Ka kite ano Aotearoa!

My last few days in New Zealand were ace and whilst it's lovely to be home and seeing everyone, I was very sad to leave.

In Kaikoura, James, Bev and myself went along for whale watching. This is a boat trip (obviously) which takes you out near the Kaikoura Trench, which is a deep trench in the ocean a few miles out from the coast of Kaikoura. It's this trench that apparently attracts the whales to come and hang out there due to the rich supply of plankton and other tasty whale treats.

It was a lovely, warm day and a real contrast from the snowy places I had been to previously. The Southern Alps that are directly throught the middle of the South Island, means that certain places are much wetter, sunnier or colder than others. It was a perfect day to be on a boat.

Several types of whales have been spotted around this area and we were lucky enough to see 4 sperm whales. It was a really awesome sight as you see them lingering on the ocean surface and then taking a dive. You only get to see about 1/3 of their whole size and it does make you realise just how enormous they really are. It was also obvious why they were easily hunted, as we got very close to them in the boat and it just didn't really bother them. They are unfortunately, pretty easy targets. The hardest part, I imagine, is lugging the huge weight back to shore. It was a very good afternoon and I was so stoked we got to see 4 whales, very lucky.

Early start the next day as Bev and James were driving me to Picton and I needed to get my ferry across to the North Island. When we arrived, we said our goodbyes and I boarded the ferry. The crossing took a little while, but there were some great views and again the weather was pretty sunny. Unfortunately, true to form, Wellington was rainy when I arrived. I had checked into a cheap Travelodge due to needing to be up at 3.30am on the morning of my flight and seeing as how I only have to look at Stu to get hammered in his company, I thought perhaps staying with him was not the best idea. It turned out that I couldn't get hold of him anyway, so just as well I did book somewhere!

It was really great to be back in Wellington, as there was a lot of stuff I didn't get a chance to do last time. I rode the cable car from the city centre up to the botanical gardens. That was pretty awesome actually and there was some good views on the way up. I had a walk around the gardens and luckily, it was a sunny day, so I could really appreciate them. At the top of the gardens, there was an observatory with a museum attached. I had a look around that and also saw a really cool show in there, which was basically a projection on a large domed ceiling of what an astronaut experiences during take off and what can happen to them in space (a lot of it isn't good funnily enough). We were also given another look at the Southern Hemisphere stars and constellations. It is currently the Maori new year (matariki) and a lot of their myths are tied up in the constellations, so I learnt a little about that too. Very interesting.

I got the cable car back into the city centre and went back to the Te Papa museum and took in all the exhibitions that I missed last time. Some of these included art work by New Zealand artists and an exhibition on the history of immigration to the country.

I was up at 3.30am the next morning to get to the airport and catch my flight to Sydney. When I arrived, I was told that as I was catching a connecting international flight, that I couldn't leave the airport. This was not good news as I had 7 hours until my flight to London would be called, so had a lot of time to kill. Reading made me very sleepy, so I ended up watching the departures board for several hours and having to see the same Emirates Airline advert repeated over and over again. It was a slow day.

The flight to London was not so bad, although I was sat between two pretty large guys, so didn't have much room. They were both nice guys though and it could have been worse. I felt like shite when I landed though and I worked out that I probably had about 6-8 hours sleep in the last 2 days. Despite my best efforts, I ended up falling asleep after arriving home in the afternoon. The rather marvellous Dan woke me up at 8pm for bangers and mash and I was back in bed and asleep by midnight, so jetlag has been averted thankfully!

Thanks for all your comments whilst writing this, it really made me feel still connected to home and often made me laugh :).

I had a really brill adventure, saw some fantastic places and met some brilliant people. It has completely opened my eyes to the possibilities of travelling and I'm already starting to plan where I will go for my next long term trip.

The above titles means "see ya New Zealand!" in Maori by the way, just in case you were wondering...

Lots of places and two familiar faces...

I've done bloody loads since the last blog that I'm having a hard time remembering it all. Here goes!

After Franz Josef it was on to Wanaka, which is a lovely little town that is based at the bottom of Lake Wanaka. The hostel was a gorgeous place too and on my first morning there, I had breakfast next to the window, which overlooked the lake and surrounding snow caped mountains and thought that it doesn't get much better than this really. I had seen Jennie on the bus to Wanaka, who is one of the gang I met on the brewery tour, so it was lovely to see her again. After watching the sun go down over the mountains, we went out for a beer in the evening we arrived and as it was bloody freezing, we found a bar with a big log fire. Also tried some of the local Wanaka Ale, which was pretty tasty. When that closed, we went to a bar called The Ale House as I thought it sounded like a cool place. It did have nice ales but was basically a Wetherspoons bar, so not too impressed. The company was fab though.

