New Zealand has definitely been one of the best places we have traveled yet. Everyday we have had something to do and new people to meet (which isn't always great!!) We booked ourselves on a tour bus called Stray which takes you round both the North and South Islands letting you jump on or off the bus as many times as you wish!! We didn't need to get off the bus at all in the North Island, we were traveling with awesome people and had a great driver called Tyke. I think it is easier for me just to list out the activities we have been doing cos' otherwise this blog will go on forever!!

• Started in Auckland and had some great roomy's - a couple of Americans called Jared and Trevor. We ended up going out with them on a bender and when we woke up the next day realised we had lost $250!! (or it had been stolen!) We couldn't believe it. I suspected it was stolen as there was English money in the wallet too and if the dollars had 'fallen' out, then why hadn't the pounds!! We don't talk about that anyway, it winds us up!
• Visited Auckland Museum, to see a Maori show (Lonely Planet reckons its a must!!) we were impressed to start off with, until 2 weeks later we realised that we could see Maori shows as part of our tour!
• Got started on our 'Stray Experience' and made our way to Hahei and Cathedral Cove. Its a beautiful place but was raining the whole day so felt wet and sweaty. My $5 rain mack was proving to be a waste of space! I think I would have done better with the original rain poncho I bought in the supermarket!! Classy. Stray had organised a BBQ that we all had to put $10 in got a feast. Which it was. There was about 60 sausages between 15 of us - as well as burgers, steak, cheese, salad the works. So when the next day came and everyone just walked away from the kitchen leaving all the left overs(!!!) Shaun suggested making a group sausage casserole for the next night. After the BBQ Tyke took us to the Hot Water Beach - where they have 'geothermal activity' so all you have to do it dig a hole in the right area on the beach and you have a natural bath!! I'm surprised we didn't catch hypothermia that night as it was raining hard and absolutely freezing and there we all were at 9.00 at night digging holes on the beach and running round in our bikinis!! It was good fun though.
• Then we traveled to Raglan a place where you can learn to surf if you wish - Raglan has the biggest left hand swell in the world (little fact for you). Which neither Shaun or I did, so we decided to go on the bush walk around the outside of the hostel - although it was recommended not to - it was all good on the way up, it was the coming down which was the hard bit (or maybe the easy depending on which way you look at it) I came down the whole thing on my arse!! It was a mud slide, once I was caked up to my knees it started to be alright, I stopped caring. They also had a zip wire and a games barn, so that kept us occupied.
• In Maketu the next day Stray conned us, by basically leaving us no choice but to pay for another Maori night as it was included in the journey. If you decided you didn't wanna take place the bus dropped you in the middle of nowhere then you have to make your way to another place in the middle of nowhere where you can get picked up the next day!! So we decided we would pay the extra. I'm glad we did as it turned out to be a right laugh. Boys got taught the Haka and the girls got taught how to use the poi as part of a dance!! (you might have seen the video's on Facebook?) Because the place we were staying was classed as a typical Maori house - we had to introduce our group as if we were a tribe to 'Uncle Boys' tribe (the guy who we were staying with). Tyke had to find the oldest person the bus to be chief - which was Shaun! Gutted! He had to stand in front of the whole tribe and take a peace offering when handed to him from the chief of the other group! Shaun was supposed to keep a straight face while being given the offering but couldn't help but laugh, there were 2 Maori guys doing the Hakka in his face!! I felt nervous for him. Ended up a big party! 
• Waitomo caves was next on the list! And it was the best thing I think I did the whole time in New Zealand. I put my name down and then when it came to having the prep talk and going through all the safety precautions I started panicking again thinking 'why do I always sign myself up for these things?' I think I am braver than I actually am! But we went through and finished it. The caving involved abseiling down a 20meter hole in a sheep field into the caves and then weaving our way through tiny nooks and cranny's making our way out. The next abseil was down a waterfall which I got stuck between the top and bottom - the water was pounding on my head and I couldn't feel the wall to steady myself down. Screaming seemed to help cos I made it. Of course for all the guys it became a contest of stamina and speed!! 'Who would be the most macho??!' At a 100 meters under ground level if our torches were turned off we noticed that we were surrounded by glow worms!! Did you know that a glow worm is actually a maggot? (another fact for you!) They didn't think that glow maggot was a catchy as glow worm - I can see where they were coming from!!
• Same day after rock climbing out of the hole we had abseiled into (with welly's full of water which made it even harder)! We were taking to the rabbit shearing hut!! It was probably the funniest most random thing I have ever seen - with the vegetarians faces coming a close second. The albino rabbits got tied up with small a couple of small noose(s) attached to its feet and then stretched in a vice so their skin is tight enough for shaving!! mmmmm spit roast bunny - that could probably be quite nice actually. But the rabbit didn't look bothered at all and its fur was so soft!!
• We arrived in Rotorua the next day (stinky town) the smell of sulphur is so strong it makes you gag! Where water usually is - there is just smoke and steam coming from under bridges, drains everywhere (more geothermal activity). We visited the mud pools too which were bubbling and spitting as it was over 100 degrees! That night we stayed in Taupo, load of people from our bus were doing the skydive over Lake Taupo but I decided to save my money, I didn't need another panic attack any time soon. 
• Tongariro National Park is one of my biggest regrets since we have been away. There is the opportunity of hiking up the side of the Mount Doom (the one out of Lord of the Rings - so I am told anyway) and we both decided to give it a miss so we could save our money for the glassier hike. The people who were doing it came back and couldn't stop ranting about how amazing it was! So I was really pissed off, you got an ice pick and everything!! We just spent the day doing a Lord of the Rings walk with the rest of the group - it was good, but not the same. So we made up for it by chilling in the spa at the hostel for the rest of the afternoon - until we got kicked out by the snowboarders and skiers!
• Arrived at Wellington the next day which was where I had been planning on meeting Pip (a friend who I used to work with who moved back to New Zealand) and unfortunately I had still not managed to get hold of her on the numbers she had given me so we booked ourselves in a hostel, which was actually really sweet cos we wangled a 4 bed dorm ensuite to ourselves! Had a massive night out with the Stray crew to say goodbye as we were going to stay in Wellington for a while. Then the next day rung Pip's home phone and got through so spent the whole weekend having a private tour of Wellington with Pip and her boyfriend John. It was wicked. Saw wild seals - not that I could get very close as the smell held me back. It was like pee and poo mixed with some fish!! Disgusting. But Shaun got right up in there so we got some great pic's. Visited another museum - although Wellington Museum is supposed to be right up there with the best!! Saw the giant squid - which was nice.
• Pip let us stay at hers for a couple of days so we could have a few creature comforts like TV and stereo and own bedroom, which was so lovely of her. So we just chilled out eating all day long and vegging on the sofa. Sorted us right out.

