Australia - Melbourne to Sydney

Gudday! Firstly I'm hoping you are all well and sending apologies to any of you I have not been in individual contact with for a while, don't want to make excuses so I won't but suffice it to say I am not sitting around eating chocolates and if I am its because there's no computer to email you ;-)

So what have I been doing since I left you, well after a very tearful farewell from New Zealand ... I was very sad to leave and had tears rolling down my cheeks on the way to the airport I am not afraid to say ... I boarded my plane to Melbourne and just under 4 hours later and a time change of 2 hours backwards I arrived at 5pm into Melbourne and the furious heat of 33 degrees and glorious sunshine ... at last I thought!

I hoped in a cab to Linda's house in Coburg, North Melbourne (I met Linda through Jenny when she lived in London) I have to say this was a little like taking my life in my own hands as I have never seen driving like it not only the speed but the weaving in and out of 5 lanes of traffic I didn't think I was going to see much of Australia.

That evening Linda and I cracked open a bottle of fizz and generally spent the evening trying to stay cool.  But what a difference 12 horus can make, we awoke the following morning to lots of clouds, the temperature had dropped to the mid 20s and it was really humid.  Linda took me into central Melbourne on the train to show me how it all worked and to the book store so I could pick up a copy of the Lonely Planet guide (cheaper than New Zealand but blimey still sooooo expensive).  After this we went to one of the famous Melbourne Lanes for coffee and cake and whilst there it started to rain so we headed home as soon as we were done.

The rain didn't let up for the rest of the day or the following day which doesn't exactly make walking round a city fun or even worth it so we had a lazy day and went to the cinema, did a bit of shopping and generally pottered about.

Luckily by the Saturday the sun had come back and I was up bright and early and off into Melbourne.  I started by doing the Lonely Planet walking tour of Melbourne which started at Federation Square and ound through the Lanes taking in points of interest.  I added in a few detours here and there to the State Library, the Gaol where Ned Kelly was hung, the Town Hall, Hoseir Lane (famour for its graffitti - apparently Banksy has been here with his parachuting rats but I couldn't find them anywhere) the Parliament buildings, St Patrick Cathedrall and after 6 hours and very sore feet I hopped back on the train at Flinders Street station back to Batman Station (Linda keeps correcting my pronunciation of Batman as I'm sure you can imagine I have a certain theme tune in my head everytime I think of it).

That evening Linda's friends Jan (who is from the UK) came over for dinner and after quaffing rather a lot of red wine we hit the hay.  Up early the following day so I could catch my train down to Mornington, via Cheltenham and Chelsea, on the coast where I was met by my lovely friend Jenny and her sister Lee.

The week down there were spent walking, swimming seeing a few sights most notably Sorrento where Mia (Jenny's Mum), Jenny and I stopped for a Snot Block.  A what I hear you cry? This is the technical term for a famous Sorrento Vanilla Slice.

The beaches here are quite cute with beautifully coloured and painted beach huts or beahc boxes as they call then here and you wouldn't believe the price of these things ... $295,000!!!!  Each morning we would walk dow nthe cliffs and along the beach to a great cafe in the harbour called The Rocks appart from one day when Jenny and I drove out to Portsea which is on the southern most tip of the Mornington Penninsula and walked along a very wind swept, desserted beach.

I had my first encounter with a large Huntsman spider at the cottage, luckily it was from a distance as they are pretty big but also completely harmless so that's fine by me.  It rained a bit towards the end of the week but I'm getting used to that happening to me.

My last night in Mornington most of Jenny's family came to stay and we had a big meal together which was really nice before Anne and I took ourselves off to watch Silent Witness ... well with the opportunity to have a Harry fix who was I to say no ;-)

Early Saturday morning I had another tearful goodbye with Jenny and then caught the airport shuttle bus back to Melbourne Airport ready to catch my flight to Canberra.

A glorious 4 hours or so were then spent killing time in the airport as I couldn't get a bus that would get me there nearer the time and then I was off and an hour later arrived in a VERY wet Canberra .. did I mention
there's a drought in this country, at this point it has rained more in Oz than its been sunny!!!!

Amy, Harry and Isobel all met me at the airport which was lovely and Harry and Isobel had both made me presents which was so sweet and will be going in my journal.  That evening we had a lovely dinner together and after 'your friend' as Isobel kept calling me to Amy had read Isobel a story and Harry had gone to bed too, the grown ups cracked on with the wine.

The following day it was still raining (arrgghhhh) so Amy and I took Harry and Isobel to Questaco which is the science museum in Canberra and there we met Gretta, Stuart's sister and her family.  After a few hours of pushing buttons, pulling knobs, lots of screaming and running around we headed home and quite frankly I was exhausted (no one else was).  After lunch some of Amy and Stuarts friends came over with their kids and we had a very civilised afternoon chatting, sipping beer and watching the kids entertain themselves and to top it off the sun came out.

Monday was Amy's first day at work and Stuart was taking the kids off to school so once everyone had been discharged I got up and then headed off into Canberra centre to find the Museum and an hour and twenty mintues later I found it sitting by the big lake in the centre of Canberra.  Canberra is a bit of a strange place its been designed which you can tell as the streets are all nice and wide and there is lots of space everywhere but it does feel a little clinical at time I found.

The Museum was great though and gave me a good basis of Australian history such that it is and certainly all the things before we started sending convicts over here which I knew very little about and also how the Indigenous People (Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders) were opressed and through to the Apology given by the Prime Minister here which I hadve to admit the video of it was done so well and with such beautfiul music I burst into tears ... yes folks still embarrassing myself by crying in very public places on my own!!

I spent about 3 hours here in total and by the time I came out it was throwing it down again so I caught the bus back.  That evening we all headed out of pizza which was a lovely end to my 3 days with the Jones clan.

We are now at Tuesday 17th Feb (Becky I'm sorry I forgot to wish you a Happy Birthday so will publicly do it now, hope it was a good one) ...I caught an early morning flight from Canberra after Amy dropped me off on her way to work and arrived in Sydney again about an hour later.  I have to say though what a view on landing!!!  It was spectacular even if it was a bit overcast and I think the picture says it all.

I hoped on a train to Central Station then and arrived at my hostel the Railway Square YHA about lunch time and what a lovely hostel.  Its in the old Railway sheds and some of the dorms are actually in old rail carriages I didn't get to stay in one of these but my room was clean, quiet and lovely and cool.

The afternoon I spent getting my bearings and aquainting myself with a little bit of Sydney as I'm finding it takes a bit of time to get used to places an the best way to do it is to just wander roudn with no particular agenda.  I got some food in and just felt exhausted so was in bed asleep very early ready to start the day nice and early the following day.