The next day we hired bikes and cycled around some of the lake. The cycle route was actually pretty exciting as it took you along narrow paths very close to the lake edge. It was also enough of a challenge that we both felt pretty well exercised afterwards.

The following morning, we took a walk just outside Wanaka to a place called Puzzling World. It had a maze and various optical illusions to explore. One room claimed to challenge your sense of balance, so I wandered in fairly full of myself that I would be fine, only to find that I had to cling to the walls to move and it made me feel like I was absolutely hammered. As I genuinely felt I was going to puke, I had to leave feeling like a massive wuss. There was an old lady outside who saw me leave and said "I couldn't take it in there!". It was bloody horrible. There was also a room there that showed how size perception can be altered through illusions and we got an awesome little film of me and Jennie looking like giants and then tiny wee people.


In the afternoon we caught the next bus on to Queenstown. The bus stopped at the Kawarau Bridge and normally the bus stays a while and you can do a bungee jump here. Unfortunately as snow was forecast and the driver still had some mountain roads to cover, we could only stay 10 minutes. I was absolutely gutted that I couldn't do it, I've wanted to chuck myself off that bridge for years and it was something I was looking forward to doing in NZ. I even thought about coming back to Queenstown before I flew home, but it was too much hassle and expense for a bungee jump. I will definitely be coming back to NZ though so it's certainly not my last chance.

I didn't actually spend a huge amount of time in Queenstown really and only explored the town at night. It certainly seemed a lovely place and again was a picturesque lakefront location. On the one full day that I had in Queenstown, I had arranged a trip to Milford Sound, which was totally worth it. Milford Sound is within the Fiordland National Park and is probably one of the most stunning sights on the South Island. The drive was very long from Queenstown, but again was just lovely scenery all the way. We then took a 2 hour boat cruise around the Sound and as far as the Tasman Sea. We saw bottle nosed dolphins and loads of awsome waterfalls. One of them was the waterfall that Huge Jackman lept from in X:Men Origins. If you haven't seen the film, don't bother - it's really shit.

My next destination was Dunedin (which is celtic for Edinburgh apparently fact fans). It's a Scottish settlement that was set up many years ago and I think still has a healthy population of Scots to this day. It is also home to the world's steepest street and my photos just don't do it justice unfortunately.

Once I arrived in Dunedin, it was a quick check in at the hostel and I was then picked up for a tour of the wildlife which hangs out on the nearby Otago Peninsula. I had such a good afternoon there and our guide, Sean, was really knowledgable and interesting. We saw a few albatross flying over when we arrived and they are bloody huge. I'm not used to seeing giant birds at all.

We were then driven to section of private land that is owned by a local farmer. Part of his land incorporates a beach and luckily for him both sea lions and the reletively uncommon yellow-eyed penguins have taken residence there. We walked down to the beach where the sea lions were hanging out and they were completely unfazed by our presence. For some reason, sea lions just do not fear humans, so it was really great to see them so up close. The younger males are a bit playful though and love chasing things, including humans, so we did have a couple run at us and Sean managed to shoo them off. It was quite scary at times as they're not small. I got some great photos of them and even filmed one of the males being sick, which just about made my year.

We viewed the yellow-eyed penguins from an enclosed hut, as they are scared of humans. They put on a good show for us though and we saw several of them coming out of the sea and head towards the bushland. Their habitat is the undergrowth, which makes them quite unique. They have beautiful markings on them too, I was quite taken with them I have to say.

We took a walk across to a seal colony also and that's always fun to watch. I could sit and watch seals for hours, they're bloody hilarious, not too mention insanely cute.

On the bus back into Dunedin, I showed my video footage of the sea lion blowing chunks to a guy called Zac (another Magic Bus dude) and he mentioned that whilst he was in Vietnam, he took a tour to a place called Monkey Island and one of the group got a little too close to a monkey whilst taking photos. He was then chased down the beach by 3 monkeys and was wrestled to the floor by them. He regrets not filming it as the guy was left unhurt. I was laughing about that for a good hour afterwards and I could tell he thought I was a bit strange for still being so amused by it. If anyone else is still pissing themselves after picturing that for a while after, please tell me as I'm feeling a bit evil.

