The ferry crossing was 3 hours then we arrived in a little town, Picton. The next day we travelled down the stunning east coastline, following a winding road (so many windy roads in NZ)along the edge of mountains covered in rainforest/treeferns, right next to the beaches. The weather was rainy in places, so we didn't stop too much.

Arrived in Christchurch and found a nice hostel. Met up with Dave, another of our friends we met in Fiji. Christchurch has a cathedral andis on the river edged with willow trees, punting down the river...very English, very Oxford/Abingdon, where I was born. They also have trams in the centre. Our hostel is right next to a huge park.
Went to "Christmas in the park" with Christmas carols, other songs and a big performance on a stage (sponsored by Coca cola)and again met up with our other friends...got quite drunk, bought Christmas hats and felt very festive!

Also visited a great market by the Arts centre, posted stuff back home and developed our underwater pics from Fiji, which came out great.

Dave decided to come on a roadtrip with us to Queenstown. Travelled through some stunning scenery, with snow peaked mountains in the distance - Mt Cook, stopped for a picnic and a photo session at Lake Tekapo where the colour of the lake was an unbelievable icy aqua blue...just amazing, with a little sweet church next ot the lake.

Camped at Lake Wanaka, another friendly town by a lake. Our car broke down as we arrived, so we changed it for another one.
Went to Puzzle World the next day and went around a big wooden maze...great laugh, plus lots of optical illusions and interactive stuff...well worth visiting.

Queenstown was quite expensive, but nice. Watched some bungy jumping, but didn't do one this time. Ate a huge lamb burger, bought wine and played cards and Yatzee game in the tent...all three of us were camping in our tent...cosy! Paul went busking here and we played crazy golf again. Dave caught bus back to Christchurch and we went back to Wanaka via the mountain range. Camped in a different site, with a lovely pool and great views. The weather was roasting and we managed to top up our tans.

But...got a speeding fine here...damn (but didn't pay it..ooops, naughty girl)The policeman kind of hinted that if we were leaving the country soon it wouldn't be followed up, so don't worry, just means we wouldn't be able to emigrate there...ah well.

Then we had a beautiful drive up to Fox Glacier and walked to the base of the Glacier here, in the rain. Met up with a friend we made in Canada at the other glacier village, Frans Joseph. He is a helicopter pilot and takes peeps up over and on the glaciers, so he offered to take us for cheap...but the weather proved to be a pain and he didn't fly the whole 3 days we were there...booo hooo.

The scenery was incredible there, even in the rain. The rainforest covers the lower mountains, and the tops are covered in snow but slightly hidden by cloud, so eery! We had a laugh with Duncan and his flat mate and Paul cooked them toad in the hole.
We also went to a shed party and tried locally shot wild venison and mussels on the BBQ. Also tried "Mutton Bird", which is a flightless sea bird that only Maoris are allowed to catch, then after biting their heads off to kill them, they store them in barrels of brine..anyway they were really salty and oily...a real experience though...yuk!
Managed to go to the gym here (tiny room in their empty community centre, of which Duncan had the key). Also went out on a nearby lake in Duncan"s speed boat. Great fun driving the boat (plenty of 360's). Cloud cover was still plenty, so moved on North to Greymouth and Westport. Stopped on the way at the "Pancake Rocks" and also checked out a fur seal colony in the rain.

The best thing was our 2 day trek in Abel Tasman in the North. We packed our backpacks with tent, sleeping bags, stove, clothes, enough food for the journey and set off with fairly big packs.

It started with a boat trip to Tonga Bay, again visiting a Fur seal colony on the way and saw a little blue penguin swimming.
The combination of the most amazing beaches, stunning sea and edging tropical rainforest was incredible.
We hiked for 2 hours then had our lunch and a sim and sunbathe in Bark Bay, before another 3 hours hike to our first destination in Anchor Bay. On our way we found Oysters in a tidal bay, which we were chuffed about and ate willingly. We camped for one night then continued with a 4 hour hike back to the town where we started.
The weather was kind to us the whole trek, which was lucky and we loved it.

Then onto Nelson in the North before a long drive back down to Christchurch. Nelson was a nice town by the sea and the hostel was lovely, with a pool and jacuzzi which was really lovely after our hike. Did have back and leg ache for a couple of days after.
Stayed here two nights...went out for a drink in town, walked along the huge beach (noticed loads of beach and surf kiting in the distance).

Dropped off the car back in Christchurch then caught our flight to Melbourne. We had to check in at 4am, so slept abit on the floor in the airport that night. Good flight and here we are!