I slept for nearly 12 hours!!!!!  So not quite the early start I had planned but it was a beautfiul day (FIANLLY) so I set off to do the Lonely Planet walking tour of Sydney which started and Central Station and took me down to Hyde Park and the Anzac Parade, I then did a divert off to the Museum where I spent a good hour and a half and I actually think this museum's Australian History section was better than Canberra as I think Canberra assume an element of knowledge where as Sydeny treats you as the idiot you are ;-)

After this I headed up past St Mary's Cathedral, to Macquarie St and the old barracks and colonial buildings along the street inculding the Mint and Sydeny Hospital.  About half way down is the State Library and opposite that is the entrance to the botanical gardens which is where I decided to stop and have my sandwich and I could just about make out the harbour from where I was sitting.

I walked down through the gardens and along the harbour front and then came into view one of the most iconic views I have seen on this trip so far ... the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge ... and what was my first thing that came into my head other than WOW? "I thought the Opera House was on the other side" Oh well it isn't and its also not as big as I thought it was but still a beautiful building although the inside could do with an update from what I could see from outside.

I then walked along Circular Quay and up to The Rocks which is where the first convicts were landed.  A great area, steeped in histroy which you can see in the old buildings which of course are now all posh boutiques and coffee shops.

My final stop for the day was to head up on to the bridge.  I decided not to do the bridge climb as it was $189 and for $9.50 you can climb the Pylon which is one of the stone pillars at the end of the bridge ... all 200 steps but for the views it is definitely worth it ... it was at this point the battery on my camera gave up the ghost ... what great timing! Luckily I had my Blackberry with me so managed to get a few shots on that.

When I got to the bottom I was no longer glowing or perspiring I was full on sweating from the heat, wlaking and lcimbing and never have I seen a sign so inviting ... "come and try one of our 100 beers" Yes Please!!!  So I sat a drank a very well deserved scooner (hope I've spelt that right) of a pale ale I can't remember the name of now, I had tried several before I made my mind up ;-)  Lastly I took the long walk down George Street back to the hostel where I had stir fry and flopped into bed exhausted again.

Thursday I decided was a day for the beach so I hopped on the open top bus tour round Sydney, just to check I hadn't missed anything and this gave me a good look round Kings Cross which isn't too dissimilar to the one in London certainly in terms of its late night reputation and then I was on my way to Bondi. 

Hmmmm not convinced I see the attraction of Bondi myself its just a giant strip of sand crammed full of people posing for each other.  Oh well I had my second alfrescoe lunch sat on the beach by the path wall for a bit of shade and then I set along the Coastal walk to Coogee (5km one way), this took in a number of other little bays with beaches and I have to say I think Tamarama was my favourite although not great for swimming (if you want swimming then Clovelly is probably the best).  There was a lot of ups and down on this walk but again it was well worth it especially when I reached Waverley Cemetery which has a wonderful walkway over the cliffs and you can sit and watch the waves crashing, fabulous! 

Once at Coogee I grabbed a gelato and headed for the beach to watch the world go by for a bit before heading back.  Round trip it including the gelato stop it took 3 hours and once again I was suitably knackered but in a really good way and it had been such fab weather it made it all the better.  I am loving all this time by the sea I'm getting I have to say.

On the way back I stopped off for some Chinese food, big mistake, it was nowhere near as good as Fang's cooking as I knew it wouldn't be and left me with a thirst I couldn't quench.  After doing some laundry and uploading some photos it was off to bed again ... its tiring all this travelling!!

Friday I was up early and ready to go at 7.30m for my Hunter Valley Wine Tasting Tour.  This was great although the weather let us down a bit but a few glasses of wine later ... weather? What weather? The first 2 estates we went to were great - Tallawera Grove and Iron Gate - in particular the second of these where I picked up Lulu and I a little bottle to celebrate with when she gets here on 27th.  At Iron Gate the guy explaining the wines got us to try this reserve Chiraz hat he had and after 2 sips he then gave us some chocolate brownie to eat adn then said drink the wine again ... OH MY GOD!!!!  It was heaven.

Lunch was next which was good job as we'd tried about 14 different wines by this stage and then after lunch Mariska (dutch girl I met) and I went off to try some cheese and I bought a very smelly one which is stinking out everywhere I go despite being in its wrapping, a plastic bag and a zip lock bag ... yep it hums but its so yummy!! And I also got to try some McGuigan wines which is one of the labels I drink in the UK so they gave me a list of all the ones available in the UK and where I can get them.

The last estate was a bit of  let down after that it was called Ernest Hill and nowhere near as good as the other estates we'd been to.  Then we were off back to Sydney and on the way back we watched "A Good Year" one of my favourite movies and suitably about wine. Back in Sydney the weather was fab and after dinner I spent the evening sorting stuff out ready for my trip to the Blue Mountains the following day.

I caught the 10.18am train from Central Station to Katoomba which is the 'capital' of the Blue Mountains according to Lonely Planet.  The train journey was fairly ordinary the fun started when I arrived in Katoomba just over 2 hours later.  What a weird little place!!  Its like the 1920s/30s arrived and Katoomba got stuck in a time wharp which then attracted a rather 'bohemian' element shall we say.  I had booked myself into a guest house and decided to push the boat out and have a room and bathrrom to myself ... BIG MISTAKE!!!!  Imagine a bad old people's home crossed with Faulty Towers and this pretty much sums up where I was staying.

Shown to my room ther wall paper was peeling off the walls everywhere (not just in my room), there was damp on the ceiling, the window was nailed shut and there was a really nasty smell in the room even before my cheese had 2 days to fester in it, everywhere you stepped the floor boards creeked, my room was next to the communal toilets and showers (this proved interesting later), I was too affraid to plug anything into the electical socket for fear of electricuting myself, 'chintz' is the only way I can describe the bedding, curtains, carpet and wall paper and not in good way, there was a VERY old lady in the TV room who didn't look like she was going to make it through the night judging by the number of blankets she was wrapped in, her rather grey complexion and the stack of pills on a trolley in front of her and to top it all off there was a man staying there who I never saw but would puff and pant do much when he got to the top of the stairs (just outside my room) it sounded like he was doing something other than climbing the stairs and he liked to talk to himself ... I was gutted.

But Idecided best foot forward and quickly changed and headed out to sus out Katoomba ... well that took a whole 10 minutes or so (its not a big place) and as I couldn't face going back to the guest house there was only one thing for it I needed a drink.  I had found the rather lovely looking Carrington Hotel by this stage so decided to plonk myself on there terrace and catch up on my journal and form a plan of action.  Well this proved fascinating on the people watching front especailly the wanna be rock star and his rather fed up girl friend who were having a domestic over several glasses of wine, it then got even funnier when I very 'normal' Aussie couple on their 25th wedding anniversary trip got chatting to them and the introductions happened - Normal couple something like Chris and Jane, Wanna be Rock Star and girlfriend, Romeo and Charleen - well it was all I could do not to spit my wine everywhere I had so wished someone had been there to enjoy it with me.