That wildlife tour was a definite highlight for me and even the rubbish weather didn't ruin it. The following day it was back on the Magic Bus to be taken to Lake Tekapo. This area is now completely covered in snow, so the views where some of the best I've seen so far on this trip. Lake Tekapo itself is so beautiful that (and I feel a bit silly admitting this) I got a little bit emotional whilst taking it all in. It's just very overwhelming and when you think that the South Island just can't get any better, it will prove you wrong. My hostel here was again right on the lakefront, so the dining and reading rooms had some great views. I explored the area a little and then later on that evening was picked up to be taken to Mount John and the observatory that is located on top.

On the last part of the drive to the top of the mountain, I had to shut my eyes as it was pitch black and the driver announced that he will killing the headlights on the van. They keep light pollution to a minimum up there, so other than some markers on the road, the driver had no headlights on at all whilst going up a snowy mountain road. Brilliant.

He didn't kill us all and when we arrived hooded figures with low light red torches took you to a building, where they provided us with mega chunky arctic weather jackets. They were very much appreciated as it was stupidly cold up there. We were then led up to a patio with several telescopes and the guides used these really cool laser pointers when talking about certain stars and planets. It was another first for me as I've never really seen the sky in an area with almost zero light pollution and the sky in the southern hemisphere is pretty damn amazing. I learnt an awful lot that evening and had an awesome time looking through their telescopes. They were just a really nice and enthusiastic bunch of people up there.

It was another Magic Bus early the next day back to Christchurch and also my final Magic Bus journey, so had to say cheerio to a few people. It was nice to be back in Christchurch, as there were a few things I missed out on last time. I checked into the hostel for a couple of nights and had a wander around the city. As I was walking along, I heard someone calling me and asking if my name was Jo. It was Bev and James, who are two people I know from way back and hadn't seen them for about 6 years. It turned out they are travelling too and we were all a bit freaked out that we had randomly bumped into one another thousands of miles away from Northampton.

We went off to get a beer, which turned into several and then dinner and then more beer. They had hired a camper van and were setting off to Kaikoura the next morning. I mentioned I had passed through there and due to the weather, had my whale watching trip cancelled. They invited me to come with them, so I accepted and I'm now in Kaikoura again, with a whale watching trip booked for tomorrow. Very bizarre indeed. I'll be with with them up until Picton on Sunday, where I get my ferry across to Wellington. It's been really lovely catching up with them both.

This is my penultimate blog now, as will write again from Wellington on Monday. I have mixed emotions about coming home next week as I have missed my family and friends and want to see them very much, but I'm not ready to leave here. I could happily continuing travelling indefinitely. Good things must come to an end though and it really will be lovely to see y'all and find out what you've been up to these last couple of months.

Ta ta for now...

Ice ice baby...

The bus ride to Greymouth was pretty awesome and I met a really nice bunch of people who were also booked in to do the brewery tour too.

The tour was of the local Monteiths Brewery and it was bloody brilliant actually. A taxi came and got us from the hostel and very nice chap showed us all around the actual brewery itself. I really enjoyed that and he was a very interesting guide. The best bit was the tasting room though. You're led into an area which is decked out like a bar and there are 6 beers and 1 cider available to taste. You're given a taste of all of them (most of them were lovely) and when you're done tasting, you can go up and serve yourself. You can basically have all you can drink in half an hour. It was a lot of fun and I still can't believe how generous they were. Part of your fee includes a meal at the nearby Railway Tavern and you can get jugs of beer for $6, so we happily continued our evening there.

The group were a really nice bunch and the great thing is that as we're all using the Magic Bus routes, some of us are travelling in the same directions, so I'm still seeing lots of familiar faces and those of us taking the same route are still hanging out.

We all had to be up early to catch the bus to Franz Josef the next day and surprisingly we were all pretty chipper considering the night before. On route to Franz, we stopped off at Punakaiki, which is home to the pancake rocks. This is a pretty awesome sight and the walkway takes you around the coast where the rocks are based. They are basically huge rock formations that look like a pancake stack, it's really strange looking, I've never seen anything quite like it. They won't last long though and it's predicted that eventually the sea will wash them away. Certainly not in our lifetime though, so you still have time to check them out should you be in this neck of the woods.

