A big kiwi hello to you all! I'm sorry I haven't written anything from NZ yet. It's hard to think of technology when you're surrounded by mountains, glaciers, lakes, rolling hills... My biggest challenge yet will be keeping this short and mildly interesting without missing anything out! You may want to grab yourself a cup of tea...

Candi and I spent the first couple of nights with some of my Mum's friends who emigrated to Christchurch 3 years ago - the wonderful Ali and Clive. After spending our last night in Oz sleeping in Brisbane Airport (pyjamas and sleeping bags out on the sofas!) we were in serious need of some home comforts, and we couldn't have asked for better hosts. We spent our last night with them at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve where we got up close and personal with some native birds (I have the scars to prove it thank you Mr Kea Parrot) and saw some Kiwi birds in a blacked out hut. Very well fed and rested, we were collected by the boys in our hired station wagon and my first ever road trip began.

First was Lake Tekapo (aka Lake Piccachu) where Candi, Pete and I climbed Mt John for our first elevated views of snow capped mounatins and shimmering lakes. Ryan and Tom drove! The next day we drove to Mt Cook Village where we took a walk to a glacier lookout and relaxed with a drink in the world famous Hermitage Hotel, with Mt Cook disappearing into the night in the background. That night we made the huge mistake of playing the board game Risk. After 4 of the 6 hours I felt like we'd been playing for a year and wanted to die! If you've played it you'll probably understand. Dunedin was our next destination which we reached via a yellow-eyed penguin colony. They were really cute and for some reason climb the cliffs to within touching distance of the crowds that gather to see them and their fur seal friends. Everywhere was fully booked in the city so we kipped on the floor of the games room of a hostel for 2 nights! We took a wildlife drive along Otago Peninsula and went to a rugby game featuring several All Blacks players, one of whom I've seen again out in public.

We used Te Anau as a base before taking an overnight cruise on Milford Sound in the Fiordland, via Nugget Point on the South Coast - nothing more than some big rocks and very distant seals but pretty nonetheless. The cruise was ok but lacking in people our age. We sailed up to some waterfalls, warmed up with some hot soup, went on a kayaking tour, had a massive dinner, swapped expensive drinks for free tea, coffe and cocoa and card gamed the night away. We woke up to a proper tour of the sound then drove up to Queenstown - extreme sports capital of the world. My limit was the gondola and luge with some crazy golf and a mountain hike on the side, but between the others there was a bungee jump and 3 canyon swings. They all came off smiling but you should have seen some of them before! Wanaka was so beautiful that we made an unexpected overnight stop, visiting Puzzling World (games full of puzzles and illusions and a massive maze) and having a BBQ on the first day. We hired bikes in the morning and I took mine around the lake having shied away from the ridiculously tough mountainbike track (Pete took a voyage over his handle bars!). I have even greater respect for you now Hayden!

Next came my favourite experience on the South Island - a 3/4 day hike over the enourmous Franz Joseph Glacier. Dressed in boots and crampons we were led over ice plains, up ice staircases and through ice caverns until we were half way up the tongue of the glacier and high up in the valley. It was incredible to be standing on such a gargantuan lump of solid ice and seeing how the glacier moves and evolves, though I did feel a bit bad hacking away at the poor thing. As if global warming isn't enough of a problem!

For some reason we thought it would be a good idea to drive through the night to Kaikoura and spend the night in the car. It got so uncomfortable that I unzipped my sleeping bag, threw it down on the tarmac and slept in the carpark alongside the car. The boys went fishing in the avo and caught loads of cod and perch, an octopus and a lively crayfish (especially when he was heading for the boiling water!). It all tasted really good but smelled pretty bad and lingered for a good few days. Kaikoura was a lovely town with lots of art shops and a nice beach, and a massive fur seal colony that we walked around the coastline at low tide to see. There was literally about 100 giant males basking in the sun within metres of our feet and they hardly seemed to mind.

We caught an overnight ferry from Picton to Wellington, wasting ten bucks on a film called '300' and being forced again to sleep in the car. It didn't seem safe enough to hit the tarmac this time so I made a bed of our bags in the boot and slept like a baby! Wellington is a fantastic city with lots going on - museums, modern art galleries, shops, lots of coffee, theatres, botanical gardens, a busy harbour and a buzzing nightlife. When it was time to leave we headed on up to Taupo, but cursed by his desire to get there asap Tom was pulled over by a cop (my first and hopefully last time being pursued by blues and twos!) for speeding. He handed over a ticket and more or less told us not to bother paying it. The jury is still out. Pete continued the drive and was stopped again by the cops! But this time it was only a random breath test which luckily he passed. A third night sleeping in the car ensued, and I have promised my back that I will never do that to it ever again. The weather was gorgeous the next day so we lazed in the park for a while and threw around a frisbee, but it was terrible yesterday so we went to some natural hot springs for a therapeutic and remedial soaking. It was so unimaginably nice and warm! But maybe a little too hot for poor Pete who turned a brilliant purple! We were joined by a very interesting bunch of people - one guy got in naked, another wore bright red nail polish, 2 girls (one topless) made it quite clear they were a threesome and that guy is the founder of CouchSurfers.com. Despite nearly fainting from the heat when I stood up I still took on the free sauna in the hostel last night, and today we have swam in the hot outdoor pool of our new hostel in Rotorua.

This morning I watched nervously from the ground as the other 4 signed their lives away and took off in an aeroplane to do a skydive. They were stupidly scared beforehand but enjoyed it massively and we got to see a dvd of them all jumping and landing which was really cool. I sound like such a wimp missing out the extremist of the sports but I was too indifferent about the skydive to think it worth my while and bucks. I plan to do it properly when I'm a tad older, maybe with the red devils or something like that, and now that I've said it you can all feel free to hold me to my words.