3 glasses of wine later and full of dinner I decided it was time to brave the room and surpisingly once grunter had finished and I had put my ear plugs in I slept really well.  Was up and out fairly early the following day and after picking up the best Almond croissant I've ever had from the organic bakery and garbbing water, fruit and a sandwich I headed out to Echo Point and the Blue Mountains.  WOW!!!!  Breathtaking does not do it justice again I'll let the photos do the talking.

So I strated the first of my walks which was recommended in a local guide which took me down the Giant Staircase to the first of the 3 sisters (legend has it that 3 sisters who wanted to marry 3 warriors from a different tribe were turned to stone by a medicine man whilst the matter was dealt with but he was killed and the sisters have remained in stone to this day).  I then carried on down all 900 steps of the great stairway and was very wobbly legged by the time I got to the bottom.  After that I carried on along Dardanelles Pass and on to Fedral Pass, past Katoomba Falls until I reached the Scenic World railway (5km).  This walk was beautiful I was pretty much on my own most of the way just listening to the birds, cicadas and wind in the trees and the sun was shinning it was a glorious day.  I then walked round the rather boring scenic world walk ways which was full of very noisy tourists running around and bascially scaring off any wildlife at this point I decided to head off down one of the other tracks that no one else really eemed ot be going down and what a good choice that was.

After about 30 minutes of quite strenuous walking/climbing I arrived at a break in the path which looked out overthe valley and the mountains beyond, a perfect spot for lunch, the best one yet!!  I then walked back and got the railway back up to the top and from there walked the 2 or 3 km back to Echo Point where I picked up the hop on hop off tour bus (yet another mistake) which was rubbish I had hoped it would take me to the Jenolan Caves which had been recommended it was then I discovered that they are 1.5hrs away and its a day trip!  Thsi was not made clear anywhere that I looked so I was a bit annoyed but it did get me back to Faulty Towers.  Quick shower and I headed off to The Carrington again for a pre dinner drink and then to the Old Bank pub for the best veggie pizza I've had (pumpkin, spinach, goat cheese, pesto and pinenuts) and a really good salad.  Despite drinking just over 1.5ltr of water during the day this obviously wasn't enough as the wine went straight to my head giving me a head ache and I thne drank another litre of water with dinner!

Slept well again and in the morning caught the 9.20am train back to Sydney, checked back into the Railway Square YHA where it was like bedlum as ACDC have been playing over the weekend and on Monday night so there were people and bags everywhere.

I then met Helen Marsden a girl I met through Laura who I used to work with at the Guardian (some of you may have met Helen at my leaving do).  We caught the bus down to Circular Quay and had a lovely lunch down there looking out to the Harbour Bridge.  At one point some people called out excitedly to a guy walking past saying "great show last night can we have our pciture with you".  Helen M got very excited at this point thinking it was someone famous she got out her camera and was umming and ahhing about asking for her picture with him too thinking he must be with ACDC ... luckily she didn't quite get to that point because when we asked the people who he was they said he was a referee for cage fighting ... we did laugh.

It was baking hot day so we decided a gelato was in order before Helen had to catch her bus and after she left I hopped onthe ferry over to Manly for a quick wander round.  The ferry took about 30 minutes and was a lovely way to see Sydney and Manly itself is actually really nice, The Corso which is the main walkway form the ferry terminal to Manly Surf Beach (they even have a Little Manly over here which is where I stayed in New Zealand with Jeanne and Howard) is lined with palms and funny looking pines and has cafes and seafood restaurants intermixed with surf clothing shops and boutiques.

I wandered round for about an hour and then caught the ferry back basking in the sun as I went.  Quiet night again as an early start the following day and my first tiem driving since I elft home, I was certainly a little apprehensive.

That's all for now folks, sorry its been so long in coming and promise I will add the photos soon once I have time to do so.

Take care, love to you all
Hxx

The Northlands and Itinerary Changes

I spent just under a week with Anne and Herb Hart and there 2 very cute Yorkshire terriers (Pepe and Rene) just outside Christchurch in a place called Kaiapoi.  I slept for about 11 hours straight almost every night I was with them ... I was shattered after the Stray tour.  Didn't do much else as my diving trip to Picton and the Lermontov (sunken Russian Cruise liner) was cancelled due to the weather but I did managed to catch up with Steve and Georgie Walker who I met diving in Rarotonga which was great and we had a lovely lunch at the art gallery in Christchurch.

I flew back to Auckland on 20th Jan and stayed with Becky's house mates the Pome Helen's, yes 3 Helen's in one house I thinnk their new house mate though we were taking the preverbial when they introduced me to him.

21st January I headed into Central Auckland to pick up another Stray tour this time of the Northlands.  First off we stopped just outside the lovely little town of Warkworht to see the ancient McKinney Kauri tree which is 800 years old, has a girth of 7.62m and its heigth to its first limb is 11.89m ... its BIG!!!

After a quick morning tea stop in Warkworth (has to be my favourite little town in New Zealand) we headed to the beach just outside of Whangerei and it suddenly dawned on me that the beach I was sitting on is the same one I flew over in the helicopter when I first arrived in New Zealand ... that was over 3 months ago now.

Lunch stop was in Whangerei and we also stopped in at the falls there.  Once again there were small fearless children jumping off ledges and swing ropes into the water ... it seems to be a right of passage here.

Our next stop was a little bizarre and certainly brought a new meaning to a comfort break.  We stopped in Kawakawa to see some toilets designed by an Austrian architect and ecologist Frederick Hundertwasser ... certainly the most ornate public toilets I have been to but still a little strange that we stopped just to see them and apparently its the top tourist attraction for the town!

We arrived into Paihia about 3.30pm, booked the trip we were going to be doing and then I was completely taken aback when the tour went roaring past the Witangi Treaty Ground with our dirver meerly pointing in the general direction of it ... For those of you that don't know the Witangi Treaty is probably THE most significant agreement in New Zealand between the Maoris and the European settlers, its also not without it controversy (there are 2 copies, one in English one in Maori and something got "lost" in translation shall we say).

We were then dropped at the Pipi Patch Base Hostel where I quickly dumped my stuff and headed up to the treaty ground on my own to go and have a look round as it was one of the main things I wanted to do/see when I came up here.  I spent about an hour up at the treaty ground and I was really glad I went.  Its been really well laid out and you could almost feel the history and significance of the site, not to mention the amazing views over the Bay of Islands form up there.  Its also coming up to Witangi Day here in New Zealand (6th Feb) so they are preparing the grounds for the anniversary and they had some special Waka (canoes) at the ground that are not normally there.