From Punakaiki it was straight off to Franz and myself and another guy called Iain was whisked off on arrival to the Fox Glacier to do a skydive. I booked it the day before and was really nervous I have to say. We arrived at this airfield and was ushered into a room to put on jumpsuits. A massive bloke then came in and told us what we needed to do when we're hanging out of the plane and harnesses were then attached. I was then straped to the same massive bloke and Iain was strapped to a much sexier guy, so I was a little envious. We practiced the jump position again and was then squished into the aircraft (which was like a VW Beatle with wings) and took off.

I was right next to the door and weirdly enough, my nerves went away as we flew higher. We flew over the Fox Glacier, which was worth the money in itself and we could also see Mount Cook and the surrounding area. Even though I've been here over 2 weeks now, I never stop being amazed by New Zealand. Once we reached a height of 12'000ft, the door was opened and out we jumped. I have to say it's one of the best and weirdest experiences of my life. We were free falling for 45 seconds before the shute was pulled and then glided slowly back down to earth. It was really surreal being 1000's of feet high without being incased in a metal tube, but I absolutely loved every minute of it. I wasn't aware of being that scared during the jump, but must have been on some subconscious level as the dude I was strapped to said in his lovely Kiwi accent "you have to let go of my arms Jo, I need to steer the parachute". I wasn't actually aware that I was still clinging to him, so just relaxed and hung off his front as we came into land.

Iain loved it too and he suggested we knock out two people who were waiting to go up and take their place. I was half tempted to be honest. Now, my jump was filmed and I will attempt to put it on Facebook very soon, but I am a bit shite on it. I'm not saying this because I screamed throughout most of the freefall, I'm pretty sure most people would in those circumstances, but it's the interview before I go up. When I asked for it to be filmed I didn't realise they would want a pre-jump interview, so when I was taken to the front of the plane and asked how I felt, I had no idea what to say. I just look really unenthusiastic and I could tell the guy was very disappointed in my lack of wooping. Someone should really publish a book called "Witty Things to Say Before a Skydive". I'm sure I would have looked way cooler...

I spent the afternoon settling in and exploring the very small town that is Franz Josef, it is basically 2 long streets. Lovely surroundings of course and you can see the top of the glacier from the town. In the evening, myself and another lady from the hostel decided to take a walk along a woodland trail near the hostel as we had heard that there are glow worms in there. We borrowed a torch from reception and set off. On the way we met a group of Filipino ladies who had come from the trail, but had no torch so couldn't go in. We invited them to join us and they were so much fun. We went quite deep into the trail, switched off the torch and lo and behold, there were loads of glow worms. It was a really beautiful sight.

Early start the next day as I was off on a full day hike up the Franz Josef Glacier. Amelia, who I met on the Magic Bus, came along too. They provide you with all of the equipment and a guide takes you up the glacier and back down again. It was hard going in places, but so bloody awesome. As the glacier is constantly changing, the guide has to hack in steps in places and attach ropes to get you up and down the steeper slopes. He also took us through caves formed naturally in the ice by running water and that was quite unnerving at times due to how small some of them were. You have to squeeze your way through some very tight spots and one cave had water gushing through it still, so we got soaked crawling through that one. We all had a great time and we were lucky to have a good group who was pretty fearless and willing to try anything the guide suggested. The glacier itself is a magnificent sight and some parts of it was a lovely deep blue colour. It was also weird walking up this massive piece of ice that was in a valley surrounded by rainforest. I took a lot of pictures up there.

As we had gone for the full day hike, we were able to use the outdoor Glacier Hot Pools for just $15. So myself, Amelia and another lady we had met on the hike, went along and relaxed there for the evening. There are 3 hot pools in total, the hottest being 40 degrees, and it was just what we needed after a days hiking. We ended up staying there for 3 hours in the end.

Today is my last day in Franz and I spent in on another hike with Amelia. We took in one of the walks that takes you along the mountain range and should end at the foot of the glacier. Unfortunately the route abruptly ended at a bridge as part of the track was flood damaged. We wanted to continue to the glacier, so we walked through some vegitation on the river bank and walked along some of the exposed riverbed. We had to climb back onto the road part way along as the river suddenly curved and left no exposed area. This wasn't that easy as the bank leading up to the road was really steep and slippery, so had to drag myself up onto the road on my stomach. Luckily no cars were coming along the road at the time, otherwise I would have looked a bit odd. It was an ace walk though and took us off the beaten track a little.

I've had a really good time here and a little sad to be leaving, but I head on to Wanaka tomorrow, which I have been told is very beautiful and has some great walks. I'm there for two nights and then head on to Queenstown, where I plan to do a bungy jump off the Kawarau Bridge and go on my first Lord of the Rings tour. Yeah!

