Ok so finally for a proper round-up of what we've been doing in New Zealand - my blogging skills are appauling so this is all coming to you from Melbourne - or more specifically vey windy and cloudy St Kilda's!

We started in Auckland arriving at about 2pm after something approaching 30hrs of travelling, Heathrow-Dubai, Dubai-Brisbane, Brisbane-Auckland. It was one of the bizarrest experiences of my life and I guess is comparable to pulling and all-nighter with an essay in thw way that it messes with your comprehension of time. Sleep is difficult at best and there are a whole lot of movies to keep you occupied anyway so whose sleeping? We arrived in the middle of the day to Dubai airport but it felt like it should ahve been the early hours of the morning! Even Emirates' attempts to structure your flight via meals (which as good as they are with Emirates get tiresome after your fifth aeroplane meal-on-wheels) and by simulating dawn. Needless to say we were fighting jet-lag when we arrived, grabbed a quick pub dinner in Auckland and headed to bed at about 10pm practically dragging our heavy heads along the street to our hostel.

We awoke the next morining and decided to get the bus that day to Rotorua, having onyl 17 days in total in new Zealnd and keen to get moving. We arrived in town after a quick stop off at the Hobbtion film set and took a look around befroe the 'Maori Culutral Experience' that we had booked ourselves on started. The town stinks of rotten eggs because of all the sulphur from the geo-thermal activity but the govenrmet gardens were beautiful. The Maori Cultural Experience was fun, we had a look round a mocked-up tribal forest clearing and they took us through element of theri culture befroe putting on dinner and a show. It was something like the Maori version of The Osmonds performing in Las Vegas, but the dinner was great -all cooked in an underground oven! We were pretty knackered still so headed to bed, ready for another early morning getting the bus to Taupo.

On the way to Taupo we stopped at Wai-O-Tapu 'Geothermal Wonderland' - the colours of the water and the craters were pretty impressive (the Devil's Inkpots with their fluro-green tint) but the smell of rotten eggs meant we chose the shorter walk. We also stopped at Huka Falls to check out the whitewater rapids there and Ben booked his sky-dive. Taupo wa sa beutiful little town and because Wellington was all booked up at the weekend with the Rugby Sevens we decided to spend three nights there. Ben's skydive was cancelled due to bad weather so we grabbed something to eat and headed out to Mulligan's irish Bar in town - being the stereotypical british tourists we are and took the Canadian girl we were sharing a dorm with along too. She was very nice but we managed to draw out the dormant bitch in her as we gossiped about people on the bus! The next day the three of us headed down to the lake to take a boat tour of the Maori carvings. They were pretty impressive and though they were modern carvings - done by young Maoris in the 1970s as a gift to the city, the fact that they managed tocarve so intricately with abseiling equipment and later scaffolding secured into the rocks below the water quite amazing! That afternoon we walked up to the hotpools and I managed to get heat rash from them but they were pretty relaxing all the same! We had an early night as we were up early the next morning to attempt the Tongiriro Crossing - a 18.5pm hike up a volcanic ridge. It rained pretty much the whole time and yet both Ben and I managed to get sunburnt hands and noses having presumed that the fog would protect us! It did not. The views were still spectacular and we felt all the more advanturous for having made it through! The landscape was as crazy as ever, from mountainous wetland, to black sand at the top, geothermal pools, through Yorkshire Moors type scrubland and finishing in rainforest - it felt like we had seethe greaterpart if the world, as due our legs!

Still another early-ish start was planned as we moved on to National Park the next day. We declined to do anything too adventurous at the park as we had stopped off in Waitomo and done some black-water rafting through the gliwworm caves there - such a cool experience if a bit daunting when you're forced to fall backwards down an underground waterfall! My reservations of 'I don't think I can do this' was met with the reply 'that's what the girls say!'

After a long coach journey the next day we arrived into a very wet Wellington and took a quick look around the Te Papa museum before going to bed ready for the ferry to the south island the next day. On the ferry we met up with a couple of girls from the bus and begin disecting the characters of our fellow travellers! We jumped off the ferry at Picton and straight on the bus to Nelson with our new driver 'Scott' who for Gilmore Girls fans looked just like Kurt! At Nelson we checked out the Cathedral, had a BBQ at our hostel - which was nice though full of people off their faces on pills - and then climbed the hill to get to the top where the official 'Centre of New Zealand' was! We finished the night discussing French and English stereotypes with the parisiennes sharing our dorm - they fad less than nice things to say about English girls :-S

On the coach again the next day we arrived at Greymouth and went on a brewery tour with the two girls from the ferry - Laura and Kayleigh. To be honest the Monteith's tour wasn't up to much but the meal that was included was amazing - including a New Zealand lamb steak. We also managed to make our own fun getting photos of 'Proud Mary' perhaps the most stereotypical American ever! On the bus again the next day we arrived at Franz Josef at around midday and did a half-day glacier hike. The views were amazing and we get some good photos praising around on the glacier!

After we left Franz Josef we had a long ride to Queenstown - the adventure capital of the world - but ad we arrived late in the day and wanted to get round to Christchurch ready for our flight we settled for a Fergburger - the biggest burger I have ever eaten and a night sipping tea-pot cocktails at World' Bar - including our favourite the 'Ginja Ninja'! The next morning we left Laura and Kayleigh and travelled onto Dundin - the south island's 'Scottish City'. We checked out the 'First Church of Otago' to see the efforts of my co-religionists the Scots Presbyterians (who unlike the unscrupulous Anglicans in Melbourne didn't try to guilt you into a donation - knowing poor backpackers when they saw them ;) haha!) then went to thus small art-house cinema to see 'Glorious 39'. The screen we watched it in had only 8 seats - eat your indie-istanbul hearts out Cornerhouse and Showroom! - so was an intimate viewing but a great film which I'd recommend! Oh earlier thatday we'd walked miles to the supposed 'steepest street in the world'.it rained the whole way and the street was so mundane words cannot express! Un.im.pressed. Not least as the bus stopped there the next day! Fuming - I refused to leave the coach haha!
The next day we travelled to Lake Tekapo. It was raining so we decided against activities which would only leave us with wet clothes fir the next day. I thought it was boring though Ben liked it. We had a drinks that night at the one bar in town before getting up the next day for Christchurch.

Christchurch is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever visited and we checked out the botanical gardens, the cathedral and the museum over three days - over which it was nice to relax and stick in one place for a bit! The beautiful weather helped too! We met back up with Laura for a meal and a drink before spending the night in Christchurch Airport - not a great night's sleep but our flight was at 6am to Melbourne so it had to be done!