Eventually got back to the hostel about 6.30pm and after a quick shower we headed off for the BBQ and a few pints.

Up early the following day for our trip to Cape Reigna and I spent most of the day with a lovely Irish girl called Rachel and a few others from bus up from Auckland. 

First port of call was 90 mile beach which we found out isn't in fact 90 miles but 64 miles whoever measured it the first time got it wrong ... least said the better on that one I think.  We dorve up the beach very fast for about 30 minutes with a few photos stops.  The weather wasn't brilliant but luckily when we stopped at the sand dunes the sun came out just in time for our boogie boarding down the dunes.  i had to do this in stages as the top of the dune seemed a little too high up to start with especially as you are coming down face first and we were told we could pick up enough speed to end up in the bushes the other side of the stream at the bottom .... it was brilliant fun!!!!

Ended up with snad in places I didn't even know you could get sand.

After that we headed to another beautiful beach for lunch before actually getting to Cape Reinga and walking out to the cliff tops where you can see the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet and its really does look like you can see them meeting.  There's also a really cute little light house up here too.

After that we head back via the Kauri Gumdiggers Museum and the ancient Kauri Kingdom ... Kauri trees are protected in New Zealand and you are not allowed to cut them down but in the past they had been used for all sorts of of things from building boats and ships to using the gum to make varnish, paint, etc.

The last stop before home was the Mangonui fish Shop for $7 fish and chips which I have to say have to be the best fish and chips I have ever had.  Arrived back in Paihia about 7pm completely shattered and was fast asleep before the sun went down.


The following morning Rachel and I went on the Discover the Bay boat trip and saw 5 bottle nosed dolphins playing in the Bay which ws fab although once again I haven't got brilliant photos but they were leaping out of the water doing flips, twirls and all sorts ... oh and then the captain pointed out they were fornecating ... NICE!!!

The rest of the boat trip was lovely in and around all the little Islands (144 Islands) and we took a trip out to Hole in the Rock which we went through ... gotta love the Captain he stopped inside and asked us to all look up at the big crack in the rock and then said that it was a fauly line and one day the whole thing would come crashing down!!!

On the way back we stopped off at one of the Islands which I'm sorry to say I felt was the first real tourist trap I have been in since I got here.  We were told that a guided tour of the Island was optional, what they should have siad was you can pay extra to do the guided walk or you can sit in the restaurant/cafe and eat and drink their over inflated food and drink ($8 for a sandwich and a cup of tea, that's about 4 GBpounds)

Back in Paihia I had to quickly say goodbye to Rachel and run to get my bus back ... well not before I got on the wrong bus, lets just say it was an easy mistake to make.  We headed out and the weather started to deteriorate and it pretty much rained all the way back.  We stopped again at Whangerei Falls as some people on the bus hadn't seen them and then we stopped off at a place called Longs Bay which was billed as the best beach you have ever seen ... I'm thinnking our driver needs to get out of New Zealand ... it was a nice beach but I have seen much more spectacular.

Arrived back into Auckland just after 6pm and I headed over to Mission Bay to catch up with the other Pome Helen's, Becky's housemates.

Sunday Helen S and I headed over to Devonport for a pottle round the shops, lunch and the a walk New Zealand stylie (that's code for a drive) to Northhead which gives great views of Mission Bay, Auckland and over to Rangitoto (inactive volcano which you can see form Jeanne and Howard's place as well) and up to Whangaparaoa and beyond.

On Wednesday I went into town to catch up with Anna and Mandy who I met on the Stray tour and went for a lovely dinner in Ponsonby and the following day I finally got up the Sky Tower which was great such a lovely clear day and the views over Auckland were great I had a cuppa and a slice of cake whilst watching a few people throw themselves off the tower and then I met Sarah and Amy for a slightly boozy lunch.

So my last week in New Zealand has arrived can you believe it, I know I can't where is the time going.  I'm back staying with the lovely Jeanne and Howard and catching up with everyone before I fly to Melbourne, Australia on 3rd February.

I have finalised pretty much the rest of my trip now so here is the update on my itinerary for thsoe of you that are interested ;-)

3rd Feb - Fly into Melbourne
2nd April - Fly to Anguilla
7th May - Fly to Melbourne
10th May - Fly to Singapore
12th May - Fly to China - I will probably be on my knees with jet lag by this time
2nd June - Fly to Singaport
3rd June - Fly to South Africa
31st July - Fly back to the UK - this may change so don't start booking me in for things just yet ;-)

So all for now folks next update will be from Oz.

Take care, love to you all
Hx

Hanging about with a bunch of Strays

Last time I wrote it was Christmas Eve and we had a good night, the nibbles turned out to be a BBQ and that I had been misinformed about Christmas Day.  But not to worry after phone calls, sending emails, eating drinking and the Shawshank Redemption that was Christmas Day over, a bit of a non event but that was fine and didn't really do much until 27th December when I caught the Trans Alpine Train from Christchurch to Greymouth.

It took 4 hours to get to Greymouth, the first hour was a bit dull but after that we climbed into the mountain and were soon chugging along past huge gorges with turquoise water flowing through them, over vast viaducts and miles and miles of tunnels.  Up into alpine territory where there were towering mountains, pretty pink and purple lupins, more rivers and river beds.  We reached Arthur's Pass after about 2 hours where we went through an 8km tunnel to get to the West coast.  Unfortunately the weather wasn't great on the day and when we got over to the west coast it got even worse.  Lonely Planet says that the only thing that can spoil this trip is bad weather ... marvellous!!  But it wasn't spoilt for me it just could have been even more spectacular than it was.

It was a long day, 8 hours on the train but worth it.  I think if I was to do it again I would only go as far as Arthurs Pass and then perhaps do a walk before catching the train back to Christchurch as it seemed that part of the journey was the best.

Once back at the hostel the lovely Ivana who I met in San Fran was there (this was prearranged) and her and her lovely travelling buddy Rebecca had cooked us dinner (including chocolate dipped fruit for pudding - how great to come back to a home cooked meal) so we sat and chatted over a few beers and a bottle of wine until it was time to hit the sack as I had an early start in the morning catching the Stray bus, but it was great to see Ivana even if it was only for a short amount of time.

Monday 28th December I was up early and walked down the road to catch the Stray bus (for those of you that don't know this is a bus company that does guided tours for backpackers round New Zealand, you may have heard of Kiwi Experience or Kontiki they are similar).  I won't lie I was very nervous as those of you I spoke to about this will know, fearing that my next 17 days would be spent with a bunch of 18 year old alcohol fuelled idiots and not really seeing New Zealand ... I needn't have worried and in fact know I have made some friends for life and some of you will be amused to know I will probably be speaking with an Irish accent by the end of the trip, all will become clear as we go on.