Kaikoura to Picton to Nelson

On the day the I caught the bus to Kaikoura from Christchurch, it was pissing it down, so my high hopes of seeing some whales were steadily declining. Before we'd even arrived, the bus driver announced that all water activities were cancelled and it was fair enough to be honest, it was like a water-based apocalypse out there.

When I arrived at the hostel, I thought that I would still try to make the most of the day and venture out into Kaikoura's main town centre. This was not to be unfortunately as the hostel is literally on the coast and not only was it raining heavily, but the winds were really strong too. 1 minute of attempting to go anywhere resulted in me being soaked. In fact, the reception lady told us all that a school party was also staying at the hostel but I never saw any of them. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd all been blown into the ocean.

So I was forced to stay in and for the first time on this trip, watch TV. It turns out that NZ TV is rubbish (it is an outdoorsy nation, so makes sense) and is mostly American imports. So I watched a programme called "I should have died" and that was as entertaining as it sounds. Luckily the other people staying at the hostel were really good company, so all was not lost.

The next day I went on to Picton, which is where most people head to to get the ferry across to the North Island. It's a really pretty little place, especially around the harbour area and has some nice walks too. As we had crossed through part of the Marlborough wine district on the coach, I purchased a bottle of local white wine to go with my dinner that night. The only other person in the Picton hostel was another English chap, who was nice enough but he dominated most of the conversation. I spent the evening getting slowly pissed on wine whilst he talked at me. I've had much worse evenings I suppose.

Again, just spent one night in Picton and was picked up again by the wonderful Magic Bus (not actually magical unfortunately). This bus company is bloody brilliant and after taking the Greyhound bus for the last few weeks, where the drivers are pretty surley and don't say much, they are such a ray of sunshine. Every driver I've had so far has known so much about the surrounding areas that he's passing through and cheerfully shares it with you. They also do random little stops at areas of interest. One driver stopped us by a seal colony and I nearly wet myself as I was so excited to be so close to them. We were also taken to a waterfall and lagoon by another driver as there were seal cubs playing there. If you stayed still long enough, they just came over to you and stared at you. It was such a lovely experience, I could have watched them frolicking all day.

The driver taking us to Nelson from Picton stopped off at a vineyard, we were still within the Marlborough wine district and there are vineyards absolutely everywhere, makes for a stunning sight indeed. We were able to do some wine tasting for just $2 and they also had an olive grove so I tried some of the local olive oil. It was really tasty, definitely tastes different from Italian olive oil and I was tempted to buy some, but it was a little pricey unfortunately. I got a little drunk I have to say and the long, winding mountain roads the coach took afterwards did not do me much good.

I have been in Nelson for 3 days now and it has been good to chuck my bag down somewhere for more than one night. My first day here I went out to the nearby Abel Tasman National Park, which is a huge area of parkland on the coast. After the bus ride there, you're put on a boat and taken further up the coast, from there you walk/hike your way back to the pick up point. I had an awesome time there and the route you take leads you up into the hills along the coast, so the views were something else. There were various trails down onto the beaches, so you could take those in too if you wished. I did and one beach had a small cave, which for a former reader of the Famous Five books, was jolly exciting indeed! No smugglers though. Boo.

Really loved it at Abel Tasman and wished that I had arranged to stay the night there, as they have huts dotted about the park with hammocks and things in, so that could have been exciting. Or a bit scary.

Yesterday I took in some of Nelson's local walking trails. Like pretty much all towns and cities in NZ, Nelson is surrounded by hills and mountains, so scenic walking routes are often a stones throw away. I took one route that led me to the apparent centre of New Zealand and it gave panoramic views of Nelson and the surrounding area.

For a reletively small city, Nelson has a very good cinema. I thought that I really ought to see a film made and produced in New Zealand, so I chose a film called 'Boy'. This was about a young Maori boy growing up in the 80's and it's one of the best films I've seen in a while, it was so funny. I have no idea if it has or will be released in the UK, but go and see it if it's on. Just before the end credits, the cast do a dance that merges the Michael Jackson 'Thriller' dance and the Maori Haka. Very entertaining. Whilst I was in the cinema, a lady asked me if I'd been hugged on Friday. A fairly random question but I answered no, it turns out that Friday 28th May is 'hug a redhead' day in New Zealand. How nice is that? I didn't get a bloody hug though...

