19th March 2008

Today we went to Milford Sound, which took an epic amount of time to get to on a coach, along the way stopping off at a few photo spots, and drinking fresh water from "Monkey Creek". When we finally got there, we had a 2 hour boat ride, which was quite nice, but only because there was a lot of us there and we had fun messing around. The scenary was beautiful but we've been spoiled so much by New Zealand already, it felt all the same, and the boat ride was a bit slow and went back on itself. Steph was randomly on the same tour as us though, so it was cool to see her again (we saw her at Abel Tamsin as well). Boat was extremely windy and the weather was a bit dodgy, as it supplied a few rain showers. The drive back was even worse than the drive there, as we were all tired and just wanted to get back. We did see a big forest fire on the hills though, and an army of helicopters collecting water from the lake to drop on it. In the evening I can only imagine that we chilled.

18th March 2008

Recovered from Paddy's Day thanks to young Joff bringing croissants over. Wandered into town and got Fish and Chips from a nice little place, before getting some Juice/Smoothies to improve our health. Explored a bit, past a church, before collapsing by the lake on some grass, and enjoying the intense sun. Eventually, by the afternoon, we gained enough energy to go up the Gondola to the top of a large hill/small mountain, where Joff and I went on their luging tracks and took photos while Sarah and Kirsty died a little bit inside. When we got back to the hostel we found that Rachel and Lisa had also gone up, but Lisa had somehow walked all the way up! Needless to say we were highly impressed. In the evening we decided to see Run Fatboy Run at the Cinema, which was quite enjoyable and I think I ate too much popcorn.

17th March 2008

Woke up crazy early to get taken to the Nevis, the highest bungy jump in New Zealand, at 134 metres (which is the same height as the London Eye and the Sydney Harbour Bridge). Was one of the first leap off, and was totally frickin' awesome, and no death ensued. I was pleased with my expert dive off, Lara Croft sytle, though I ruined the end as I couldn't release the cable, so I was pulled up, upside down. Ah well. Talked to a guy named Jo, who looked far too much like Jesse Lacey to be safe, while eating a free bbq we were given. Got our DVDs and then bus back to Queenstown. Met up with young Kirsty to go St Paddy's shopping, and found a few green things and a box of Goon (cheap wine in a box). Called the crew over to our place and began drinking games, mainly ring of fire, but with strange Kirsty rules. Apart from us two, there was also Sarah, Joff, Rachel, Lisa, Katherine and Jenny, good bunch. We left and made our way to a 2 for 1 beer Bar, where me and Joff got confused at having to hold two drinks at a time, so just drank the first one far too quickly. To solve matters, we got wedges, then were worried everyone would steal them, so wolfed them down at a crazy speed. Went to a few more bars, then ended up in World Bar, where I shared a teaport of cocktail with Sarah on the dance floor. We danced for ages, busting some amazing shoulder related moves, before exiting and getting Burgers from Ferg Burger on Cow Lane. I got a fantastic lamb one, was extremely scrummy. Chattted for a while before going to bed, and Joff slept on our couch as he was 1) too lazy to go back to his hostel, 2) scared of the girls in his room.

16th March 2008: Queenstown

Notes: Bus through Fox Glacier. Then crazy fast trek to mirror lakes. Beautiful Lake reflects the Southern Alps. Dense forest then vast plateaus in Central Otago region. Lake Haivea? Stopped at Wanaka, where Sarah got off and we played in Lake Wanaka, on a stegasaurus and a Huge hand. Bungy bridge, watched some peeps leap to their doom, and then booked the tallest bungy for tomorrow. Felt guilty -> blatantly lied to mum about doing it. Got into QT late, southern laughter, great hostel. Own lounge and kitchen. Went for Curry with Joff and Kirsty. Played cards with them till late.