So we set off from Christchurch heading north up the east coast to Kaikoura, amazing coast line and we stopped to take pictures of sea lions just lolling on the rocks on the beach. En route we played our first game of the trip which was facts about New Zealand I was partnered with Mandy (a Kiwi - bonus) who is form Auckland and was travelling with her friend Anna for their 2 week summer holiday, brave girls.  I spent most of the next 2 weeks with these 2 girls.  Anyway we arrived in Kaikoura to find the hostel we were meant to be staying in had mucked up the booking so instead we were staying at a hostel called Dusky Lodge - I lovingly (yes that is sarcasm) dubbed it Dusty Lodge, it was the worst placed we stayed on the whole trip, ten bed dorm that stank, the sheets smelt dirty, the bathrooms were horrible and the kitchen had no cups or glasses to drink out of so we had to by plastic cups well wine glasses but same difference ;-)

In the afternoon Mandy, Anna and I went Whale watching which was amazing, seeing those giant mamals on the surface adn then watching them dive and their tails swoop into the air was breath taking.  We saw 4 Sperm whales in total which was pretty good giong apparently and then on the way back we came across a pod of approximately 500 dusky dolphins who were swimming and leaping about all over the place.  There were a couple of little ones just learning to jump who kept flopping in the water and then other more experienced audlts who were doing somersualts and all sorts of acrobatics for us, it was magic and I just couldn't get my camera to work properly to get some really good photos but I got a few good ones.

After that we hit the nearest pub for a beer and some hot chups (chips to you and me) and so the fun began we eneded up with enough chips to feed about 12 people as the baskets were huge and we ordered one each ... we had to cancel the fourth basket as we all felt sick.

The next day after a bad nights sleep we couldn't get out of the hostel quick enough we headed up to Picton and checked into the much better hostel The Villa. I spent the afternoon on my own wandering around the town, went to see the Edwin Fox which is the only surviving ship that transported convicts to Australia, brought settlers to both Australia and New Zealand and served in the Crimean War, its falling apart not surprisingly and then after this I went to the very quaint museum run by a an old couple who have obvisouly written some of the signs by hand themselves.  I found some of the whaling exhibition quite distrubing especially the harpoons and also the "triumphant" photos of the whalers with their catch.

The rest of the day/evening was spent having dinner and playing scrabble and doing a 1000 piece jigsaw of 2 tigers ... the jigsaw also continued the following morning through to lunchtime when it was time to go again and we still hadn't finished it.

It was now 30th December and today "Nipples" - or Alistair for anyone who couldn't face yelling Nipples down the bus or across a car park - became our new driver and we had the bst day we had had so far.  The sun was shining and we were heading for Abel Tasman National Park (or Table Asman as I kept calling it) on the north west coast of the South Island.  First of all we stopped off to do some wine tasting in Malborough (where Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc is from), we then had a quick stop at the Mussel Pot in Havelock to get some mussels for dinner which Nipples cooked for us (YUMMY), we then went to Nelson to pick a few people up and drop a few others off and whilst we were there popped in to the Tasman Brewery a great little micro brewery doing some great but strange beers which you could only buy in either 1.25ltr or 2ltr bottles so I got a 1.25ltr bottle of Tasman Larger (6.5%) which I still haven't drunk because its been too cold!!

From there we made our way down to Motueka again past just beautiful scenery which my camera cannot do justice to.  Here we stopped for supermarket to stock up for New Year as the next time we would be near a supermarket would be on 1st Jan.  We then made our wy over the hill to Marahau where we were told about soem of the actiictives we could do the following day and water taxis were boked and eventually at just after9 pm we were ensconsed in Old MacDonald's Farm tucking into mussels, steak, sausages and salad with a camp fire roaring.  Collapsed into bed about 11pm exhausted but so happy it had been a fab day.

Up bright and early on New Years Eve and headed out to do the Coastal Walk from Marahau to Anchorage (11.5km) which I had been told would take me 4 hours ... now boys I know I'm old but really, it took just over 2.5hrs and I stopped to take loads of photos on the way.  Gorgeous walk and great to do it on my own and recharge my batteries.  Once in anchorage I sat and ate my lunch on the beach and watched the catamaran come in and met up with Bernie, Mandy, Anna and Emma D on the beach and then we all sailed back to Kaiteriteri together (took about 4 hrs) which was great very relaxing and then they dropped us back at the farm where we showered and changed and had a few drinks and dinner before the festivities really started.  Again had a camp fire going and we played silly drinking games and then just before midnight we went down to the Park Cafe where they had a reggae band playing of all things ( I felt like I was in Anguilla) and we saw new year in dow nthere.  Anna and I walked back with a few others an hour or so later and after a few more drinks and chatting we finally hit the hay about 2am, another great day.

Early start on new years day we left the farm at about 9.30am once everyone was dragged from bed and put on the bus, today we were heading for Barry Town which isn't even on the map I have let alone in the Lonely Planet guide, where were we going we all thought.  Anyway this drive had to be one of the most spectacular drives we did of the whole trip the west coast is awesome!!!

We drove through where the Kahurangi National Park and Nelson Lakes National Park meet and saw the moutnain where the caves scene with Golum from Lord of the Rings was filmed ... my precious ... down through the Buller Gorge where we saw some people jet boating (Anna and I decided we wanted a go) and fianlly hit the west coast at Westport where we stopped at Cape Foulwind and walked up to the lighthouse and just beyond to get our first views of the rugged west coast.

From there we headed down to Punakaiki and the Pancake Rocks where we stopped for a walk around and finally rocked into Barry Town about 6pm.  We had been forewarned that tonight was party night and the theme was pirates so we had managed to pick a few things up in Motueka that morning from the 2 dollar shop but we needn't have worried as they have a whole room of dressing up clothes, you know you're in trouble when you discover that.

The evening started slowly until the queen came out and then it all went wrong.  Bascially the queen is a coin with the queens head on it and if it gets dropped into your glass someone yells god save the queen and you have to down your drink to stop her drowning .... well all was going swimmingly until Irish Anna said the Queen could drown for all she cared so we had to move on to something less emotive ... out came the fertility god of the cook islands and this seemed to 'work' much better, that combined with the Jaeger bombs that Nipples was dishing out to everyone (there is a game you play on the Stray bus that when you see one of the stray camper vans called speaceships you have to yell spaceship and you get a drink or if the driver yells it we have to buy him one).  The party ended at 2am for me when I siddled off to miss the trip to the beach.

Up early the next morning as Kiwi Anna, Irish Anna, Clive, Kerstin and myself were bone carving, so glad I did it but I did feel rough.  It wasn't so much carving as sanding your piece of bone into shape with various sanding machines and lots of different pieces of sand paper.  All in all it took about 3 hours to get to the finished article and we were all really pleased.

