgs stationary but dominating. Along the way I bumped into a guy called Frederick from the Netherlands, who I determined, is a newly qualified physio! So we spent most of the walk comparing the different health systems and physio in different countries! Although the walk turned out to be an easy four hours, it was certainly worth the beautiful views of the tallest mountain in NZ and with the cascading waterfalls and snow peaked mountains, its certainly an extraordinary place to hike. When we were near the Mt, we heard a thunderous noise, which we presume was ice breaking away, well we didn't hang around to find out!!
I just had a text from Richard, who was on the Magic Bus earlier in my trip, to say he's just leaving NZ but to drop in to his hotel in Christchurch, because he's left some beers for me behind the reception! I've met some great people during my travels in NZ, I'll certainly do my best to keep in touch with them. Well tomorrow I'm onto Christchurch, I believe Lynne is on the bus so I'm heading back to the YHA to try and find her....

Friday 25th May

Well after not being impressed by Dunedin, it proved difficult to leave! The bus broke down during the first half an hour of our trip. Which meant a two hour delay while the mechanic worked out that he really couldn't fix it and we waited for a replacement bus. Eventually we arrived in Lake Tekapo at 4pm and had a quick stop off at the lakefront taking in the sights and taking a few snaps.
It is beautiful here. The town is very small, comprising of one main street and very few houses. The YHA I'm staying in is right on the lakefront and has perfect views of Lake Tekapo and the mountain range behind. We were very tired last night after a long day of travelling, so instead of falling asleep infront of the telly, Frank challenged me to a game of pool (I'm 2 nil up at the moment) at the local pub. It was very daunting walking in as completely full of locals. We went to put our money on the table with the intention of having a quiet game, when the locals said it's winner stays on. Well,we ended up playing a few matches and having a great night chatting with a crowd around the pool table. We were really glad we pushed ourselves to go out, although my head is muggy this morning and I struggled up Mt John this morning! Serves me right! So for the rest of today I have nothing planned, so I'm going to get a cup of coffee and relax in a cafe for a bit. Tomorrow I'm going to Mt Cook for the day, it's the tallest mountain in New Zealand, I won't get to the summit as it'll be on snow, but I believe I can get up to some lakes that host stunning views. Then on Sunday I'm off to Christchurch for the last leg of my Magic Tour.

Wednesday 23rd May

I've just arrived in Dunedin. It didn't take us as long as I thought to get here so I've a few hours this afternoon to explore.
Unfortunately I had to leave Queeny and Lara this morning. I've had a great time walking and relaxing in the incredible town of Queensland. Lara is very settled here and seems to be thoroughly enjoying her life, which primarily involves climbing and skiing. Work definately fits around her social life and, so she tells me, is flexible according to her. She has a beautiful house, overlooking the lake and remarkable mountain range. The roaring open fire heats the cosy house making it perfect, especially with the new arrival of a gorgeous puppy belonging to housemate Justin.
Yesterday I went for a walk, which was shorter than I had planned, completely my fault. I walked up Wye Creek and feeling energetic started to boulder hop accross the stream. Well, it wasn't long before I got wet! It was really funny but really very cold! So I turned around early and walked to the road where I called Lara and started a gentle jog towards the clinic where she works. Ah well, it was a good bit of exercise anyway and, while Lara had a nap, I explored the tourist part of QT centre. Oh have you seen the film Chocolat?!? Well I went to a cafe exactly like the film. Had a gorgeous cup of Mexican Chilli Hot Chocolate and, I promise you, it was the best hot choc I've ever tasted! Later last night we watched a DVD, well I tried to watch it, but ended up snoozing!!!
Three nights flew by and it was quite sad having to say goodbye this morning.
I'm on the Magic Bus with a completely different group of people, which is also quite sad as I'd made some really great friends over the past two weeks, we did celebrate though with pizza in Winnie's before the guys went. We've all swapped email addresses, so I really hope to keep in touch.
So I'm now in Dunedin, which is a city of Scottish heritage, on first impressions seems like any other. Although the steep hills remind me of Hong Kong! There is a chocolate factory here that a few people are touring as i speak, but as I have yet resorted to eating chocolate I am going to avoid it. So I plan to wander around the cathedral and spend an evening in relaxing tonight. Then tomorrow I'm heading to Lake Tekapo and Mt Cook.

