The scenic south...

Well in the 'beautiful' part of the country and here's where I've been...

Nelson

So called the sunshine part owing to the fact that it gets more sunshine hours than anywhere else (Winter deffo not the best time to be enjoy that!), and its also a major hub for anything water or boat related and usually a combination of both.

Its a great little town that I really enjoying kicking back in, mainly due to the hostel I was staying in which had a great crowd, a spa (lovely for star gazing on those oh so cold nights) and an outside unheated pool that my nipples will never forgive me for jumping in that once....

This is also the 1st place that I discovered that only beer and wine is sold in supermarkets, the spirits are only sold in 'Liquor stores'. I have not idea why, if its to promote sensible drinking they should see what happens after the consumption of 3 litres of boxed wine purchased from the supermarket does - which is a staple diet for most.

Greymouth

Hmmm what to say? Well it started off as a gold mining town, as many of the towns around here did and doesn't really have much going for it so, just don't do it!!! We stayed for a compulsory nights stop and our only entertainment was the $20 brewery tour of Monteiths where we sampled 7 brews, got free run of the bar taps for 10 minutes and then where taken to the most scankiest pub imaginable for another free pint and all you can eat BBQ which consisted of only sausages and salads. The bar closed at 9pm but luckily we manged to stumble upon another with more reasonable hours before heading home. One night (which we made the most of :)) was defiantly enough, and I'm sure no one felt this more than the poor lass that ended up with food poisoning and couldn't leave the next day with the rest of us.

Franz Josef

Little town where when someone says its on the main street, they mean the only street, I went for a walk to see the town and it took all of 10 minutes! So why stop here? Glaciers of course! The only other place you can do this is in South America, and there are many ways to part with your hard earned to see them here, from a short heli ride and a trek, a full day ice climbing with pic axes or the leisurely scenic flights over looking them and nearby Mt. Cook. I did none of the above but decided instead at trying my hand at quad biking! Which is just as fun as it sounds only that they make you stick to a route and not go nuts trying to scale mountains in them.

Ending the day covered in mud is oddly satisfying for a days work :)

Queenstown

Well we all know about Queenstown right! There are even a few Kiwis on tour here (I have met more people from the UK and Europe in this country than I did in London and have met more Kiwis in London than here). You can do absolutely anything that isn't covered on your travel insurance here; jet boating, bungee, para/sky diving and even sample the legal but not highly recommended herbal pills (one look at the guys that did and you'll give it a miss).

My indulgements while enjoying this busy little town where to encourage as many drunk and or stupid people to agree to bungee while here (I did not partake, you have to make yourself jump off for these, not happening, even tho the people that did it said it was out of this world) and getting to grips once again with snowboarding - I still need a lot more work but hay its all fun.

I also had the use of a car as I ditched the bus owing mainly to being sick and wanting to stay in bed longer, make less compulsory stops etc. Out off all the 'fun' stuff you can do here that could leave you maimed or dead this has got to be tops for me, driving around and across mountains with nothing but cats eyes and the glare of someone else main beams in your eyes as they come round very acute angles, although prize for almost dying has to go to when my wheels hit something that was almost certainly living before hand at 80km/h in the pitch black country roads - I now fully understand the phrase no one will hear you scream - I resolved never to drive after dark again!
Wicked cool town tho, and a must do if you get the chance.

Lake Tekapo
This was a one night stop on the way over to Christchurch (Compulsory on my self imposed ban on night time driving). As the name suggests there is a huge lake which I cycled 3/4 of the way round and back again, once again reminding myself that my levels of fitness are around about the same level as 0. If you just come over here after flying in to Queenstown or something you would be amazed by the beauty of the mountains and the lake and the clear skys at night, but the South Island spoils you with so many mountain and lake combos that you get to a point where you don't appreciate them anymore, most of the photos I have taken are of the scenery and even I don't know where the hell I was when I took them anymore.

Well thats about all she wrote for now, in Christchurch at the mo where I'm going to do some WWOOFing, wanting to know what the hell that is should keep you interested enough to bother reading my next update.... more to come- bye for now....