Back on to the bus and the weather had turned to rain unfortunately we headed over a bridge called the tin opener, bus drivers don't like it as its a bit tricky hence its name and we were in Greymouth before we knew it.  Pick ups and drop offs done we headed to Hokitika the home of the New Zealand green stone where we had an hour or so to have a look round and do some food shopping.  Next stop was the Bushman centre and by now the weather had cheered up.  In we went to watch a video about deer hunting New Zealand style called "Bambi was a Terrorist" (the guy who ran this place was a bit of a character which you can tell by some of the signs he had on the wall) and I finally got to see what a live Possum looked like, bless they are actually quite sweet looking.

On to Franz Josef and by the time we got there the weather had cleared up and the sun was out.  Went off to book in for our glacier hikes for the followng day to be told there was about 100% chance it was going to be cancelled as they were expecting heavy prolonged rain that would cause flooding.  I as well as all the other was really disappointed.  Mandy, Kiwi Anna, Bernie and Irish Emma had managed to change their helicopter flight to that evening and told me there was a spare seat if I wanted it so I ran back and got myelf booked on and boy am I glad I did.

So at 7.30pm we took off and flew up over Fran Josef glacier which is just spectacular, we then landed on the neve at the top which was unreal and the snow up there was really coarse and despite the pilto telling us it was 5 degrees it didn't feel cold at all with the sun out.  On the way back we flew down over Fox Glacier and over the National Park before landing back in Fran Josef township.  It was then we discovered that we had lucked out big time.  We had only booked and payed for the Franz Josef flight and to do both glaciers cost NZ$100 more than what we paid but because it was an office error we didn't have to pay the extra.  This brought to an end probably 5 of the best days of my life so far - I'd seen whales and dolphins close up, driven and walked through some of the most breath taking scenery I've seen to date,  sailed on boats, flown in helicopters, stood on a glacier and most importantly met some brilliant people who had experienced it all with me - what a way to end 2009 and start 2010.

The following day (3rd Jan) the heavens opened at 6am and rained solidly and heavily for 12 hours, the car park was flooded at the hostel, we all got very wet and very bored as there was nothing to do. I thought I had lost my rain coat the previous day so went and bought another one as praying to Saint Anthony (recommended by the Irish) hadn't worked and got soaked right through my clothes on the way back.  At 3pm we decided ti was time to hit the bar "Monsoon" whose slogan was "it rains ... we pour" but they didn't until 4.30pm so we went back and had a nap before retunring to sink way too many pints of Monteiths Golden Ale and play pool.

Next day we headed down through the Haast Pass stopping at Knights Point, Thunder Falls, Roaring Billy Falls and the Blue Pools to name a few of our stops on the way to Makarora.  Makarora was gorgeous surrounded by vast hills and mountains we all had individual beds and I had my first roast dinner in a long while and after 4 days of quite seriously heavy nights I hit the sack before the sun even went down.  Up at 7am I took myself off for a walk along the Mount Shrimpton track to the river where I sat and watched the river for a while.  The light on the mountains was beautiful and it was a cold, crsip sunny morning which blew the cob webs away.  Wandered back for a bacon and egg sandwich and hopped on the bus for our last day with Nipples as our driver.  We were on our way to Queenstown but first stop was Wanaka where those that weren't sky diving went to Puzzling world which got a mixed reception - I loved it as we got the opportunity to be a big kid again finding our way round the Maze, went in the slopping room which made me feel sick, into the room where you look big at one end and small at the other and finally round the exhibits of puzzles, was great.  We then headed into Wanaka for lunch by the lake and started hatching our plan for Nipples present form us all.

Again a great drive to Queenstown past even more spectacular scenery and once the Remarkables (mountains) were on our left we were nearly there.  We styed at Nomads in Queenstown which was bliss after some of the places we stayed, clean, tidy, modern and fluffy white towels!!  We dumped our bags and Mandy, Anna and I went off to find the t-shirt shop to get a t-shirt made up for Nipples which read "Sweet as ... eh!" Nipples favourite saying and then his name, the tour and date underneath, we also got a card for us all to sign and we ended up with enough money in the pot to get him 3 Jaeger bombs as well..  Dinner was a Winnie's Pizza place that evening where we had a table for about 15, Nipples was delighted with his present and after dinner quite a lot of the group went speed dating which was hilarious as most of the speed daters were from our group so they ended up dating each other.  Next stop World Bar for cocktail tea pots which are lethal and I left them to it about 1am.

Finally a lie in the following day 9.30am, I know I should be careful getting so much sleep ;-)  Leisurely morning and then Anna and I went off jet boating which involved an hour long trip through some very scary mountain passes with sheer drops over the canyon.  The jet boating was great, doing 360 degree turn in the water, speeding very close to the rocks as well as getting to see a few sights along the way.  On the way back we didn't stop and we just raced down the river with the current and we reached 85km per hour, exhilarating, especially when you are having to hold on and are not strapped in!!  After a painfully slow journey back Anna and I ended up being late for our spa treatment but bless them they managed to move some things round to make sure we still got our hour treatement of a back massage and a mini facial.  I did ask for the massage to be firm but I did nearly have to ask her to stop at one point as she took my breath away with the pain but boy did I feel good when I came out!!  That night we had dinner at the hostel before having a few drinks in the hostel and then I had to go to bed as was exhausted and we had an early start in the morning.

Next day and a new driver "Python" we headed to Milford Sound via Te Anau.  The weather was awful but actually it made the Sounds seem very eerie and quite mysterious and there was water pouring down the mountain sides.  Through the Homer Tunnel and we were right into the sounds where we caught a ferry out to the Tasman sea through the sounds.  The weather was so bad on the way out we could hardly see a thing and going on deck was like taking your life in your hands.  Luckily on the way back it cleared up so we managed to get some good views and photos.  The trip took about 2 hours and then we headed back through the Homer Tunnel on the bus to a little quirky place called Gunns Camp where we spent the evening.

This has to be one of my favourite places that we stayed.  It was all wooden cabins with old ranges in them.  Mandy, Anna and I were sharing a cabin so we got our fire going pretty quick and we cooked our dinner on the range, ate in our hut, played ludo (this is where I discovered Anna competitive streak) and listened to music until the lights went out about 10.30pm and we weren't allowed candles as the building are listed.  If you ever go out this way try and stay here!