Today I went on another long walk, which took me to a Japanese garden on the outskirts of Nelson. The weather has improved loads over the last few days, so it has been good to take advantage of that. It's been super-nice in Nelson but I move on tomorrow to Greymouth, where I'll be going on a brewery tour and from there it's on to Franz Josef for some ice hike action.

Will probably blog next from the Josef!

A messy night in Wellington followed by a puncture-tastic bike ride

Another long one I'm afraid folks...

As the title above suggests, my memory of my last night in Wellington is sketchy at best. What I do remember is that myself, Stu, his partner Hayden and friend Lucy went out for dinner at a lovely little cafe place. The food was awesome and the wine was lovely too. Lucy called it a night at this point (as I bloody should have), so the three of us went on to various bars, where I got absolutely hammered and probably made a tit out of myself in front of Stu's very nice new boyfriend.

I had a taxi booked to come and pick me up at 7.30am the next day as my flight to Christchurch was at 9.15am. I woke up at 8.15am still pissed and almost weeing myself I was that desperate to go. I had to wake Stu up to use his phone to book another taxi and by some miracle managed to get my shit together before it arrived 10 minutes later. The taxi driver (Brian) was very talkative and was asking me loads of questions. I was trying not to be sick and wondering why he hadn't noticed what state I was clearly in.

I got to the airport at 9.05am fully expecting to have missed my flight calling, so went to customer services to see when the next available flight was. I casually mentioned to the guy on the desk my situation and he immediately lept into action and started printing luggage tags and my boarding pass. He frogmarched me over to the check-in counter tearing my backpack off me as we went, threw the boarding pass at me and shouted "well run then!". So I did and I bloody made it too. So relieved.

Christchurch is a lovely city and despite the terrible hangover, I was able to appreciate it. I collected my hire bike, had some food then headed back to my hostel for an early night. My roomy was an Irish chap who has been in NZ for 2 years now and was flying home the next day. He was a lovely bloke, but he asked if I didn't mind him playing some music, to which I said I didn't. He proceeded to play some hard house trance shite, so went off him a bit. He was considerate though and turned it off when I got into bed, so I then thought he was nice again.

The next morning was an early start as I had to catch the Tranzalpine Train to Arthur's Pass, which is the starting point for the bikeride. It is a really lovely journey and took about 2hr 30mins to get there. It takes you through all the mountains and I started to realise just how beautiful this country really is. Just stunning. When I arrived at Arthur's Pass, I stocked up on water and grub and then set off on my way. According to my instructions, this first day covers 83km and takes you along just one road, so very easy to navigate. The journey started off really well, although with it being a highway, cars and lorries do pass by you very fast and sometimes there was sheer drop to my lefthand side. I quickly learnt that when I heard a lorry approach, the best thing to do is stop and let it pass.

Again, this ride was visually amazing, I'm glad there were no flies about as I was open mouthed throughout most of it. The mountains are all snow-capped at the moment and quite often you see low cloud hanging below the peaks. I felt very lucky to be able to see all this.

Several hours later I stopped at a little lodge for some food and coffee. My instructions said this is the last place to stop before Springfield (my destination for that day). Whilst the highway was easy to navigate, it is also very isolated. The best way I can describe it is by comparing it to those iconic images you see of deserted American highways, where there is nothing but desert either side. It is just like that but with mountains and forests instead and the lodge I stopped at was one of only two places on the entire stretch of road. I realised that I would have to make sure I'm in Springfield before dark as there are no lights on the highway and my rear light had fallen off some way back.

This was going fine, although the hills were really hard going. The route is essentially climbing a mountain over several kilometres and the hills were very steep and long. I knew that once I reached the summit of Porter's Pass, it was basically downhill or straight most of the way. That thought did keep me going but the route was a lot tougher than I thought it would be.

I got to Porter's Pass eventually and the view was magnificent, I didn't have time to dig it though as I could see that dusk was coming so had to crack on. I floored it down the hill and the highway then stretched out very flat. I guessed I was approx 10-15km from Springfield so was fairly confident I would make it just before dark. I then got a nasty puncture on my back tire, which was a bit of a problem really. My first thought was to just mend it at the side of the road, but dusk was really coming on at this point and I wasn't sure how long it would take to sort it all out. I decided to just flag a car down and see if I could get a lift. Just as I thought this, a red estate car came along, I waved it over and it stopped. A bloke came out of the car and I explained I had a puncture and needed to get to Springfield. Straight away he offered me a lift and luckily the seats were back in his car, so the bike could fit. When he opened his boot, he pulled out a rifle and must have seen my expression as he quickly explained that he hunts deer. When we got in the car I proceded to just babble rubbish at him so he would think that I'm too irritating to kidnap. I am of course joking and didn't think anything of the sort :). He was a lovely guy and he even dropped me right in my hostel carpark. It turned out I was only 8km from Springfield, so really annoyed that I was not able to cycle that last part. It was just as well that I did wait to mend the puncture though as the bike pump needed some adjustments to fit the valve and without help, I wouldn't have known what to do.