Monday 21st May

I'm in Quenstown! Met Lara yesterday and spent the last twenty four hours catching up and admiring the amazing views of Queenstown. It is spectacular. This morning I met up with some of the Magic Bus guys and got the gondola up to the top of a huge hill then followed the path up Ben Lomond. It was a bit of a killer and my calves were burning. We got to approximately 50 metres from the summit then unfortunatley decided to turn round as the guys were jet boating in the afternoon. Anyway I'm being antisocial so I'll fill this in a little more when I move to Dunedin.

Saturday 19th May

After a few beers last night another early start challenged us this morning. Christy, Jake and I booked ourselves on a guided day hike of Franz Josef Glacier. We first caught a glimpse of the glacier from the bus, however the actual size of the ice river hit us once we'd walked to the base and looked towards the summit. The 12km long glacier sits 17km from the Tasmin Sea, at only 240m above sea level and averages 70cm move each day. Greg, our guide, reassured us that in one day it wasn't possible to reach the summit, he pointed to half way up the hill, which was a huge relief! The ice at the foot of the glacier was dirty with rock and sediment. But only an hour into our climb and fresh blue ice crystals and drifts surrounded us. The glacier looks almost like the sea with canyons imitating waves. With our spikes on our boots, waterproofs and warm clothing we gradually ascended. It was slow progress as the guides carve steps out of the ice using pic-axes. At one point we walked through a tiny canyon which was a brilliant sky blue and slippery smooth as you slid through. It was incredibly tough at times to negotiate the drops, pools and huge steps, not to mention the slippery ice and slush. The views were outstanding, as either side of the glacier are rocks and rainforest vegetation with waterfalls falling towards the glacier river. Beautiful and very picturesque. In total we were about 6 and a half hours hiking, by the end everyone was feeling the cold and legs were sore. Some of the daring guys that were in our group decided to brave a dip in one of the pools sitting near the foot of the glacier. Well they were absolutely crazy because there was no way I was participating!
Tomorrow I'm back on the magic bus heading to Queenstown. If everything goes to plan I'll meet Lara off the bus, where I'll stay for 3 nights to reco-operate. In the evening we're hoping to go out as the magic gang are heading separate ways over the next few days. It'll be a shame, but I hope to keep in touch with most. Right I think a game of cards is planned for tonight!! I'm off!!

12,000 feet!!!

I did it!!! Sorry Mum, I thought I'd tell you afterwards! I just did a tandem 12,000feet Sky Dive at 200kph. It was absolutely awesome! I won't lie to you I was terrified before I got in that small plane. But once on the runway and hooked up to my instructor Trev (from Blackpool) there was no going back. We made the slow ascent to 12,000 feet, with quite a bit of turbulence over the mountains. The rugged snow peaked moutains were fabulous from the air and I took quite a few photos on the way up. Twenty minutes later though and we were ready to go. Once the door was open, Trev put his leg out, I swung mine round, smiled for a photo and then we were gone!!! The force of the wind was amazing sat in the doorway. We free fell for 45 seconds which felt like 10 at the most. Doing a brief spin to watch the plane disappear from view. The noise and the force of the air as you plummit to the ground is overwelming and surreal. Then all of a sudden, silence, the parachute opens and you're left suspended in the air. Trev then talked me through things and took a few photos including a short video on my camera! Before you knew it we'd returned to Earth on our bottoms for a very smooth landing! An amazing experience that I would certainly do again, however I don't think the views would be quite as impressive. Now I'm on a high I'm going to head to the pub with the magic crew and celebrate! Sorry Mum!!!!!!