To stay warm in the night the fire had to be kept going so I stocked it up before we went to bed and then at 3.20am got up to put more wood and coal on it and luckily it was still going when we got up at 5am!!!!!!  I say luckily because it had snowed in the night over the mountains and whilst there was no snow exactly where we were it was perishingly cold.  6am we were on the bus and on our way to Invercargill via Te Anau where we dropped a few people off.  In Invercargill the Irish gals and Jimbob got off the bus with a few others and the rest of us went to Bluff and caught the ferry over to Stewart Island.  Quite a bumpy hour long ride on the ferry which Anna and I loved Mandy didn't however ;-)

Once on Stewart Island we dumped our stuff at the hostel and went to book a tour of the island and then went in search of soup and warm drinks which we found at the Just cafe.  After showers we had finally warmed up and the weather had picked up nicely for our tour of the Island with Stewart (apparently his last name wasn't Island and no it wasn't his island either ... I wonder how often he hears those jokes).  Stewart Island is lovely very cute and quaint with lots of character we went over to Half Moon Bay and saw (from a distance as you're not allowed in) the reserve that has been created on two thirds of the island by an American organisation called the Dancing Stars before heading up to a number of look outs one looking at some of the smaller islands of the south east coast.  Stewart very kindly dropped us at the pub on the way back where we headed for our obligatory southern most pint in New Zealand and we timed it perfectly as at 6pm on a Friday night they bring out free food in the pub so we got a lovely plate of crayfish, mussels, cod, chips and mini pies to share ... so we had another pint ;-)  Back to the hostel where we ate a small tea before Anna, Emily and I headed out in search of penguins.

Unfortunately the closest we got to penguins was the sign telling us to watch out for them, we found out the following day that this might have had something to do with the amount of noise we were making but anyway we had a good walk as the sun was setting at 9pm.

The following morning we caught the 8am ferry back to Bluff and picked the others up in Invercargill and headed off to Dunedin through the Catlins.  We stopped at a sea lions colony on the way but onyl saw one sea lion but he was a biggy and we got quite close.  We then moved on to the Petrified Forest which is a fossilised forest right by the sea, we had lunch just down the road form here and saw a few sea lions within inches of our bus before heading to Nugget Point in search of penguins ... nope no penguins here either ... hurumpf!

Arrived in Dunedin about 6pm and after Mandy got our room changed (the first one had a smelly drunk man in it) we headed out to do the Speights Brewery tour which was great but boy did that man like to talk but was all worth it when we got to work the pumps our selves at the end and help ourselves to as much of the amber nectar as we liked, I think Speights Distinction was my favourite.  After this we headed for dinner and this is when we first started to notice that Dunedin was a bit odd ... its a Saturday night and there is no one around ... we had the restaurant to ourselves pretty much and it was a good restaurant, there was hardly anyone in the bar and the hotel we were staying in was just freaky, the restaruant was set up for about 400 people to eat in there but we never saw anyone eating in it and the man behind reception told us he never leaves the hotel.


The following day Mandy, Anna, Emily and I headed to the Cadbury factory for a tour, chocolate at 9.30am seemed a little strange but I got over it quickly! Then back on the bus we went to the steepest street in the world before Python told us that some woman killed her husband, his lover and herself in one of the rooms in the hotel we had stayed at the night before and instead of refurbishing the room they just sealed it off and also there are lots of rumours about vampires in Dunedin .... I could not wait to leave!!!!!

Next stop back to Queenstown through gold mining country, the weather was pants again so we didn't stop many places.  We stopped to look at the dam in Cromwell and went to Arrowtown just outside Queenstown which is very cute and very expensive lots of NZ$1million houses here.  Back into Queenstown and we dumped our stuff at Nomads and headed to The Thirsty Ram for the 10 dollar BBQ which was great value and then the queen raised her ugly head thanks to Irish Emma and what was meant to be a quiet evening went down the toilet but all good fun.

The next day it rained non stop so I spent the time sorting stuff out in town and in the internet.  Had lunch with Bernie and Irish Emma, then Jimbob and I went to see Sherlock Holmes at the cinema (thought it was great in case you wondered) and our last meal in Queenstown was at the famous Fergburger bit like Gourmet Burger Kitchen for those of you in the UK.  The evening was finished off by a very expensive glass of wine in front of a roaring fire it was well worth it.

Another early start the next day and the last leg of our trip we were headed for Christchurch again via Twizel and then photo stop at Lake Pukaki of Mount Cook which was completely clear of clouds which apparently is incredibly rare.  We had lunch at Lake Tekapo which again was just beautiful ... I've used that word so much in the last 2 weeks but I can't tell you how appropriate it is. Next stop was a quick one in Geraldine and then we arrived in Christchurch about 5pm, dropped our stuff at the hostel had a quick shower and then headed out for curry at the Tandori Palace and several drinks at the bar in Base and the queen raised her ugly head once more and ended up in my glass in quick succession which finished me off as I couldn't actually fit anything else in my stomach.

So yesterday was fairly quiet got up late, spent some time on the internet, wandered round Christchurch and then cooked dinner with Bernie, Annie, Emma and Jimbob before an early night.  Today Herb Hart who with his wife, Ann, used to live next door to my parents when they lived in Sri Lanka and also we knew when we were in Indonesia picked me up and I am staying with them for a few days now.

So if you're still awake after that marathon firstly well done ;-) and secondly take care and there will probably be one more update before I leave New Zealand on 3rd February.

Hx

Back in New Zealand

Arrived back in New Zealand on 10th Dec and after a few days catching up with Jeanne & Howard, Amy, Sarah, Becky and the Helens I caught the 8am bus from Auckland to Wellington ... 10 hours and 50 minutes later and with the numbest bum on the planet I arrived in Wellington and after negotiating the red carpet from the Lovely Bopnes premier I arrived at the Cambridge Hotel where I spent the next 3 nights.

After a not so good nights sleep I headed into Wellington to investigate. First stop was an internet cafe to sort out stuff and then a fairly lengthy phone call to Lulu to also sort stuff out and catch up. Eventually headed off forTe Papa Museum which is huge and i had to go back the following day to finish it off.

Highlights from the museum were seeing the Colossal Squid not something I would like to bump into when diving but to be honest its not very likely as they live VERY deep and anyway I'm not sure human tastes very nice to them. Learning all about earthquakes and New zealand's history of quakes was interesting and was particularly pleased to read up on what I'm meant to do in the event of a tsunami ... better late than never I guess ;-)

Another highlight was seeing the Witangi Treaty display and the Maori Marae which I did the following afternoon.

That evening I did a Helen first and went to the cinema on my own and saw Amelia ...the film was ok but was a big step for me as I have always hated the idea of going to the cinema on my own. The following evening I was back at the cinema to watch New Moon ... I was on a roll.

So my last day in Wellington I walked through town to the cable car which I caught up to the Botanical Gardens and wandered round for a few hours, had lunch next to the Lady Norton Rose Garden which was beautiful I had forgotten what roses are meant to smell like and it took me straight back to my Gran's garden in Lancashire and making rose water as a kid.