The hostel in Springfield was fantastic, it was so small and cosy. There was a furnace fire going and free tea and coffee. I was put in a dorm with an English guy called Russell who had cycled in from Christchurch. The other guys staying at the hostel were 3 rather strapping chaps who work for an NZ rail company and have to travel all over to work. I had a very relaxing night at that hostel as it was like being at someone's house, the company was ace too. The next morning Russ very kindly brought me tea and a banana in bed and then cycled off into the sunrise. I've just realised how that sounds. He's happily married and no we didn't, he's just a nice bloke. Filthy sods...

I set off early too as I had 73km to cover and again hills were involved, not as bad as the day before though! This route was lovely too and took me through lots of farmland and farm communities. There were so many places that were selling free range eggs and organic fruit and veg, that I wished I was driving as I'd buy loads of stuff. I got another puncture but had the benefit of knowing I had lots of daylight ahead of me, so took my time with it at the roadside. My destination for this day was a town called Rangiora, but I had actually booked accomodation at a little town called Woodend about 5km onwards. When I arrived in Rangiora, I got a bit lost and couldn't find the road I needed so asked an old lady. She asked where I had cycled from and when I told her Springfield, she exclaimed "oh darling!" and told me where I needed to go. She then slapped me really hard on the back and said "go girl!". I really do like the people here.

After the last two days, today's bikeride was pretty easy. It was a mostly flat 42km route back into Christchurch and this took me along coast. It would have been fantastic except it pissed it down for the entire journey. In fact, I reached saturation point very quickly and soon didn't even notice how heavy the rain was. I got another puncture and didn't fancy changing it in the rain, so I made my way to a nearby farm and the farmer let me use one of his sheds to change it in. Despite the rain, the coastal roadway was amazing and the sea was lashing everywhere, so looked awesome. I made it back into Christchurch at around 1.30pm this afternoon and once I sorted out returning the bike and the equipment, I checked into a hostel and stood under a very hot shower for a long time.

A very awesome 3 days and quite an adventure too I have to say. I have also seen a huge part of this country that I wouldn't have normally had a chance to, so totally worth it. Great to be on the bike too. Tomorrow I have an early coach to catch to Kaikoura, where I will be staying two night and doing some whale watching (weather permitting of course). Will blog in a few days!

Awesome but rainy Wellington

I had a really good night in Melbourne as again was blessed with some rather nice roomies for the evening. One of them was a bonkers lady from Taiwan called Queenie and a German lady named Anna. Anna had just flown in from NZ so was able to tell me about good places to visit. She also showed me her photographs from when she did a skydive and it's made my mind up that I definitely want to do one.

My flight over to New Zealand was awesome as yet again I was given a window seat, so when we approached the coast of NZ, I could see the landscape. It looked bloody brilliant and I really can't wait to start exploring here properly.

When I arrived at the airport I called Stu and we met at Wellington's railway station in the city centre. Stu has just acquired a flat here and as he is still new to some parts of the city, he wasn't sure of the way there. It was very amusing. We did get to his place eventually and I realised how hilly Wellington is. It's a georgous city as it's surrounded by all these mountains, with lovely houses built into them, but the hills to reach these areas are like nothing on earth! You'll get a really nice arse if you lived here and walked to work every day.

Stu's place is a lovely ground floor flat that is about 20 minutes from the centre of Wellington. He was a real gent and carried my backpack up the hills for me, I was glad of this as I'm pretty sure I would have tipped over backwards. On the first night, we had some wine and headed into the city centre for some food. We ate at a lovely cafe and it was some of the nicest food I'd had in ages. We had some more wine in another place and then headed back.

I'm really ashamed to say that I slept in until about 11.30am on Wednesday morning, although technically I was still on Oz time, which is 2 hours behind (I'm now 11 hours ahead of ya'll) so really it was 9.30. I got lost on my way into the city as couldn't remember how we got there the night before, but made it eventually. I had a walk around to get my bearings and also had to do some shopping. My wardrobe for the last few weeks has been vests and short shorts, but NZ is too cold for all that nonsense, so had to buy more suitable clothing for the weather.

