The south island has been fab. First stop was Abel Tasman where our speed boat got towed into the water by a tractor. We saw some seals and stayed overnight on a boat before a 12.5km walk stopping at some nice beaches and to make a compass out of stones on the sand lol enjoyed the sun 😀 had a campfire at old macdonalds farm. Such beautiful scenery. Saw the pancake rocks and stayed in a lovely lodge in the rainforest eating home cooked spag bol and Tim tam slams yummy! The worst thing about moving south definitely getting bitten to death by sand flies! I haven’t had any other bites on this trip until the sand flies. Some of us made our own bone carved necklaces which was fun then we arrived at Franz josef. A lot of us went on the ice explorer trip walking over the glacier which was awesome, such blue ice. I also went to the kiwi house to see a rowi kiwi bird which is so cute and we did some fire twirling in the evening lol we then headed past some lakes which were very pretty on route to Queenstown via the crown range. Queenstown was wicked: had some nights out, explored the shops, went up the gondola, went on the luge, went paragliding which was mental, rode the jet boat, scared ourselves at the fear factory and saw the hunger games catching fire! 😀 from here we got the bus, a boat and another bus to doubtful sound which was stunning. Did a walk to a waterfall, saw some glow worms and went on a boat ride where we saw fur seals and a penguin. Next was wedderburn where we stayed in a nice house and did 35km of the otago central rail trail which was a challenge as it was freezing, raining and the wind was against us but it was worthwhile. We then went to Christchurch, interesting to see how much devastation the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 had on the city. We explored parts of the city that were open including seeing the cathedral which is badly damaged. We also stayed in a jailhouse here: my third jail of my trip! Kaikora was amazing despite the wet weather as some of us swam with the dusky dolphins which was incredible. There were up to 300 dolphins and although the water was freezing it was magical to have these wild dolphins swimming around you and circling. They are so social. Definitely one of the highlights 😀 we then had to say bye to some people as we headed back to the north island on the ferry to Wellington. A fun last night out in Auckland marked the end of the trip, emily’s birthday and time to say some tearful goodbyes. New Zealand is absolutely stunning. I met a great group of people and had so much fun. Next stop Sydney……I can’t believe how fast time is going!

 

Queenstown