Wandered some more after lunch in the gardens and then into town before hitting the cinema again (New Moon).

Thursday was up early to catch the ferry form Wellington to Picton ... the South Island finally. After 3 fairly pleasant hours on the ferry the last hour of which we were winding our way through Malborough Sounds we arrived in Picton. From here I picked up a float plane and met Gavin, Pam, Rachel and Peter who were also catching the float plane to Hopewell Lodge in the Sounds. Flight only took about 20 mins and that was because he went the scenic route (I think every route would have been pretty scenic if you ask me), not sure I'm too much of a fan of landing on water I have to say.

Wow is the only word I can use to describe Hopewell Lodge and its surroundings, it is like a little slice of heaven. Not only is the accommodation some of the best I have stayed in anywhere but being able to go and collect your own mussels, cockles and oysters straight off the beach to eat was amazing, sitting havng dinner looking out over the sounds, having some of the best food I have had in a long time cooked for you and being made to feel like you are at home I cannot recommend this place enough. We had aBBQ dinner the first night and then headed up to the main house when it got cooler where the wood burners was lit for us and we played scrabble listening to music and sipping wine ... so civilised.

After a slightly restless night on the top bunk (can't remember the last time I slept in bunk beds let alone the top bunk) where I kept thinking I was going to fall out. I headed out for a walk and to just enjoy the surrounding I was in, after an hour I turned round and walked back and pretty much I hadn't seen anyone on my journey other than a few cars oh and an old lady in a truck taking her dog for a walk ... yep she stayed in the truck and the dog ran in front ... genius, Lulu take note ;-)

Had lunch looking out att he most spectacular view and as I did the 'post' man arrived ... not like any postman I've ever come across not only does he dlever post but milk, cases of wine, groceries, he will delivery and pickup broken appliances for fixing and he also does the school run ... and our (British) posties are striking over what exactly?!?!?!?

The afternoon I sat back in the sun and chatted with various people, read my book and as Gavin rather eloquently put it 'this is better than being dead in a tsunami' (or something along those lines anyway) ... I did laugh, you can always trust a yorkshire man to say it as it is ... but without taking anything away from those that lost their lives, loved ones, homes and livelihoods it is true and I'm not sure how often we recognise when life is good and really take time out to 'smell the roses' so to speak.

Another fab dinner of homemade gourmet pizza which was so big it did me for lunch and dinner the following day. More wine and this time a game of Monopoly but a card game rather than using a board, again much hilarity as none of us really had a clue about the rules but were a bit beyond caring by the end.

The following day caught the float plane pack to Pciton with Gavin, Pam, Rachel and Peter again and after farewells I caught my bus to Christchurch and 5.5 hrs later with a 30 min stop in Kaikoura (don't panic I am seeing Kaikoura on my trip) I arrived in Christchurch and to the most revolting hostel I have stayed in to date which was a bit of a shock after the lovely Hopewell Lodge ... put it this way I would rather use the public toilets than the ones at the hostel .. YUK!! Luckily as soon as I got there I got chatting to a couple of Aussie girls and we headed to the pub where we got a little drunk.

The following day (Sunday 20th Dec) I showered and got out of the hostel form hell ASAP and spent the day having a good look round Crhistchurch. I got the tram round the centre which was fun and half way round The Sunshine Band got on board and sang/played You are my Sunshine which was great. I then decided to go on the Gondola which is actually a cable car but by the time I got there a storm had rolled in so my journey to the top was a little hair raising so I treated myself to a scone and a cup of tea at the top ... purely medicinal to steady my nerves you understand ;-)

Weather didn't really improve much up there so I braced myself and headed back down and by the time I got back into town I was freezing as I was in flip flops and shorts and it was raining so I headed for the cinema ... its my new home ;-) and this time watched Mary and Max which is an Aussie production and I was hoping it would be uplifting as its an animation about friendship ... hmmm its rather sad at the end is all I will say. The heavens had well and truly opened by the time I came out so I took a trip to the dark side and went to McDonalds before going back to the hostel from hell.

I moved rooms this day and whilst some things improved, I got a TV in my room and a double bed, somethings got worse ... squeaky bed in my room and the one next door (i'll let you imagine what I could hear), dirt and dust everywhere and still on the very busy main road.

Monday (21 Dec) and once again was up and at em early and into town and round the museum in the morning which was great. Learnt all about the Moa which was a big bird a cross between an ostrich and an emu that used to live in New Zealand but is now extinct, leanrt about how the British colonised Christchurch which is very like Cambridge but less bikes and also Scott left for the antartic from here so there is a big exhibit of everything from his last trip including exerts from his diary which was interesting and really sad, especially the last entry.

After lunch I walked around some more (I know Christchurch like the back of my hand now) and then I'm afraid once again I headed to the cinema, but you really can't understand how bad the hsotel was ... Julie and Julia this time which was great but made me want to cook in my own kitchen at home :-(

Tuesday (22 Dec) Again out quick and headed for the internet cafe in town where I wiled away a few hours before I met up with Charlie and Smed who I met in Raro. So good to see them!!! We walked and talked for a couple of hours before we gave up and headed to the pub - The Bog - and then som how ended up being true Brits and doing a bit of a pub crawl before going for a curry and eventually ending up in an Irish bar playing pool (badly) and sticking old cheesy songs on the juke box ... great night.

Release day arrived and I was up and out of the hostel before 10am and checking into my next hostel faster than you can say 'get me out of here' - Now staying at a place called The Old Country House which is a 20 min walk out of the cnetre but oh my god it is paradise in comparison. Couldn't check in straight away as was too early so headed into town and oh I don't knwo it had been a whole 24 hours so I thought why the hell not and I went to the cinema again ... Avatar this time which was amazing. So don't worry I've run out of things to see now ... well until boxing day when the new schedule is out ;-)

After that back to the hostel checked in properly and had a fairly quiet evening chatted to a few people, read my book and an early night.

So Christmas Eve ... doesn't feel a bit like it, we're having free drinks and nibbles at the hostel tonight which should be good and then tomorrow there is a free BBQ and drinks, think I've lucked out on the hostel choice for Christmas. I'm here until 28th when I am catching the Stray bus which will do a tour of the whole of the South Island. Before that I am doing the Trans-Alpine train journey from Christchurch to Greymouth and back on 27th and I think boxing day will just be a day of rest in between.

I will add photos to this eventually but the computers here don't have the program that compresses them to make the upload quicker so it will take too long but if you are desperate for hptos go to my Snapfish account and there are another 400 odd there for you too look at ;-)

So on that note I will love you and leave you. Hope you all have a very merry christmas and that 2010 proves to be a really happy new year for you all.

Lots of love
Hx