I met Stu after work and went for a beer, which then turned into several. We had dinner at a lovely Malaysian restaurant and the food was bloody lovely. We went on to another bar, which is where Stu met his current partner. I can't remember the name but it was a really cool little place that was decked out in loads of plants, so was like sitting in a garden. A couple of very drunk people came to speak to us, including a very hammered gay guy who kept telling me I was beautiful and then kissing my face. Happens to me all the time...

We got pretty hammered I have to say and I'm a little worse for wear today. We're doing it all again this evening though as we're going out with Stu's partner and one of his friends, so just steeling myself up for that one. I'm having an ace time though and Wellington is a terrific place, seeing Stu is also ace. I'm going to the Te Papa Museum this afternoon, which comes recommended by lots of people. I'm looking forward to seeing the section on NZ wildlife as one of the most amazing things about this part of the world, is the wildlife. It never fails to amaze me.

I'm off to Christchurch tomorrow and will be picking up my bike for my 3 day bike ride. I'm a little nervous as it's 202km and I'll feel like a massive tit if I don't return within the 3 days. I'm sure it'll be fine though and I'll get to see some lovely areas of the South Island. Fingers crossed it doesn't rain either!

Back in Melbourne

I never did sample any of the Bundy Rum (this is rum made in a town called Bundaberg - would have loved to have visited the distillery but alas did not have time). I was far too tired after the day at the Whitsundays to suggest it. I am determined to try it though, so will not doubt have another opportunity.

It was another long Greyhound ride to Cairns and I arrived there at around 6pm. The hostel was quite a fair walk from the bus stop and it is very hot in Cairns. I looked pretty sweaty with a slight hunchback when I arrived - my rucksack gets heavier everytime I leave a place.

When I had showered and settled in, I took a walk to the Cairns night market. This is a really lovely indoor market which is open until 'late' - I suppose that means when the stall holders get fed up. The stuff they were selling was awesome and I spotted so many great souvenirs for people (crocodile/kangeroo biltong, chilli wine, local honey, handmade jewellery etc). Unfortunately money is tight so couldn't buy anything. I just thought I would tease you with what might have been...

There was a guy there who had a bunch of snakes with him, being a fan of snakes I decided to go over and speak to him. The snakes are carpet pythons and he took a few photos of me holding the larger one. The snake is called Honey and she was very curious and wouldn't stay still, I was rather taken with her though.

When you stay in Cairns, you are able to book various trips such as snorkling the Great Barrier Reef and trips through the surrounding rainforests. My budget for Oz is pretty much spent and I took in some of the Barrier Reef when I sailed the Whitsundays, so decided not to book anything. My plan was too just explore the city and then spend the afternoon swimming at the large lagoon near the ocean. Imagine my horror when I arrived at the lagoon to find that it has been closed for 7 weeks. Those bastards! On the upside though, I did find a really nice art gallery nearby, so it wasn't a wasted journey. I did really like Cairns, it is a fairly small city, but really nice to walk around and you can see the mountains that surround the region. It is so hot though that I had to flee screaming into the shade on several occasions, the sun really is wasted on me unfortunately.

I went back to the night market in the evening as they have an awesome food court there and I fancied some Chinese food buffet action. I was not disappointed. Tasty noodles! I did some wine tasting too, as there was a tropical wine stall. I felt a bit bad for not actually buying anything. There was a little beautician section in the market and it looked slightly ropey but was cheap, so I thought I would I get my eyelashes and eyebrows tinted. This lovely Japanese lady, did the honours and she was so gentle that I hardly noticed her touching me at all. She did a marvellous job too.

On the way back to the hostel I got harrassed for money by a bunch of people on the street, they were fairly polite about it so gave them what little change I had left in my purse. One of them moaned about the amount, so was half tempted to take it back, except that there was 6 of them and I'm pretty sure they could take me.

Today, I flew back into Melbourne and it is really nice to be back here, even if it is a flying visit. I'm flying to Wellington tomorrow and will be staying with my friend Stu for a few nights before heading to Christchurch for my 3 day bikeride. I am really sad to be leaving Australia as I've had such a great time here. The people are lovely and the country really is beautiful, it's just a shame that I only had just under 3 weeks. There are so many places I would loved to have visited, but will no doubt come back here in the future. I'm really looking forward to New Zealand now and my next blog will be from there!