The South Island was just as good as the North, if not better. The only trouble was the plank driver we had picked up in Wellington!! He was an absolute nightmare, Mambo was his name. We arrived in Abel Tasmin and spent the night there where he was supposed to be arranging a group BBQ i.e. the same as the one on the first night of the North Island. Well, it didnt even come close in comparison. We gave him $10 each and ended up with one sausage each and some salad, and he sat on his fat arse and watched everyone else slave over the hot plate. We kinda didn't judge him on that experience and everyone was making excuses for him. Its not the fact that we minded making the BBQ ourselves cos we didn't, it was just that it is all part of the service and we had paid a lot of money for something that he failed to deliver time and time again. The next day for example, we were told to meet at 8, at 5 past he was getting livid and having a go at the group cos he assumed someone had stolen his microphone, which 2 minutes later turned out to be right where he had left it the night before!! PLUM. Then he gave us a lecture telling us how if someone is late again he would be leaving them behind because he wanted a spare seat to become available so his girlfriend (who turned out to be 18 and he was 37!!EEEWWW) could join him on the bus (she was a bloody know-it-all aswell!!), so everyone was quite shocked at his comments, so we got on our way when after about 30 minutes we got flagged down by the driver behind us as he had picked up one of our backpacks off the road - Mambo had only forgotten to shut the trailer!! So everyone was ushered off of the coach to make sure their bag was on board, which poor Simon discovered that his bag was lost!! So in his hast trying to hurry the group up he had actually lost us an hour and a half by the time we had driven all the way back to the hostel check if it was there and then gone to the police station. Where the bag had luckily for Mambo been handed in! Mambo wigged out big time. Later that day he almost had a breakdown, turning round to the group and telling us how he had lost trust in us cos we were late for the bus and how we were the worst group he had ever had. Probably cos he would feed us the shite he does everyone else! He got told to slow down about 3 times before Shaun actually had a go at him saying we had paid for a tour bus not a motor racing day out! It was a nightmare. No one let him ruin our time though, although everyday someone had another complaint about him. Anyway, where was I:

• Abel Tasmin, it was drizzling all day so we took a stroll to the beach and started clam collecting, we got loads but while picking them out of the sand we didn't realise that the tide had come in and we were stranded on the beach so had to wade back to the coast then through a huge freezing river back to our hostel. It was fun though, Shaun had clams for lunch. Everyone else had gone on the huge 5 hour walk so we couldn't catch up so went on a short walk.
• The next day after all the commotion of bag being lost etc etc, we made it to the Pancake Rocks and Blow holes which were pretty amazing, we got some awesome pictures, they would have gone on Facebook ages ago now.
• We signed up for bone carving the next day and spent all morning filing down the bone and shaping it. It was the best morning we had in ages, so much fun. I felt like I was back in DT, not that I liked DT when I was at school. Although I dint think I really liked anything when I was at school.
• Franz Josef was next on our schedule - the glassier hike. We were going to do this together but Shaun decided he would rather do the ice climbing which he know says was slightly disappointing. As a hiker we passed the climbers on the glassier and they were just putting up 3 ropes in 2 different areas which got more intense as the day went on. It looked fun though. The hike was really hard going but wicked, I enjoyed it so much, we walked through the ice caves and over crevasses. Walking in the crevasses was quite hairy though, I was paranoid the whole time that ice was going to fall over the edge straight on my head. When we were sitting for lunch all we could hear was small avalanches going on around us! That night we all went to the local hot water spa's which was just what we needed, other than a stiff drink of course. Need I say we got plastered??
• We had another couple of pointless stops and stay overs at places that I dint even need to mention cos they were boring, but eventually we arrived in Wanaka where 10 of us had decided to get off the bus and wait for the next one just to rid ourselves of bloody Mambo (who was still up to his old tricks). At Wanaka we had our first snowboarding lesson. It was such a good day, it looks so much simpler than it is. I was the same snowboarding as surfing. If you put your left foot forward you are regular or right foot forward goofy, which of course I was goofy. Just me and one other guy while the whole rest of the group were regular. Its all about keeping your hips still and your stance on the board. I kept moving my hips to try and turn the board so failed again and again. I knew the logic but doing it is so much harder. I dint think I have any brain body coordination. Shaun picked it up so quickly, he was zooming past me while I was still on my ass!! Even harder than snowboarding itself was getting on the zip wire that takes you back to the top of the hill. It was like a chair lift, just an elastic wire you have to hold onto to get pulled up. I gave it a go and ended up on the my butt about 4 times before leaving the entry zone, eventually the guy who worked there helped me and I must gone about 5 meters and fell off again - I even got cheers from the que waiting for me!! haha. Rubbish, I decided walking up was for me. Everytime I looked over Shaun was on it waving!! haha. I took quite a bad fall at the end of the day though as I had started to pick up and was getting cocky so turned backwards tripped and cracked the head on the ice. I was stunned for about 10 minutes and luckily the lesson was over. Its a full on day, we started at 10 and finished at 4. But so good.
• Once we got to Queenstown which was a day later we booked our next day snowboarding. Shaun was confident enough to not bother having lessons but I paid for more. I eventually got the hang of it and managed to get off the very beginner run and went up to the top on the chair lift with Shaun. It wasn't until the end of my second day that I started thinking that maybe I had my board on the wrong foot the whole time and I was regular. I didn't bother snowboarding again so never found out, but after talking to all the instructors we have met they reckon that the third day is when you crack it. Oh well. Shaun went again and again and absolutely loves it, but he has picked it up and looks like a natural doing it. I definitely would like to go on a snowboarding holiday though.
• Queenstown was awesome cos as soon as we arrived we met everyone who was on our original bus as well as hanging out with everyone who was on our current bus so it was just one huge party.  Queenstown offers so much to do as well, we went luging one day which is just like go-karting at the top of a mountain. You get a chair lift to the top and then race to the bottom, wicked fun. I felt like I was 5 again (except not so much of a spoilt brat!) You can also play frisbee golf which involves walking through this park and aiming in between trees or into goal nets which are miles away. We bought the cheapest crappiest frisbees ever so I put that down to my losing!! That my excuse anyway.
• Shaun and I decided that I would carry on the bus with everyone we knew down to do the deep south i.e. Milford Sounds and Stewart Island and he would stay in Queenstown and snowboard. Which is what we did. Milford Sounds was absolutely beautiful and we were really luckily as they apparently have 2 out of 3 days rain and we had gorgeous blue skys. On the cruise we saw dolphins and seals and in not such a good note - sand flies. We were swarmed by them. Little bastards, they even got in our little log cabin that we were staying in that night. They were cool little bungalows, each had its own little open stove fire so we sat and ate marshmallows til we were almost sick and until the lights went off at 10 as the whole place was running on a generator!!
• Headed to Stewart Island the next day and had a catamaran journey over there which I was sick the whole way!! On Stewart Island there is very little to do so we all chipped in and made a huge group BBQ. Was a really good evening. We were due to be returning on the 3 O'Clock ferry the next day but only started a 3 hour walk at 12.30 so we panicking the whole way round that we would miss the boat. Luckily we didn't, I think I would have cried if we had. The Island was nice for 1 night anymore would have been torture. Actually I had to endure torture anyway on the way back to the main land on the boat, it was so choppy we were flying all over the place, the girl next to me was hurling in a sick bag and I was just sat frozen to my outdoor seat staring at the horizon. I made it without being sick. I was so proud.
• Once back at Queenstown apart from going out we didn't really do that much activity-wise as money is starting to get tight, weather wasn't great either so we just had a couple of lazy days in the hostel watching films and that. 
• Christchurch was nice, we didn't arrive until late and load of the people we had been spending all our time with were leaving the next day so we just had an evening in our hostel had a nice roast dinner with everyone and a couple of drinks. Becky and Siobhan were staying with us so we decided to hire a car and take a trip up to Kaikoura where you can swim with dolphins or go whale watching. Weather depending. I am planning on swimming with dolphins in Mexico so we decided to do the whale watching which was slight disappointment as an hour in they aborted our trip due to back weather conditions and gale force winds. We did get to see a sperm whale though just sitting on the surface of the water which was cool. Once back on land I felt disorientated and ill for the rest of the day, I had popped 2 motion sickness tablets which I think had over compensated and sent me over the edge the other way so I was spinning even on dry land!! Ooops.
• Way back from Kaikoura we stopped off at Hamner Springs which have natural outdoor spa's. It was lush, so relaxing.

Then yesterday after getting back to Christchurch we flew to Auckland!! Which is where I am now, freezing my butt off in some crappy internet cafe!!  But hey hey, we are off to Samoa this evening, weird ass flights, leaving tomorrow morning (05.09) at 12.35 and landing in Samoa on 04.09 at 4 ish in the morning so my next blog will be starting on the 4 again!!

Sorry if this blog seems rushed. Getting sick of doing them to be honest but get told off by Shaun every time I suggest giving them up as we are doing them for family sake!!

Love to you all. xxxxxxx

p.s. I have spelt check this blog specially. xxxx